South Africa may have squeaked through in their Rugby World Cup quarterfinal match against Wales but the statistics suggest a more dominant performance by the Springboks.
Statistics taken from the Vodacom Rugby App demonstrate how Wales had to defend South Africa’s relentless attacks on the advantage line.
The Springboks topped the carries stats in the quarterfinals with 157, forcing the Welsh to make 197 tackles in their encounter.
Influential flanker Schalk Burger was South Africa’s main strike runner taking the ball up 26 times in the match.
Burger led the carries statistics over the weekend with compatriot Duane Vermeulen behind him with 15.
The wave after wave of attack by the South Africans is also reflected in the fact that 5 Springbok players feature among the Top 5 in the carries category.
Springbok centre Damian de Allende (14), Eben Etzebeth (13) and Handré Pollard (12) followed behind Burger and Vermeulen in the stats.
Argentina, who upset Ireland to book a semifinal clash against Australia made the 2nd most carries with 122, with the Wallabies following in 3rd with 112.
The 4 Southern Hemisphere teams that will feature in the semifinals topped the Carries statistics with Argentina (122), Australia (112) and New Zealand (109) following behind the Springboks.
South Africa did not only test the Welsh defence but were also made to work hard to keep the opposition off the line by making 123 tackles – the 2nd most of the weekend.
Wales and South Africa kicked the most of all the quarterfinal matches, with the Springboks making 46 kicks from hand and the Red Dragons 2 less.
The Welsh’s desperate defence on the day is reflected in the individual tackles stats with 4 of their players among the Top tacklers.
Loose forward Dan Lydiate tops the stats with 24, with Alun Wyn Jones (19), Taulupe Faletau (18) and Sam Warburton (17) following behind him.
Scotland’s Jonny Gray with 18 and Burger with 16 were the only players among the Top 5 from other countries.
While the weekend produced its fair share of nail-biting moments it was not the case in the match between New Zealand and France.
The All Blacks were in sensational form as they stepped up a gear as they set a new Rugby World Cup quarterfinal victory margin beating the French by 49 points.
Running in 9 tries it is no surprise they dominate the Metres run and Clean breaks categories, as they ran the French rampant.
They ran 732 metres, which was 142 metres more than their nearest rivals, Argentina, while they made 19 clean breaks – more than double as many as Australia who ranked 2nd with 9.
Rugby World Cup – Quarterfinal Statistics:
Team statistics:
Carries:
- South Africa – 157
- Argentina – 122
- Australia – 112
- New Zealand – 109
- Ireland – 108, France – 108
- Wales – 106
- Scotland – 79
Kicks from hand:
- South Africa – 46
- Wales – 44
- New Zealand – 39
- Ireland – 30
- Australia – 28, France – 28
- Scotland – 26
- Argentina – 21
Lineouts won on own throw:
- South Africa – 12
- Australia – 10, Wales – 10, Ireland – 10, France – 10
- New Zealand – 9
- Scotland – 7, Argentina – 7
Tackles:
- Wales – 197
- South Africa – 123
- Ireland – 118
- Scotland – 117
- New Zealand – 116
- Argentina – 114
- France – 95
- Australia – 86
Metres run:
- New Zealand – 732
- Argentina – 590
- South Africa – 543
- France – 410
- Australia – 345
- Ireland – 308
- Wales – 294
- Scotland – 250
Turnovers won:
- Wales – 10, New Zealand – 10
- Ireland – 9, South Africa – 9
- Argentina – 7
- France – 5, Scotland – 5
- Australia – 3
Clean breaks:
- New Zealand – 19
- Australia – 9
- Argentina – 8
- France – 7, Scotland – 7, South Africa – 7
- Ireland – 4
- Wales – 3
Defenders beaten:
- Argentina – 27
- New Zealand – 24
- Ireland – 21
- France – 20, South Africa – 20
- Australia – 17
- Wales – 13
- Scotland – 10
Individual player stats:
Points:
- Nicolas Sanchez (Argentina) – 23
- Greig Laidlaw (Scotland) – 19
- Handre Pollard (South Africa) – 18
- Daniel Carter (New Zealand) – 17
- Julian Savea (New Zealand) – 15
Metres run:
- Julian Savea (New Zealand) – 137
- Ma’a Nonu (New Zealand) – 107
- Juan Imhoff (Argentina) – 98
- Ben Smith (New Zealand) – 91
- Duane Vermeulen (South Africa) – 90
Carries:
- Schalk Burger (South Africa) – 26
- Duane Vermeulen (South Africa) – 15
- Kurtley Beale (Australia) – 14, Damian de Allende (South Africa) – 14, Taulupe Faletau (Wales) – 14, Jamie Roberts (Wales) – 14, David Denton (Scotland) – 14
- Pablo Matera (Argentina) – 13, Santiago Cordero (Argentina) – 13, Eben Etzebeth (South Africa) – 13
- Handre Pollard (South Africa) – 12, Ben McCalman (Australia) – 12, Robbie Henshaw (Ireland) – 12
Tackles:
- Dan Lydiate (Wales) – 24
- Alun Wyn Jones (Wales) – 19
- Taulupe Faletau (Wales) – 18, Jonny Gray (Scotland) – 18
- Sam Warburton (Wales) – 17
- Schalk Burger (Wales) – 16
Turnovers won:
- Sam Warburton (Wales) – 4
- Richie McCaw (New Zealand) – 3
- Jamie Heaslip (Ireland) – 2, Bryan Habana (South Africa) – 2, Adriaan Strauss (South Africa) – 2, Augustin Creevy (Argentina) – 2, Sam Cane (New Zealand) – 2, Damian de Allende (South Africa) – 2, Duane Vermeulen (South Africa) – 2, Jordi Murphy (Ireland) – 2
Little known fact.
There is a playoff for 5th place at the rugby world cup.
It’s called the 6 Nations.
😉
1 @ bos_otter:
Hahaha
There was always going to be a heartbreaker in these quarter-finals and it came at fulltime in the final match of the weekend.
The Scots, long regarded as the whipping boys of the Six Nations, had been handed the rather odious task of restoring some Northern Hemisphere pride to these World Cup proceedings following the exit of the hosts, England, along with Wales, France and Ireland. Big ask.
There is a lot to be said for the wonderfully resilient Scottish rugby supporter, but pinning your hopes to a team that heretofore had failed to qualify for a World Cup semifinal and which had, at this tournament, been outclassed by South Africa and almost run down by Samoa, would seem to be asking to be left disappointed.
I sat down to watch the game with former Wallabies enforcer Owen Finnegan, who had turned to our group before the match and said, “the problem with Scotland is you can score five tries against them but then you look at the scoreboard and they are still in the game”.
Never a more prescient statement has been made at 3am in a casino sports bar.
Scotland found a way to stay in the game, even when Sean Maitland was sent to the bin, even while Australia racked up the tries. And then, just when it seemed the Wallabies could shut this one down and get on to the next assignment, the Scots hit the front. Where they stayed, until Craig Joubert awarded a penalty to Australia and Bernard Foley kicked the winning goal.
But that’s not really what this is about.
What happened next is more important than what happened before, because what happened next is this: Joubert, one of the game’s most competent officials, and a very good man besides, was subjected to a tirade of abuse as vindictive as it was ignorant. What happened next, in other words, was nothing new. We’ve been here with Wayne Barnes, and we’ve been here with Bryce Lawrence.
It is the all-too familiar refrain of the Rugby World Cup. And it has to stop. In this age of Twitter hot takes and instant derision, it is no surprise that aggrieved Scottish fans reached for their smartphones and took aim at the man in the middle – a man who, for the first time I can remember, left the field immediately after the final whistle.
Joubert is not a man who would normally leave the field in a hurry. That he did does not suggest he was ashamed of the call he made. It says the bloke was obviously worried about the crowd response to it, and to him. Given the subsequent overreaction by fans and pundits alike, that worry was arguably a well-founded one.
Where was the TMO? They yelled through the posts. Gavin Hastings, the gentleman giant of the Scottish game, was incensed and called for Joubert’s whistle. Matt Dawson, neither a giant nor a gentleman of the English game, sensed an opportunity for a headline and called for the same with a tweet that began, “Craig Joubert you are a disgrace”.
This is the man who gave the world the “Hakarena”. I guess he’s an expert in disgraceful.
World Rugby yesterday issued a statement to say Joubert got the decision wrong; that Joubert, a man who had a millisecond to make a judgment call on a massive play, and who duly made that call, had, with the benefit of endless replays watched by a full panel of World Rugby referee selectors, got the decision wrong.
That selection panel is chaired by Scotsman John Jeffrey, a former teammate of the most vocal of Joubert’s critics in the immediate wake of Scotland’s defeat, Hastings. Of course, that’s probably just a coincidence.
That World Rugby felt compelled to make this statement – an almost unprecedented occurrence – but felt no need to call for calm from Scottish fans, and from others who quickly jumped on the first train bound for the lynching of Joubert, strikes me as a clearcut case of the tail wagging the dog.
Scotland lost a rugby game and it came down to a refereeing decision. That’s sad. But, for the third consecutive World Cup, a referee has been subjected to the worst kind of abuse while the panel that makes those selections panders to the abusers.
That, I’m afraid, is heartbreaking.
– NZ Herald
Read more by Scotty Stevenson Email Scotty Stevenson
Sorry boys. A bit long but I felt the point needed to be made and Scotty made it best.
3 & 4 @ Tassies:
I also tried to re-instill some semblance of balance with my article about The Australia vs Scotland Craig Joubert issue…
Did you see that article?
@ Tassies:
#4 arghh another long post I had almost finished got lost somewhere in cyberspace. Basically thanks for sharing this one, some valid points but would have carried more weight for me if the author paid Scotland enough respect to do proper research, he would have found Scotland qualified for semifinal in 1991. Also not sure about the safety opinion couldn’t tell from TV how many people invaded the pitch didn’t see any.
@ Tassies:
@ Bullscot:
@ grootblousmile:
Joubert had to make a call.
That was/is his job.
He made the call based on the 1/2 second he had, to view the ball being juggled around in a mass of bodies and arms,
from a vantage point not quite as good as we all had, sitting in Our lounge chairs with the aid of 6 slo-mo replays.
He could not go “Upstairs”.
So he did what he is paid to ………………………………………He made a phukking decision.
And all credit to him for doing so.
It was wrong, but I am in no doubt it was his very best judgement call.
Craig is a fantastic Referree. One of the very best ever.
Tassies……………………………………..good read, thanks for putting it up. (I thought you were the author for a while…………………I was impressed).
@ cane:
Not to mention he gifted you c-units a World Cup.
7: I really admire the NZ boys backing up their refs, (big) mistakes and all, good on you mate!
Wat die statistiek betref, dit is die meters gained en clean breaks wat die Bokke so bietjie ongemaklik moet laat voel.
En nou is ons speler met die beste clean breaks, 3 van hulle (skouer, knie en kakebeen) nie eers beskikbaar vir Saterdag nie?
😯
Bok team to face NZ announced: only change from the quarterfinal against Wales is Matfield on the bench in place of Pieter Steph du Toit.
@ cane:
Hi cane have seen another slant on things – how about the Australian player do the honourable thing and let Joubert know he touched the ball; or is that maybe expecting too much
Gaaaaaap… hierdie krieket raak nou regtig ‘n totaal voorspelbare vervelige spul.
India laat Blomme een wen, en dan laat Blomme India weer een wen.
Na vandag is dit mooi 2 elk, en almal is gelukkig en wag vir die “spannende” final.
Wonder wie die bookies gaan bepaal gaan die finale game “wen”?
Bullscot wrote:
Like Hogg apologizing to the ref for “diving” against both the Boks and the Wallabies and also asking for a penalty and yellow card to be given as sanction?
Very sad that two days before the biggest Bok vs All Blacks clash in a decade and this place is deader than Craig Joubert’s appointments book.
14: hehe, ja-nee, alle spelers kyk maar of hul met moord kan wegkom,bly net stil.
Wat ek wel lagwekkend vind, is dat daar so baie is wat dink refs probeer nie ook wegkom met moord nie, al die 50/50 calls, inkonsekwente blaas, strenger reëls vir een span as die ander, ens. So asof hul geen invloed op die game het nie.
13: Baie geluk met die wen, India….
15 @ gunther:
I apologise, Herr Gunther… I was in Mpumalanga on business… tonight there will be a lot of action from me!
I have tried to be at 2 places at once…. but have not managed it… YET!
Hehehe
@ gunther: 😆 well well well. That is an arch-typical Grunter ‘graveyard’ utterance. A tone we can all relate to from times past on tutha website. It’s been a long time. Greetings old boy. Thought you’d be investing in expensive swill and grub near the banks of the Thames.
@ grootblousmile: we think your standards are slipping GB. Now get your act together boy.
@ Bullscot: Points taken BS. I think; what many of us feel aggrieved about is the complete disregard for the ref. Craig J didn’t just become a crap ref overnight. He DID make a mistake. A crucial one it turns out. It robbed Scotland of a semi. BUT….. and here’s the proverbial large BUT……it was a genuine mistake in my reading of things and he was hung out to dry by the RWC rules, the rugby public and subsequent RWC press release. I feel for the man. So do some prominent others. Like Scotty Stevenson. A scribe who I respect. Damn, Joubert has taken a nasty one for this human blunder.
@ grootblousmile: what kind of action GB? Or is that getting too personal? 😈
22 @ Tassies:
Well, let me put it this way… I’ve already placed 8 Articles on tonight… and there’s 1 more to come… so it’ll make it NINE here on R-T.
Then I’m going into the house early at NINE or maybe to NINE… hehehe
Het nou gekyk na Boots&All se bespreking van Joubert se fout en die geweldig reaksie daarop.
Stem saam met AJ Venter, as daar nou so groot bohaai gemaak word oor ‘n ref se fout, wees dan konsekwent, en doen dit na alle games met alle refs, hoekom een uitsonder ?
Dit is seker so dat baie meer hier op die spel was, maar hoe baie het ander refs mee weggekom, dink aan Barnes, Lawrence, Poite … en veral Pro (WP) Legoete nog onlangs ! 😉
As al die emosies bedaar het, bly vir my die belangrikste vraag, was dit werklik so moeilik om Phipps se speel van die bal raak te sien?
Ek het aanvanklik gedink daar was ‘n klomp spelers tussen Joubert en die plek waar die bal vir Strauss en toe vir Phipps getref het, wat sy visie sou moeilik gemaak het. Maar na hul dit vanaand op supersport gewys het ‘n paar keer, sien mens daar is niks wat Joubert se sig belemmer het nie., alles het reg voor hom gebeur. Hy het ‘n besluit geneem, verkeerde een, maar dit is nou hoe dit is.
Dalk die feit dat Joubert laat spaander het na die tyd, het die dinge nog erger gemaak. Kan nie onthou of Bryce, Poite, Barnes of Pro gehardloop het vir hul lewens na swak beslissings nie, hulle het pa gestaan vir hulle besluite, sommer daar op die veld.
Ons sal nou moet sien wat se gevolge dit het op Joubert se loopbaan, ons moet kan vergewe en aangaan. Dit sal dalk Joubert se saak help as hy bloot uitkom en sê, ek het die ding geblaas soos ek gesien het, na die tyd besef ek dit was ‘n verkeerde call, moes dalk ‘n sekonde of 3 langer gevat het om die baie belangrike roep te maak, jammer daaroor en die lewe gaan nou aan.
Selfs al het hy hom reg geblaas, skrum vir Aussies, kon die Aussies nog gewen het, maar ja, so ook die Skotte.
Dink wel die 4 beste spanne is in die semis, as mens na die toernooi in sy geheel kyk.
Hierdie naweek begin ‘n 2 naweke toernooi van die 4nasies (RC), met die noordelike halfrond spanne almal in die bar !
My verstand sê Aus vs AB, my hart Bokke vs Argies in die finaal.
Hoop my hart wen !
Another take on the matter:
http://www.theroar.com.au/2015/10/21/spiro-craig-joubert-has-been-dudded-by-world-rugby-and-the-scots/
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