Statistics: November Tests, Week iv
Again we have some statistics from six Tests played over the third weekend of November - England vs South Africa, Wales vs New Zealand, France vs Australia, Ireland vs Argentina, Scotland vs Canada and Italy vs the Pacific Islanders with wins for South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Ireland, Scotland and the Pacific Islanders.
England suffered its biggest-ever defeat at Twickenham and the Pacific Islanders recorded their first-ever victory.
The weather generally was cold and fine - though on the undersize field in snowy Aberdeen the cold was excessive.
This week we shall give the totals separately to produce the highs and lows of the 18 Tests' statistics. We shall do it now as the IRB's Test window is closed and there are few matches left for next week.
Sanctionary Cards
There were six - one given mysterious and one not given to George Smith and one not given to James Haskell that were also mysterious.
Recipients:
Tendai Mtawarira (South Africa) - tackle infringement
Conrad Jantjes (South Africa) - obstruction
David Skrela (France) - dangerous tackle
Kane Robertson (Italy) - offside
Seremaia Baï (Pacific Islanders) - dangerous tackle
Rodrigo Roncero (Argentina) - dissent
Possession
(i) England vs South Africa
Penalties conceded: 20
England: 8
South Africa: 12
Reasons for the penalties
* = points conceded
England:
Tackle: 6 (Vickery*, Palmer* 2, Shaw, Monye, Easter)
Discipline: 2 (Haskell - man without ball, high, swinging arm; Croft - man without ball)
South Africa:
Tackle: 7 (Burger*, Mtawarira 4, Rossouw*, De Villiers)
Offside: 2 (Kankowski, Undetermined)
Scrum: 1 (Du Plessis)
Discipline: 2 (Rossouw - high tackle; Jantjes - obstruction)
England and South Africa each missed a penalty kick at goal.
Line-outs
England: 13 (2 lost, 3 skew, 1 quick)
South Africa: 12 (3 lost, 1 free kick)
Scrums
England: 10 (4 reset, 6 collapses, 4 free kicks, 1 penalty)
South Africa: 11 (6 reset, 4 collapses, 1 free kick)
Free kicks
England: 1 (scrum)
South Africa: 5 (3 scrums, 1 mark, 1 line-out)
Drop-outs
England: 1
South Africa: 0
Stoppages: 83
Kicks: 64
England: 27
South Africa: 37
Tackle/ruck/maul: 173
Advantage:
Played: 11
Effected: 4
(ii) Wales vs New Zealand
Penalties conceded: 20
Wales: 11
New Zealand: 9
Reasons for the penalties
Wales:
Tackle: 7 (Ryan Jones, Rees, Alun-Wyn Jones* 2, Roberts, Martyn Williams 2)
Offside: 1 (Martyn Williams*)
Scrum: 3 (Adam Jones * 3)
New Zealand:
Tackle: 6 (Kahui* 2, Tialata, McCaw*, Williams, Mealamu)
Discipline: 3 (Nonu - high tackle; Williams - obstruction; Carter - air tackle
New Zealand missed two penalty kicks at goal, Wales one.
Line-outs
Wales: 7 (1 skew)
New Zealand: 10
Scrums
Wales: 9 (5 reset, 3 collapses, 3 free kicks, 1 penalty)
New Zealand: 11 (5 reset, 4 collapses 2 free kicks, 1 penalty)
Free kicks
Wales: 4 (scrums)
New Zealand: 3 (2 marks, 1 scrum)
Drop-outs
Wales: 1
New Zealand: 2
Stoppages: 77
Kicks: 49
Wales: 19
New Zealand: 30
Tackles/rucks/mauls: 144
Advantage:
Played: 18
Effected: 4
(iii) France vs Australia
Penalties conceded: 26
France: 11
Australia: 15
Reasons for the penalties
France:
Tackle: 8 (Jauzion, Harinordoquy, Tillous-Borde, Baby, Faure, Dusautoir*, Szarzewski, Traille)
Offside: 2 (Skrela*, Ouedraogo
Discipline: 1 (Skrela - high tackle)
Australia:
Tackle: 14 (George Smith 4, Burgess, McMenamin 2, Moore 2, Cross, Sharpe*, Robinson, Chisholm)
Scrum: 1 (Kepu)
Discipline: 2 (Burgess - man without ball; George Smith - scrum offside for penalty try)
France missed four penalty kicks at goal, Australia 2.
Line-outs
France: 11 (3 lost)
Australia: 15 (1 lost)
Scrums
France: 8 (2 resets, 1 collapse, 1 penalty, 1 free kick)
Australia: 2
Free kicks
France: 3 (1 mark, 1 +10, 1 scrum)
Australia: 1 (mark)
Drop-outs
France: 1
Australia: 4
Stoppages: 73
Kicks: 71
France: 35
Australia: 36
Tackles/rucks/mauls: 155
Advantage:
Played: 12
Effected: 9
This is a high percentage of successfully playing advantage.
(iv) Ireland vs Argentina
Penalties conceded: 21
Ireland: 7
Argentina: 14
Reasons for the penalties
Ireland:
Tackle: 5 (Heaslip, Murphy, O'Gara, Kearney, O'Callaghan)
Discipline: 2 (O'Gara* - shoulder charge; O'Callaghan - air tackle)
Argentina:
Tackle: 7 (Roncero 2, Leguizamón, Fernandez Lobbe* 2, Ledesma, Durand)
Offside: 1 (Leguizamon)
Scrum: 1 (Roncero)
Discipline: 5 (Roncero - punch; Albacete - pulling up legs in maul; Albacete* - air tackle; Roncero - punch; Roncero - dissent)
Line-outs
Ireland: 12 (2 lost, 1 quick)
Argentina: 17 (2 lost, 2 skew, 1 quick)
Scrums
Ireland: 11 (3 reset, 1 free kick, 1 penalty)
Argentina: 4 (2 reset, 3 collapses, 1 free kick, 1 penalty)
Free kicks
Ireland: 3 (2 marks, 1 scrum)
Argentina: 0
Drop-outs
Ireland: 2
Argentina: 4
Stoppages: 79
Kicks: 86
Ireland: 45
Argentina: 41
Tackles/rucks/mauls: 154
Advantage:
Played: 15
Effected: 6
(v) Scotland vs Canada
Penalties conceded: 18
Scotland: 11
Canada: 7
Reasons for the penalties
Scotland:
Tackle: 10 (Barclay, Walker 2, Webster, Ford, Strokosch, Gray 3, Dickinson)
Discipline: 1 (Hines - elbow)
Canada:
Tackle: 5 (Pletch, Tkachuk, Kleeberger 2, Smith)
Offside: 1 (Hirayama)
Scrum: 1 (Tkachuk)
Canada missed a penalty kick at goal.
Line-outs
Scotland: 12 (2 lost, 1 skew, 1 free kick)
Canada: 17 (2 lost, 1 skew, 1 quick)
Scrums
Scotland: 11 (5 reset, 5 collapses, 1 free kick, 1 wheel)
Canada: 12 (1 reset, 1 collapse, 1 lost, 2 free kicks, 1 wheel)
Free kicks
Scotland: 3 (3 scrums)
Canada: 2 (1 mark, 1 line-out)
Drop-outs
Scotland: 1
Canada: 0
Stoppages: 71
Kicks: 58
Scotland: 26
Canada: 32
Tackles/rucks/mauls: 181
Advantage:
Played: 9
Effected: 6
(vi) Italy vs Pacific Islanders
Penalties conceded: 21
Italy: 7
Pacific Islanders: 14
Reasons for the penalties
Italy:
Tackle: 4 (Mauro Bergamasco, Mirco Bergamasco, Carlos Nieto, )
Offside: 3 (Mirko Bergamasco, Robertson, Bortolami)
Discipline: 1 (Pratichetti - deliberate knock-on)
Pacific Islanders:
Tackle: 4 (Koyamaibole, Levi 2, Latu)
Offside: 3 ( Taione*, Koyamaibole, Martens)
Scrum: 1 (Pulu)
Discipline: 6 (Hehea - air tackle; Koyamaibole - obstruction; Baï - late shoulder charge; Martens - deliberate knock-on; Levi - dissent; Delasau - high tackle)
Line-outs
Italy: 17 (2 lost, 1 skew
Pacific Islanders: 19 (5 lost)
Scrums
Italy: 12 (2 reset, 2 collapses, 3 free kicks, 1 penalty)
Pacific Islanders: 7 (2 reset, 2 collapses)
Free kicks
Italy: 1 (scrum)
Pacific Islanders: 2 (scrums)
Drop-outs
Italy: 0
Pacific Islanders: 3
Stoppages: 79
Kicks: 63
Italy: 30
Pacific Islanders: 33
Tackles/rucks/mauls: 180
Advantage:
Played: 21
Effected: 8