Statistics: Two different Finals

In Christchurch Crusaders beat Waratahs in the Super 14 Final and in London Wasps beat Leicester Tigers. We bring some statistics from each match.

In the Super 14 the teams played according to a portion of the experimental law variations. In London they played "old laws".

We shall later discuss some law matters from the matches.

On the South African referees' site, there are eight clips from the Super 14 Final - www.sareferees.co.za.

Sanctions

There was one yellow card - presented to Brad Thorn of the Crusaders for punching. Phil Waugh of the Waratahs may have been lucky to escape one for playing Scott Hamilton before a pass could get to him in a promising attack.

Penalties conceded

In this section we record the times a team was penalised.

* = points conceded

(i) Crusaders vs Waratahs

Total number of penalties:  6

Crusaders:  1
Waratahs:  5

The reasons for the penalties were as follows:

Crusaders:
Discipline: 1 (Thorn - punching)

Waratahs:
Tackle/ruck: 1 (Polota-Nau*)
Off-side: 1 (Robinson)
Scrum: 1 (Baxter*)
Discipline: 2 (Mumm* - high tackle; Waugh* - man without ball)

The Crusaders did not miss a penalty kick at goal; the Waratahs did not aim one.

(ii) Wasps vs Leicester Tigers

Total number of penalties: 18

Wasps: 9
Leicester Tigers: 9

The reasons for the penalties were as follows:

Wasps:
Tackle/ruck: 3 (Vickery*, Dallaglio, Rees)
Off-side: 5 (Shaw, Payne*, Haskell, Rees & Dallaglio, Reddan, Worsley)
Discipline: 1 (Lewsey - obstruction)

Leicester Tigers:
Tackle/Ruck: 6 (Mauger*, Hipkiss*, Kay*, Ellis & White, Ellis*, Erinle )
Off-side: 2 (Goode, Kay)
Scrum: 1 (White)

Leicester Tigers missed two penalty kicks at goal, Wasps one.

Free Kicks conceded

(i) Crusaders vs Waratahs: 18

Crusaders: 8 (7 tackles, 1 scrum)
Waratahs: 10 (7 tackles, 1 mark, 1 maul, 1 +10)

The Crusaders opted for a scrum twice, the Waratahs once.

(ii) Wasps vs Leicester Tigers

Wasps: 1 (mark)
Leicester Tigers; 4 (2 marks, 1 scrum, 1 +10)

Getting possession - line-outs, scrums, free-kicks, drop-outs, turn-overs

In this section the figures represent the number of times you get to play with the ball.

(i) Crusaders vs Waratahs

Crusaders:
Line-outs: 13 (2 lost, 1 skew, 1 quick)
Scrums: 7 (1 reset, 2 collapses, 1 free kick)
Drop-outs: 0

Waratahs:
Line-outs: 15 (1 lost)
Scrums: 5 (3 reset, 3 collapses, 1 penalty)
Drop-outs: 2

(ii) Wasps vs Leicester Tigers

Wasps:
Line-outs: 10 (1 quick)
Scrums: 8 (5 reset, 3 collapses,  1  penalty, 1 uncontested)
Drop-outs: 2

Leicester Tigers:
Line-outs: 10 (1 quick)
Scrums: 11 (4 reset, 3 collapses, 1 free kick, 3 uncontested)
Drop-outs: 0

Stoppages (total of line-outs, scrums with resets, free kicks, penalties, drop-outs):

Crusaders vs Waratahs: 80
Wasps vs Leicester Tigers:  73

Tries

This is the number of tries scored per match.

Crusaders vs Waratahs:   1 + 2 = 3
Wasps vs Leicester Tigers:  3 + 1 = 4