IRB SEVENS WORLD SERIES 2009/10 STATISTICAL REVIEW
This is a report on the leg of the IRB Sevens World Series 2009/10. It comprises a quantitative analysis of all elements of play together with the approach to, and performance of, all participating teams in various aspects of the game. The report looks, therefore, at such areas as: Scoring and the effectiveness of each team in attack and defence The source, origin and build up of tries Each team s possession times and percentages Each team s passes and rate of passing Each team s rucks and rate of rucking Each team s success and approach at rucks Each team s performance at Set Piece - Restarts, Scrums and Lineouts Plus data on Penalties, Free Kicks and Cards PAGE 1 PAGE 3 PAGE 7 PAGE 8 PAGE 12 PAGE 14 PAGE 16 CONTENTS CURRENT STANDINGS PLAYER STATISTICS & MATCH RESULTS STATISTICAL SUMMARY STATISTICAL REVIEW & MATCH ANALYSIS SCORING & CONCEDING TRY SCORING BALL IN PLAY & POSSESSION ACTIVITY SET PIECE PENALTIES & FREE KICKS CARDS Hong Kong 7s was all about Tries there was a try every 65 seconds of play, the average tries per match was the highest this series, with 45% of tries originating in the try scoring teams own half. Hong Kong 7s Cup Winners, Samoa, produced the following statistics: Samoa s average match score was 27 pts to 15 pts Fiji had the best scoring rate, scoring a try every 38 secs of possession, however Samoa did score a try every 56 secs of possession. South Africa had the best defence, conceding a try every 126 secs of opposition possession, with Samoa conceding a try every 92 secs of opposition possession. Samoa scored 25 tries and conceded 14 in 6 matches. The current overall top try scorer, Samoan Mikaele Pesamino scored 8 tries of them. Samoa were clinical in attack as 64% of their tries contained no rucks in the build up and 52% of their tries contained 3 or fewer passes in the build up. Samoa were difficult to stop as they achieved the highest passing rate the made 11.7 passes per minutes possession and made a 5+ passing movements one in every 4.3 passing movements. They avoided physical contact as they only had 1.7 rucks per minutes possession, only averaging 7 rucks per game in attack. Samoa kicked short contestable restarts every single time and regained possession one in every 2.2 contestable restarts. Interestingly, Samoa didn t mind kicking possession as they were one of the highest kicking teams, kicking 18 kicks in 6 matches (7 of which were punt kicks). Finally, they were well disciplined as they were awarded more penalties/free kicks than their opposition.
DUB GEO 2009/10 IRB SEVENS CURRENT STANDINGS NZL USA AUS HKG LON SCO TOT SAM 20 6 NZL 24 24 FJI 16 20 AUS 12 6 ENG 16 12 RSA 8 8 KEN 6 16 ARG 6 16 USA 0 0 WAL 4 4 CAN 0 0 20 24 24 30 124 16 20 12 25 121 24 8 6 20 94 12 16 16 16 78 16 6 4 20 74 8 12 8 10 54 6 16 0 8 52 0 0 16 0 38 0 4 20 8 32 4 6 6 0 24 6 0 0 5 11 2009/10 IRB SEVENS CURRENT PLAYER STATISTICS Ben Gollings Mikaele Pesamino Lolo Lui Tomasi Cama Cecil Afrika ENG SAM SAM NZL RSA POINTS SCORED 2009/10 TRIES SCORED 2009/10 280 Mikaele Pesamino SAM 47 237 Collins Injera KEN 28 208 Renaud Delmas FRA 25 174 Humphrey Kayange KEN 23 171 Ben Gollings ENG 22
MATCH RESULTS POOL TEAM SCORE Pool KENYA 7-21 Pool ENGLAND 26-5 Pool AUSTRALIA 36-12 Pool FIJI 38-12 Pool NEW ZEALAND 22-5 Pool SAMOA 21-14 Pool ZIMBABWE 31-24 Pool JAPAN 40-7 Pool TONGA 41-12 Pool PORTUGAL 50-0 Pool FRANCE 63-12 Pool RUSSIA 12-14 Pool KENYA 24-0 Pool ENGLAND 45-0 Pool AUSTRALIA 33-12 Pool FIJI 45-7 Pool NEW ZEALAND 36-0 Pool SAMOA 24-12 Pool SOUTH AFRICA 40-7 Pool WALES 19-21 Pool CANADA 12-7 Pool USA 62-0 Pool SCOTLAND 42-5 Pool ARGENTINA 42-0 Pool SOUTH AFRICA 28-15 Pool WALES 12-10 Pool CANADA 12-10 Pool USA 17-10 Pool SCOTLAND 7-12 Pool ARGENTINA 19-12 Pool KENYA 51-7 Pool ENGLAND 45-0 Pool AUSTRALIA 45-12 Pool FIJI 82-7 Pool NEW ZEALAND 59-5 Pool SAMOA 40-12 TEAM KNOCKOUT TEAM SCORE TEAM SOUTH AFRICA Cup Final SAMOA 24-21 NEW ZEALAND WALES Plate Final AUSTRALIA 12-5 SOUTH AFRICA CANADA Bowl Final WALES 19-35 CANADA USA Shield Final RUSSIA 17-19 SCOTLAND Cup S/F FIJI 28-33 NEW ZEALAND ARGENTINA Cup S/F SAMOA 28-24 ENGLAND KOREA Plate S/F SOUTH AFRICA 19-12 KENYA Plate S/F USA 12-21 AUSTRALIA CHINA Bowl S/F CANADA 26-24 PORTUGAL THAILAND Bowl S/F WALES 26-7 SCOTLAND CHI TAIPEI Shield S/F 26-19 ITALY ITALY Shield S/F ZIMBABWE 14-17 RUSSIA ZIMBABWE Cup Q/F KENYA 12-21 NEW ZEALAND JAPAN Cup Q/F FIJI 14-12 SOUTH AFRICA TONGA Cup Q/F ENGLAND 26-19 AUSTRALIA PORTUGAL Cup Q/F SAMOA 24-7 USA FRANCE Bowl Q/F PORTUGAL 17-7 FRANCE RUSSIA Bowl Q/F CANADA 26-0 TONGA KOREA Bowl Q/F SCOTLAND 12-10 JAPAN Bowl Q/F ARGENTINA 12-17 WALES CHINA Shield Q/F CHI TAIPEI 12-45 ITALY THAILAND Shield Q/F 31-14 KOREA CHI TAIPEI Shield Q/F CHINA 17-31 RUSSIA ITALY Shield Q/F ZIMBABWE 43-12 THAILAND ZIMBABWE JAPAN TONGA PORTUGAL FRANCE RUSSIA KOREA CHINA THAILAND CHI TAIPEI ITALY Kurt Baker Gardener Nechironga James Stannard Cecil Afrika NZL ZIM AUS RSA PLAYER STATISTICS POINTS SCORED TRIES SCORED 61 Kurt Baker NZL 9 48 Gardener Nechironga ZIM 8 44 Mikaele Pesamino SAM 8 41 Kevin Swiryn USA 8
IRB SEVENS 2009/10 - STATISTICAL SUMMARY DUB 2009 GEO 2009 NZL USA AUS HKG MATCHES 44 44 44 44 44 60 365 SCORING POINTS (average per game) 37 36 36 32 37 41 36 TRIES (average per game) 6.0 5.7 5.8 5.2 6.0 6.5 5.7 CONVERSION SUCCESS (%) 63% 62% 58% 62% 60% 67% 62% PENALTY GOALS (total) 0 / 1 0 / 0 0 / 0 0 / 1 0 / 0 0/1 6 DROP GOALS (total) 0 / 0 1 / 2 0 / 0 0 / 2 0 / 0 0/0 2 TRY SCORING MATCHES WON by team scoring most tries (%) 91% 91% 91% 89% 86% 85% 90% SOURCE OF TRIES - pens/fks (%) 29% 27% 38% 27% 34% 28% 29% ORIGIN OF TRIES - own Half (%) 42% 44% 45% 40% 37% 45% 42% BUILD UP TO TRIES no rucks/mauls (%) 61% 69% 69% 58% 60% 62% 63% BUILD UP TO TRIES - 3 Or fewer passes (%) 57% 58% 56% 54% 56% 55% 59% ACTIVITY BALL IN PLAY (%) 51% 52% 49% 49% 49% 50% 50% PASSES (average per game) 68 72 67 68 68 71 67 5+ PASSING MOVENTS (rate) 1 in 7.2 1 in 8.0 1 in 7.5 1 in 9.7 1 in 8.0 1 in 7.4 1 in 7.9 RUCKS/MAULS (average per game) 17 18 15 17 16 17 16 RUCK/MAUL RETENTION (%) 79% 80% 83% 82% 86% 85% 79% KICKS (average per game) 3.7 3.8 3.5 4.8 3.0 2.9 4 SET PIECE CONTESTABLE RESTARTS (%) 75% 79% 72% 38% 85% 85% 74% CONTESTABLE RESTARTS REGAINED (%) RESTART ERRORS (total) 37% or 1 in 2.7 17 or 1 in 19 31% or 1 in 3.2 17 or 1 in 18 38% or 1 in 2.7 27 or 1 in 11 39% or 1 in 2.6 19 or 1 in 15 43% or 1 in 2.3 10 or 1 in 30 38% or 1 in 2.7 16 or 1 in 27 SCRUMS (average per game) 4 4 4 4 5 4 4 35% or 1 in 2.8 156 or 1 in 15 SCRUMS possession retained (%) 79% 85% 84% 82% 81% 89% 85% LINEOUTS (average per game) 2 3 2 4 2 2 3 LINEOUTS possession retained (%) 82% 76% 72% 80% 71% 80% 75% QUICK THROWS (total) PENALTIES/FREE KICKS & CARDS 12 or 1 in 8 9 or 1 in 8 12 or 1 in 7 18 or 1 in 10 11 or 1 in 9 14 or 1 in 9.5 PENALTIES (average per game) 5.0 5.3 6.6 5.6 6.2 5.5 6 106 or 1 in 8 CARDS (total) 3 + 0 16 + 1 12 + 0 8 + 1 17 + 0 25 + 0 108 + 3
1. SCORING & CONCEDING The average number of points scored in a game was 41. The average number of points scored/conceded by a team was 20.5 but, not surprisingly, there were major variations around this average. Fiji averaged 41 points per game while Thailand managed just 5. With regard to points conceded, England only conceded an average of 10 points per game while Chinese Taipeii conceded 52. Winners Samoa averaged a score of 27 points to 15. The figures do not show, however, how effective each team was in scoring points in relation to the possession that it obtained and also, the figures do not show, how effective each team was in restricting points in relation to the possession that their opponents obtained. A team may, for example, obtain little possession but still manage to score a significant number of tries conversely a team may concede very few tries in the face of considerable opposition possession. Overall, in Hong Kong a try was scored every 65 seconds of play (Dubai every 72 secs, George every 77 secs, Wellington every 71 secs, Las Vegas every 79 secs and Adelaide every 67secs)). Scoring rates are calculated (a) by dividing iding the total possession obtained by a team by the number of tries scored (b) by dividing the total possession obtained by a team opponents by the total number of tries conceded. The following table gives the relevant figures for each participating team. Fiji had the best try scoring rate, scoring a try every 41 seconds in attack and South Africa had the best try conceding rate, conceding a try every 126 seconds in defence. In the Fiji v Thailand match, Fiji scored a try every 20 seconds. MATCHES PLAYED Av POINTS SCORED Av POINTS CONCEDED TRY SCORING RATE TRY CONCEDING RATE FJI 5 41 14 FJI 38 secs RSA ENG 5 33 10 AUS 43 secs NZL NZL 6 32 12 ENG 44 secs ARG AUS 6 28 13 NZL 46 secs KEN SAM 6 27 15 SAM 56 secs ENG ARG 4 22 13 FRA 62 secs AUS KEN 5 22 14 ARG 63 secs FJI USA 5 22 19 USA 63 secs SAM RSA 6 21 11 KEN 75 secs FRA FRA 4 21 18 RSA 76 secs WAL WAL 6 16 19 WAL 80 secs SCO SCO 5 15 15 SCO 106 secs USA 126 secs 124 secs 107 secs 105 secs 102 secs 100 secs 96 secs 92 secs 86 secs 75 secs 69 secs 55 secs PAGE 1
MATCHES PLAYED Av POINTS SCORED Av POINTS CONCEDED TRY SCORING RATE TRY CONCEDING RATE POR 5 22 CAN 6 21 ZIM 5 21 ITA 5 18 RUS 6 17 HKG 6 17 TON 4 16 JAP 4 15 KOR 4 13 CHI 4 12 TAI 4 9 THA 4 5 19 ITA 50 secs CAN 16 POR 61 secs ZIM 21 ZIM 63 secs ITA 26 CAN 65 secs RUS 18 JAP 71 secs POR 26 HKG 73 secs JAP 21 TON 79 secs TON 19 RUS 80 secs HKG 39 CHI 84 secs CHI 32 KOR 104 secs KOR 52 TAI 170 secs TAI 59 THA 187 secs THA 84 secs 75 secs 69 secs 68 secs 65 secs 60 secs 58 secs 47 secs 42 secs 35 secs 25 secs 25 secs 1.1 KICKS AT GOAL There was 1 penalty goal attempt but no penalty goals or drop goals were kicked. The overall conversion success rate was 67% - the highest success rate so far this series. There were noticeable variations in percentage success rates as seen in attached table: the the CONVERSION SUCCESS FJI 84% HKG CONVERSION SUCCESS 75% Because of the relatively few tries scored, applying percentages can, at this stage, only be regarded as indicative. In addition, the location of the score can be a significant factor in achieving a successful conversion. This is the reason that the attached table has assigned a percentage success rate only to those teams that scored 16 tries or more. Fiji had the highest success rate - 84% RSA 79% CAN SAM 72% ZIM NZL 70% POR ENG 69% RUS AUS 69% ITA WAL 56% TON USA 56% JAP KEN 50% KOR ARG 11/13 CHI FRA 11/12 TAI SCO 9/11 THA 74% 59% 50% 47% 10/14 4/11 5/10 6/8 4/8 2/6 2/3 PAGE 2
2. TRY SCORING There were 392 tries scored in Hong Kong giving an average of 6.5 per game. (Dubai = 6.0 tries, George = 5.7 tries, Wellington = 5.8 tries, Las Vegas = 5.2 and Adelaide 6.0) In the Pool stage there were 245 tries scored (average 6.8) and in the knockout stage there were 147 tries scored (average 6.1) 2.1 IMPACT OF TRIES With no penalty goals or drop goals and a conversion success rate of 67%, it was inevitable that tries would determine the winning team in the vast majority of cases and this proved to be the case. Of the 60 matches, 51 (or 85%) were won by the team scoring the most tries. There were 9 matches won because of conversions (Canada v Tonga, Wales v Japan, Wales v Hong Kong, Russia v Italy, Scotland v Japan, Fiji v South Africa, Canada v Portugal, Samoa v England and Russia v Hong Kong). 2.2 ORIGIN & LOCATION OF TRIES Tries originate from various parts of the pitch and are scored all across the try line. The following diagram shows the location on the pitch of where the attacking team obtained possession from which they eventually scored and where they were scored along try line. 45% of all tries originated in the try scoring team s own half and 36% were scored under the posts. LEFT OF POSTS 33% or 128 tries OWN HALF 45% or 176 tries HW to 10m 9% or 33 tries 10m to 22m 28% or 111 tries 22m to TRY 18% or 72 tries UNDER POSTS TRIES 36% or 141 tries RIGHT OF POSTS TRIES 31% or 123 tries The table on the next page shows the origin of tries scored (own) and tries conceded (opp) by each team. The teams which scored a high percentage of their tries from their own half were New Zealand, Kenya and Zimbabwe. The teams which had a low percentage of their tries from their own half were USA and Portugal. PAGE 3
OWN HALF HW 10m 10m 22m 22m - TRY TOT OWN OPP OWN OPP OWN OPP OWN OPP OWN OPP FJI 10 5 NZL 17 10 AUS 11 6 ENG 14 4 SAM 10 7 CAN 9 8 RSA 7 8 KEN 10 4 POR 5 3 USA 3 6 RUS 9 7 ZIM 10 8 HKG 7 12 WAL 9 8 ITA 6 7 ARG 4 4 FRA 5 4 SCO 6 10 TON 5 4 JAP 4 6 CHI 3 11 KOR 5 11 TAI 4 15 THA 3 8 5 1 14 5 2 31 10 1 3 1 30 8 6 7 1 26 2 1 7 1 3 2 26 3 5 4 7 3 25 2 5 6 3 2 19 4 1 4 1 4 1 19 4 2 2 2 4 18 1 2 7 6 5 4 18 1 1 9 8 5 18 1 5 5 3 4 17 3 3 3 1 6 17 1 5 7 3 5 16 2 5 4 2 3 16 3 2 5 6 5 14 1 6 1 2 3 13 1 2 2 4 6 12 2 1 2 2 1 11 1 3 5 2 4 11 1 1 2 2 3 3 10 1 1 4 7 2 8 5 8 3 1 8 3 7 2 6 6 5 19 5 3 11 12 13 8 14 16 11 10 15 15 17 17 24 17 20 8 12 13 13 12 21 25 31 37 2.3 POSSESSION SOURCE OF TRIES The teams scoring the tries obtained possession of the ball prior to the scoring of the try from a variety of sources. This is shown: It can be seen that the most fruitful source of tries is penalties/free kicks (28%). PENALTY/FREE KICK 28% TURNOVER & ERROR 20% RESTART 24% SCRUM 16% LINEOUT 8% KICK RECEIPT 4% 29% 18% 22% 14% 11% 6% PAGE 4
The following table shows the possession source of tries scored (own) and tries conceded (opp) by each team: PEN & FK T/OVER & ERROR OWN OPP OWN OPP RESTART SCRUM LINEOUT KICK TOTAL OWN OPP OWN OPP OWN OPP OWN OPP OWN OPP FJI 2 5 8 NZL 10 2 7 5 AUS 10 6 6 ENG 5 3 5 1 SAM 11 5 3 1 CAN 5 6 5 2 RSA 5 3 3 5 KEN 2 4 7 1 POR 6 5 5 1 USA 6 2 7 RUS 6 7 2 ZIM 6 6 4 2 HKG 7 3 2 2 WAL 5 7 2 5 ITA 3 7 5 2 ARG 5 4 2 FRA 4 5 3 3 SCO 3 4 3 3 TON 3 2 1 4 JAP 1 3 1 CHI 1 5 4 KOR 2 4 3 7 TAI 2 7 2 14 THA 1 6 4 9 5 6 4 1 2 6 2 4 3 2 1 6 1 4 2 2 2 6 3 7 2 1 1 6 2 4 3 2 1 4 5 2 2 2 1 1 6 4 1 1 1 5 2 2 3 1 1 4 5 3 1 2 7 3 3 2 2 1 5 1 4 5 1 1 1 7 2 5 1 2 7 2 7 5 3 7 1 1 2 2 2 6 2 1 2 1 2 3 2 1 2 1 4 3 1 2 4 1 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 1 4 6 1 6 5 1 1 3 1 11 2 2 1 2 5 4 1 1 17 1 8 1 31 11 30 12 26 13 26 8 1 25 14 19 16 1 19 11 18 10 1 18 15 18 15 1 17 17 1 17 17 16 24 1 16 17 3 14 20 13 8 1 12 12 11 13 1 11 13 10 12 2 8 21 1 8 25 6 31 1 3 37 Of the 31 tries Fiji scored, only 2 began from a penalty or a free kick, whereas Australia, Samoa and New Zealand scored 10 or more from this try source. From restarts, overall Fiji scored 9 tries and Thailand conceded 17 tries. PAGE 5
2.4 BUILD UP TO TRIES The table shows how many rucks/mauls preceded each try scored in the tournament. The table shows that 62% of tries were preceded by not one ruck or maul. % CUMULATIVE % None 62% 62% 1 rucks/mauls 23% 85% 2 rucks/mauls 9% 94% 3 + rucks/mauls 6% 100% 63% 86% 95% 100% It shows the total number of passes that preceded each try scored in the tournament. The table shows that 55% of tries were preceded by 3 or fewer passes. % CUMULATIVE % No passes 9% 9% 1-3 passes 46% 55% 4-6 passes 25% 80% 7-9 passes 14% 94% 10+ passes 6% 100% 12% 58% 83% 94% 100% When the build up to tries in the pool is i compared to the knockout stage, the percentages show that teams had to work harder to score tries during the knockout stage as there were more passes and more rucks in the build up to tries. Pool: 65% of tries had no r/ms & 59% < 3 passes Knockout: 56% of tries had no r/ms & 47% < 3 passes In the table below are the figures for each team. The figures in the table include the % of tries scored and conceded with no rucks in the build up and the % of tries scored with 3 or fewer passes. Because of the relatively few tries scored, applying percentages can, at this stage, only be regarded as indicative. This is the reason that the attached table has assigned signed a percentage success rate only to those teams that scored or conceded 16 tries or more. It can be seen that 87% of Fiji s tries scored contained no rucks in the build up and 67% of USA s tries scored contained 3 or fewer passes in the build up. % OF TRIES WITH NO RUCKS TRIES SCORED TRIES CONCEDED FJI 87% 10/12 % OF TRIES WITH 3 OR FEWER PASSES TRIES SCORED % OF TRIES WITH NO % OF TRIES WITH 3 RUCKS OR FEWER PASSES TRIES SCORED TRIES CONCEDED 48% POR 56% 7/15 TRIES SCORED 61% AUS 73% 6/13 SAM 64% 8/14 ENG 62% 4/8 NZL 60% 10/12 KEN 50% 6/10 WAL 50% 59% USA 44% 13/15 RSA 42% 8/11 ARG 5/13 3/8 FRA 10/12 7/12 SCO 9/11 10/13 50% RUS 53% 59% 52% ZIM 53% 59% 58% CAN 47% 38% 53% HKG 44% 67% 67% ITA 12/14 50% 25% TON 6/11 7/13 67% JAP 8/10 7/12 42% KOR 5/8 52% 7/13 CHI 6/8 71% 10/12 TAI 5/6 87% 8/11 THA 3/3 73% 41% 24% 84% 50% 10/14 6/11 7/10 3/8 4/8 4/6 1/3 PAGE 6
3. BALL IN PLAY & POSESSION There was a considerable variation between the ball in play AVERAGE BALL-IN-PLAY 3m 32s or 50% 6m 58s or 50% figures achieved by the various teams. This is shown in the HIGHEST BALL-IN-PLAY MATCH 9m 23s 9m 28s or 68% (Kenya v Zimbabwe) following table which gives the LOWEST BALL-IN- PLAY MATCH 5m 32s 4m 53s or 35% average possession times (Japan v Hong Kong) achieved by each team HIGHEST POSSESSION TIME BY A TEAM 6m 15s throughout the tournament in (Samoa v Italy) attack and defence: LOWEST POSSESSION TIME BY A TEAM 1m 26s (Samoa v Italy) 7m 18s 1m 06s As seen in the table, there were some noticeable differences. Kenya averaged the highest, averaging well over 4 minutes possession per game, with Italy only averaged 2m 20s. Hong Kong, USA, England, Scotland, Chinese Taipei and China dominated possession in their matches, all averaging 55% or more of total possession. Italy on average, only had 34% of possession in their matches in one match they only had 1m 26s of possession. OWN AVERAGE POSSESSION % OPPONENTS AVERAGE POSSESSION ENG 3m 49s 59% 2m 42s 41% HKG 3m 15s 61% USA 3m 48s 58% 2m 45s 42% TAI 4m 15s 57% SCO 3m 52s 56% 3m 00s 44% CHI 2m 47s 55% KEN 4m 29s 56% 3m 29s 44% RUS 3m 46s 54% FJI 3m 53s 53% 3m 30s 47% POR 3m 40s 53% SAM 3m 55s 52% 3m 35s 48% TON 3m 37s 53% RSA 3m 59s 51% 3m 50s 49% JAP 2m 58s 50% WAL 3m 33s 50% 3m 33s 50% KOR 3m 27s 48% ARG 3m 24s 49% 3m 33s 51% CAN 3m 24s 48% NZL 3m 48s 48% 4m 08s 52% ZIM 3m 35s 46% AUS 3m 04s 46% 3m 35s 54% THA 2m 20s 38% FRA 3m 06s 42% 4m 18s 58% ITA 2m 20s 34% % OWN AVERAGE POSSESSION % OPPONENTS AVERAGE POSSESSION % 3m 06s 39% 3m 15s 43% 3m 39s 45% 3m 12s 46% 3m 14s 47% 3m 09s 47% 2m 59s 50% 3m 40s 52% 3m 43s 52% 4m 16s 54% 3m 47s 62% 4m 35s 66% PAGE 7
4. ACTIVITY 4.1 PASSING The average number of passes in a game was 71. The average number of passes by a team was 35.5 but, not surprisingly, there were major variations around this average. RATES & AVERAGES The table shows major differences between the teams. Such differences can however partly be explained by the amount of possession obtained by each team more possession means more passes. If possession is taken into account, therefore the rate at which each country passed the ball is far closer. Samoa, China, and Russia had the highest passing rate and Canada, Italy and France had the lowest. Kenya on average passed nearly 50% more than Thailand, but it can be seen that they passed at the same rate when possession is taken into account. PASSING MOVEMENTS AVERAGE PASSES 71 HIGHEST PASSING MATCH 102 (New Zealand v Scotland) LOWEST PASSING MATCH 43 (Japan v Hong Kong) PASSING RATE AVERAGE PASSES SAM 11.7 46 CHI 11.4 32 RUS 11.4 43 FJI 11.3 44 ZIM 11.3 41 TAI 11.1 47 ARG 11.0 37 RSA 10.8 43 TON 10.8 39 HKG 10.7 35 KEN 10.3 46 67 115 35 5+ PASSING FJI 1 in 2.4 ZIM 1 in 3.8 CHI 1 in 3.8 THA 1 in 4.0 SAM 1 in 4.3 RUS 1 in 5.3 TON 1 in 6.8 ENG 1 in 7.0 SCO 1 in 7.3 TAI 1 in 7.3 ARG 1 in 7.4 Passes came in passing movements which there were just over 1000. Around 50% of all passing movements contained 2 or fewer passes. Where major differences arose, these were seen in the more lengthy passing movements. Of all passing movements, 1 in 7.4 contained 5+ passes (Dubai 1 in 7..2, George 1 in 8.0, Wellington 1 in 7.5, Las Vegas 1 in 9.7 and Adelaide 1 in 8.0). Certain teams were far more inclined to continue passing than others. This is shown in the above table which notes the proportion of 5+ pass movements to total number of passing movements made by each country. Fiji were the most likely to make a 5+ passing movement, they made 1 in every 2.4 passing movements, whereas Italy and France were least likely. of THA 10.2 24 SCO 10.1 39 JAP 9.6 29 NZL 9.9 38 AUS 9.8 30 KOR 9.4 33 ENG 9.4 36 POR 9.4 35 USA 9.2 35 WAL 9.3 33 FRA 8.7 27 ITA 7.5 18 CAN 7.4 25 NZL 1 in 7.9 HKG 1 in 8.5 JAP 1 in 9.0 KOR 1 in 9.6 KEN 1 in 10.6 CAN 1 in 10.8 POR 1 in 10.8 USA 1 in 14.2 WAL 1 in 14.3 AUS 1 in 17.0 RSA 1 in 17.5 ITA 1 in 19.5 FRA 1 in 22.5 PAGE 8
4.2 RUCKS & MAULS The average number of passes in a game was 17. The average number of passess by a team was 8.5 but, not surprisingly, there were major variations around this average. AVERAGE RUCKS 17 HIGHEST RUCKING MATCH 34 (Kenya v South Africa) LOWEST RUCKING MATCH 4 (Fiji v Thailand) SUCCESS % 85% 16 31 4 79% RATES & AVERAGES The table below shows major differences in the average number of rucks/mauls created by each team. Some of this can be explained by the amount of possession obtained by each team. If this is taken into account, the rate at which each country rucked and mauled is far closer, as also shown in the table. This expresses rucks/mauls as rucks/mauls per minute possession. South Africa had the highest rucking rate and Fiji had the lowest. Kenya on average rucked more than USA, but it can be seen that they rucked at the same rate when possession is taken into account. RUCK SUCCESS At the breakdown, the team taking in the ball retained possession by either winning the ball or being awarded a penalty on 85% of occasions. The percentage success rate of each team in attack and defence are shown in the above table. In Attack, New Zealand and USA achieved high retention rates at rucks while Fiji, Japan and Thailand had low retention rates. In Defence, Japan, Portugal and New Zealand won ruck possession from opponents on a number of occasions, while Australia and Thailand won little, if any possession at any opposition rucks. RUCKING RATE AVERAGE RUCKS RSA 3.4 14 NZL TAI 3.1 13 USA HKG 3.0 10 AUS KEN 2.9 13 CHI SCO 2.8 11 ARG USA 2.8 11 CAN ARG 2.8 10 POR WAL 2.7 10 SAM KOR 2.5 9 WAL CAN 2.4 8 KEN JAP 2.4 7 RUS THA 2.4 6 TON AUS 2.3 7 ZIM TON 2.3 8 RSA FRA 2.3 7 ENG RUS 2.3 9 HKG POR 2.2 8 KOR ZIM 2.2 8 SCO ENG 2.1 8 FRA NZL 2.0 8 TAI ITA 1.9 4 ITA SAM 1.7 7 JAP CHI 1.3 4 FJI FJI 0.9 4 THA RETENTION % OWN RUCKS SUCCESS % OPP RUCKS 96% 23% 94% 14% 93% 3% 93% 13% 92% 12% 90% 18% 90% 24% 90% 11% 89% 19% 88% 18% 88% 11% 88% 7% 85% 17% 84% 18% 83% 16% 83% 15% 80% 11% 80% 16% 79% 20% 77% 7% 77% 7% 66% 25% 61% 18% 61% 0% PAGE 9
NUMBER OF PLAYERS COMMITTED TO RUCKS ATTACK & DEFENCE There are over 500 breakdowns in a tournament - and a breakdown occurs when at least one player from each side is on his feet at or over the ball. When the tackler is on his feet and an opponent joins in, then there is a breakdown. When the tackler is not on his feet, a breakdown occurs when at least one player from each side joins in. What became immediately noticeable was that there were clear differences in the approach of the various countries in committing players to the breakdown. While certain teams frequently committed few additional players, other countries consistently committed more. The extent of the differences between each team s approach is illustrated by an exercise that looked at how many players were committed to the breakdown in attack and in defence. Overall on average, the attacking team committed only 1 extra player on 75% of occasions and defending teams committed only 1 extra player on 55% of occasions. It can be seen that in the table below, in attack, Wales committed only one player on 91% of occasions while France committed 2 or more players 55% of the time. In defence, Fiji committed no extra players on 49% of occasions, whereas Samoa committed 2 or more players in defence on 22% of occasions. ATTACK DEFENCE 1 PLAYER 2+ PLAYERS NO PLAYER 1 PLAYER 2+ PLAYERS WAL 91% 9% FJI 49% 41% 10% SAM 90% 10% SCO 48% 39% 13% ARG 89% 11% FRA 47% 49% 4% USA 89% 11% KEN 43% 45% 12% AUS 86% 14% SAM 42% 36% 22% FJI 83% 17% NZL 32% 51% 17% NZL 76% 24% AUS 30% 61% 9% RSA 73% 27% ARG 29% 59% 12% SCO 69% 31% WAL 28% 57% 16% KEN 63% 37% RSA 27% 52% 21% ENG 56% 44% USA 19% 76% 5% FRA 45% 55% ENG 18% 76% 5% PAGE 10
ATTACK DEFENCE 1 PLAYER 2+ PLAYERS NO PLAYER 1 PLAYER 2+ PLAYERS POR 95% 5% THA 57% 36% 7% TON 88% 12% KOR 43% 40% 17% RUS 83% 17% CAN 38% 56% 5% CAN 82% 18% RUS 38% 62% 0% ZIM 74% 26% ITA 35% 59% 6% HKG 72% 28% HKG 27% 67% 6% ITA 68% 32% ZIM 26% 63% 11% THA 65% 35% CHI 22% 56% 22% CHI 64% 36% JAP 21% 46% 32% TAI 63% 37% TON 21% 64% 14% JAP 62% 38% POR 15% 74% 12% KOR 51% 49% TAI 7% 67% 27% 4.3 KICKS Kicks include all kicks made in general play inc. punts, chips, ground (i.e. football kick) and grubber kicks. The average number of kicks in a game was 3.0 (Dubai was 3.7, George was 3.8, Wellington was 3.5, Las Vegas was 4.8 and Adelaide was 3.0). Samoa and Italy kicked far more often than any other team while USA, Thailand and Korea on the other hand, kicked very little. AVERAGE KICKS 3 HIGHEST KICKING MATCH 10 (Samoa v Italy) LOWEST KICKING MATCH 0 (6 matches) KICK REGAIN RATE 1 in 3.1 4 16 0 1 in 3 Of the total kicks made by teams in open play, the attached table shows how many were regained. The overall kick regain rate was 1 in 3.1 (Dubai = 1 in 2.6, George = 1 in 3.0, Wellington = 1 in 3.4, Las Vegas = 1 in 6.1 and Adelaide = 1 in 2.4) There were a wide variety of kicks as of all the kicks, 27% were chip kicks, 31% were punt kicks, 24% were ground kicks and 18% were grubber kicks. PAGE 11
5. SET PIECE RESTARTS SCRUMS AVERAGE 7 4 HIGHEST IN A MATCH 13 8 LOWEST IN A MATCH 4 1 SUCCESS % 38% or 1 in 2.7 89% 80% 35% 85% Restarts were classified into 2 types: 85% of restarts were kicked contestable 15% of restarts were kicked not contestable (Dubai = 75%, George = 79% %, Wellington = 72%, Las Vegas = 38% and Adelaide = 85%) Retention rates reflect the number of times that possession was retained at contestable restarts they varied considerably. Of all contestable restarts, the kicking team regained 38% or 1 in 2.7 (Dubai - 37%, George - 31%, Wellington 38%, Las Vegas 39% and Adelaide 43%) OWN RESTARTS REGAIN SUCCESS LINEOUTS OPP RESTARTS RECEIVE SUCCESS RESTARTS SCRUMS 2 7 4 5 11 10 0 3 ENG 1 in 1.6 FRA 1 in 1.0 ENG 100% 0 0 7 matches 30 matches CONTESTABLE OWN RESTARTS LINEOUTS 3 7 75% NOT CONTESTABLE 0% USA 1 in 1.6 RSA 1 in 1.2 SCO 100% SAM 1 in 2.2 ENG 1 in 1.3 SAM 100% SCO 1 in 2.3 AUS 1 in 1.4 ARG 100% WAL 1 in 2.4 NZL 1 in 1.4 KEN 95% KEN 1 in 2.6 USA 1 in 1.4 FRA 93% RSA 1 in 2.6 FJI 1 in 1.5 RSA 90% AUS 1 in 2.7 KEN 1 in 1.8 AUS 89% FJI 1 in 2.9 SCO 1 in 1.8 USA 84% ARG 1 in 3.2 WAL 1 in 1.8 FJI 82% NZL 1 in 4.8 SAM 1 in 2.0 NZL 68% FRA 1 in 7.0 ARG 1 in 6.0 WAL 63% 0% 0% 0% 5% 7% 10% 11% 16% 18% 32% 37% As can be seen in the tables, England and USA were the most successful in regaining own short restarts and France and South Africa the most successful in receiving opposition short restarts. France was the least successful at regaining own contestable restarts, however they receive every opposition contestable restarts. There were 7 teams that always kicked contestable restarts, whereas Italy kicked contestable only 18% of the time. There were only 16 restart errors or 1 in every 27 restarts.. This is the lowest number and best rate so far this series. (Dubai = 17 or 1 in 14.0, George = 17 or 1 in 17.7, Wellington = 27 or 1 in 11.4, Las Vegas = 19 or 1 in 14.6 and Adelaide = 10 or 1 in 30) PAGE 12
OWN RESTARTS REGAIN SUCCESS OPP RESTARTS RECEIVE SUCCESS CONTESTABLE THA 1 in 2.0 TAII 1 in 1.3 JAP 100% OWN RESTARTS NOT CONTESTABLE 0% JAP 1 in 2.2 RUS 1 in 1.3 HKG 100% TAI 1 in 2.5 TON 1 in 1.3 TON 100% POR 1 in 2.7 HKG 1 in 1.6 CAN 96% CAN 1 in 2.9 CAN 1 in 1.7 RUS 90% RUS 1 in 3.0 ITA 1 in 1.7 POR 89% HKG 1 in 3.3 KOR 1 in 1.7 THA 86% TON 1 in 3.7 POR 1 in 1.7 TAI 83% KOR 1 in 4.0 ZIM 1 in 1.7 KOR 80% ZIM 1 in 4.3 CHI 1 in 1.8 ZIM 68% CHI 1 in 8.0 JAP 1 in 2.0 CHI 67% ITA 0 in 3 THA 1 in 2.1 ITA 18% 0% 0% 4% 10% 11% 14% 17% 20% 32% 33% 82% Overall Scrum success was 89% and overall Lineout success was 80%.. The following table shows the success rate for each team on own put/throw in and opposition put/throw in: OWN ENG 12/12 ARG 10/10 FJI 7/7 KEN 7/7 FRA 5/5 WAL 5/5 SAM 15/16 SCO 14/15 RSA 12/14 USA 9/10 AUS 6/10 NZL 6/8 SCRUM LINEOUT OPP OWN OWN OPP 0/7 FJI 5/5 1/3 2/8 FRA 2/2 0/2 1/8 ENG 2/2 2/5 0/8 WAL 8/9 1/9 3/14 RSA 7/8 1/6 1/10 NZL 7/8 2/6 1/13 KEN 6/7 0/5 1/7 SAM 3/4 3/10 2/12 USA 6/8 1/2 2/12 SCO 5/7 1/8 1/12 ARG 5/7 1/5 0/14 AUS 3/5 0/6 PAGE 13
OWN CHI 11/11 POR 10/10 KOR 8/8 HKG 8/9 RUS 8/9 TAI 8/9 TON 7/8 JAP 7/8 ZIM 5/6 THA 9/11 CAN 9/11 ITA 5/8 SCRUM LINEOUT OPP OWN OWN OPP 0/4 TAI 3/3 1/2 0/8 ZIM 2/2 1/4 0/5 KOR 2/2 0/0 0/7 ITA 8/9 1/6 3/17 TON 4/5 2/7 2/7 POR 1/2 0/5 2/8 HKG 1/2 0/11 0/9 THA 0/1 0/3 2/14 JAP 10/12 1/5 0/9 RUS 7/9 2/7 1/12 CHI 2/4 2/5 0/2 CAN 7/10 4/11 9 teams won possession on everyone of their own scrum put in s and 6 teams won everyone of their lineouts. France won 3 of the 14 opposition scrum put in s and Canada managed to steal 4 of the 11 opposition lineouts. There were 14 quick throws or 1 in every 9.5 lineouts. 6. PENALTIES & FREE KICKS AVERAGE PENS/FKs 5.5 HIGHEST IN A MATCH 12 (Wales v Argentina) LOWEST IN A MATCH 0 (Fiji v Thailand) The average number of penalties and free kicks per game (not inc restart free kicks) was 5.5 (Dubai 2009 = 5.0, George = 5.3, Wellingtonn = 6.6, Las Vegas = 5.6 and Adelaide = 6.2). What needs to be noted that absolute statistics and averages do not necessarily reflect the true degree of discipline or ill- discipline of a particular team. The number of penalties can, for example, vary from match to match. Some referees penalise more than others. A better and probably more accurate indicator, therefore, is the proportion of penalties conceded by a team in all their matches compared with their opponents. Each team s proportion % for and against can be seen in the following table together with the totals and averages per game. It can be seen that USA were awarded more penalties than they conceded and Fiji conceded more. 6 14 0 (2 matches) PAGE 14
PENS & FKS FOR PENS & FKS AGAINST TOTAL AVERAGE % TOTAL AVERAGE % USA 17 SAM 23 NZL 15 ARG 16 SCO 17 KEN 15 WAL 23 AUS 16 RSA 14 FRA 12 ENG 15 FJI 4 3.4 65% 9 1.8 35% 3.8 61% 15 2.5 39% 2.5 60% 10 1.7 40% 4 53% 14 3.5 47% 3.4 50% 17 3.4 50% 3 50% 15 3 50% 3.8 50% 23 3.8 50% 2.7 47% 18 3 53% 2.3 47% 16 2.7 53% 3 46% 14 3.5 54% 3 45% 18 3.6 55% 0.8 29% 10 2 71% Of the penalties awarded 59% were awarded at the breakdown (Dubai = 68%, George = 61%, Wellington = 56%, Las Vegas = 61% and Adelaide = 54%). There were 194 breakdown penalties awarded, 59% were FOR the attacking team and 41% were AGAINST the attacking team (Dubai = 57% & 43%, George = 55% & 45%, Wellington = 74% & 26%, Las Vegas = 63% & 37% and Adelaide = 68% & 32%). PENS & FKS FOR PENS & FKS AGAINST TOTAL TAI 13 KOR 8 CHI 9 TON 12 HKG 18 RUS 13 ZIM 12 JAP 12 CAN 16 POR 15 THA 5 ITA 7 AVERAGE % TOTAL AVERAGE % 3.3 59% 9 2.3 41% 2.0 57% 6 1.5 43% 2.3 56% 7 1.8 44% 3.0 55% 10 2.5 45% 3.0 53% 16 2.7 47% 2.2 50% 13 2.2 50% 2.4 50% 12 2.4 50% 3.0 48% 13 3.3 52% 2.7 46% 19 3.2 54% 3.0 43% 20 4.0 57% 1.3 42% 7 1.8 58% 1.4 30% 16 3.2 70% PAGE 15
Of all penalty decisions, 81% of Penalties and Free kicks were tap kicks and 19% were kicks to touch there were no Penalty Goal attempts. (Dubaii = 83% & 17%, George = 84% & 16%, Wellington = 87% & 13%, Las Vegas = 71% & 29% and Adelaide 85% & 15%) The average number of penalties and the total number of cards awarded by the 8 participating referees was as follows: 7. CARDS AVERAGE PENS MATCHES & FKS PER GAME ASO 6 6.0 BOLABIU 6 6.3 BRIANT 8 7.4 FRASER 7 4.1 HIRABAYASHI 6 5.8 LEES 8 5.6 PASTRANA 7 4.3 SMORTCHEVSKY 6 4.0 MASON 6 5.2 TOTAL YELLOW/ RED CARDS 3 6 1 2 4 4 2 1 2 There were 25 yellow cards and 0 red card issued. This year, 16 of the 24 teams concededd at least one card, as seen in the table. Argentina and Zimbabwe conceded 3 each. The offences for which yellow cards were awarded were as follows: HONG KONG Dangerous Tackle/Charge 16 Ruck Offence 3 Foul Play 4 Time Wasting 1 Deliberate Knockon 1 The following table shows the number of yellow and red cards awarded at each leg of the IRB Sevens: YELLOW + RED CARDS 2009/10 L CITING SUSPENSIONS 2009/10 DUBAI 3 + 0 2 GEORGE 16 + 1 1 WELLINGTON 12 + 0 4 USA 8 + 1 3 ADELAIDE 17 + 0 1 25 + 0 3 LONDON SCOTLAND YELLOW + RED CARDS 12 + 0 18 + 1 23 + 1 15 + 0 9 + 0 14 + 0 6 + 0 11 + 1 108 + 3 YELLOW CARDS ARG 3 ZIM 3 FJI 2 FRA 2 ITA 2 NZL 2 SAM 2 AUS 1 CAN 1 HKG 1 JAP 1 KEN 1 KOR 1 RUS 1 SCO 1 WAL 1 TOTAL 25 RED CARDS 0 PAGE 16