The Grunt is known to be a little disparaging toward the Australian Super Rugby derbies, and the ball in hand stats seem to back us up.
Jan Taljaard sent the SA Referees website some stats with regard to ball in play, and both the weekend’s Super Rugby matches were well below average.
A look at the weekend’s ball in hand times:
Super Rugby
Rebels vs Force: 15 minutes 25 seconds + 15 minutes 31 seconds = 30 minutes 56 seconds
Brumbies vs Reds: 13 minutes 34 seconds + 17 minutes 53 seconds = 31 minutes 27 seconds
Average: 31 minutes 12 seconds
Varsity Cup
Shimlas vs Tukkies: 14 minutes 32 seconds + 16 minutes 3 seconds = 30 minutes 35 seconds
Maties vs NMMU: 17 minutes 48 seconds + 19 minutes 11 seconds = 36 minutes 59 seconds
Average: 33 minutes 47 seconds
Community Cup
Rovers vs Despatch: 16 minutes 39 seconds + 13 minutes 56 seconds = 30 minutes 35 seconds
In the weekend prior, the matches with ball in play longest were:
France vs Wales (38 minutes 54 seconds)
Tukkies vs Ikeys (39 minutes 47 seconds)
