It does not happen often, but on Saturday it was the side who dominated the attacking stats that also won the game. Sadly for Bok fans, though, it was the team in black.
Tank Lanning
If we learnt anything from the match stats that came out of the All Black’s 20-18 win over the Boks in the World Cup semi-final played at Twickenham on Saturday evening, is that … rugby was the winner!
So often in the modern game, it’s the team with the least ball that wins the game. Ball in hand leads to mistakes which the opposition thrive on. But on Saturday it was the side who dominated the attacking stats that won the game. Sadly for Bok fans, though, it was the team in black.
But it wasn’t all ball in hand for the All Blacks. Their monster 47 kicks from hand was 7 more than the Boks, and the astuteness of said kicks saw men in black dominate both the territory (67%) and possession (57%).
And out of this dominance, as per the below documented numbers, the All Blacks then dominated the carries, metres run, offloads, carries and defenders beaten stats. That the Boks managed to keep it to a 2 point game is mind blowing.
It was all about an industrial defence, the Boks being forced into making close on 50 more tackles than their opposition. That said, the Boks also missed 20 tackles to the All Black’s 3. They also coughed up 4 lineouts, normally a part of the game that the Boks own.
Tenacity, guts and character the Boks have in spades, and that is what kept them in the game. Something difficult to measure in statistical format.
A look at all the match stats from the Vodacom Rugby App:
Points: SA 18-20 NZ
Tries: SA 0-2 NZ
Penalty tries: SA 0-0 NZ
Penalty goals: SA 6-1 NZ
Conversions: SA 0-2 NZ
Drop goals: SA 0-1 NZ
Missed penalty goals: SA 0-1 NZ
Missed conversions: SA 0-0 NZ
Possession: SA 43%-57% NZ
Territory: SA 33%-67% NZ
Carries: SA 76-117 NZ
Clean breaks: SA 3-5 NZ
Defenders beaten: SA 3-20 NZ
Handling errors: SA 8-7 NZ
Kicks from hand: SA 40-47 NZ
Kicks caught: SA 31-36 NZ
Knock ons: SA 8-7 NZ
Lineouts won on own ball: SA 13-10 NZ
Lineouts stolen: SA 0-4 NZ
Loose ball collected: SA 16-24 NZ
Metres run: SA 149-387 NZ
Offloads: SA 0-3 NZ
Passes: SA 79-161 NZ
Penalties conceded: SA 6-13 NZ
Red cards: SA 0-0 NZ
Scrums won: SA 7-4 NZ
Scrums lost: SA 0-1 NZ
Tackles made: SA 131-83 NZ
Tackles missed: SA 20-3 NZ
Try assists: SA 0-2 NZ
Turnovers won: SA 6-9 NZ
Yellow cards: SA 1-1 NZ
Key individual stats:
Willie le Roux: 8 kicks from hand, 17 metres run, 10 carries, 0 defenders beaten, 5 passes, 2 knock ons
Bryan Habana: 1 penalty conceded, 1 yellow card, 17 metres run, 3 carries, 1 knock on
JP Pietersen: 3 metres run, 1 carry
Jesse Kriel: 3 kicks from hand, 21 metres run, 1 clean break, 1 carry, 0 passes, 1 missed tackle
Damien de Allende: 0 kicks from hand, 28 metres run, 1 clean break, 8 carries, 2 defenders beaten, 1 pass, 8 tackles, 2 missed tackles, 2 turovers
Handre Pollard: 5 penalty goals, 0 missed penalties, 12 kicks from hand, 21 metres run, 1 clean break, 3 carries, 1 defender beaten, 6 passes, 11 tackles, 5 missed tackles, 1 knock on
Fourie du Preez: 15 metres run, 13 kicks from hand, 40 metres run, 7 carries, 50 passes
Duane Vermeulen: 12 metres run, 8 carries, 7 tackles, 1 missed tackle, 2 turnovers, 3 lineout won
Schalk Burger: 1 penalty conceded, 4 metres run, 8 carries, 5 passes, 13 tackles, 1 missed tackle, 1 knock on
Francois Louw: 1 penalty conceded, 30 metres run, 4 carries, 13 tackles, 1 missed tackle, 2 turnovers
Eben Etzebeth: 2 penalties conceded, 0 metres run, 2 carries, 16 tackles, 4 lineouts won
Lood de Jager: 2 metres run, 3 carries, 14 tackles, 2 missed tackles, 4 lineouts won
Frans Malherbe: 8 tackles, 1 tighthead
Bismarck du Plessis: 7 carries, 5 tackles 2 missed tackles
Beast Mtawarira: 11 tackles, 2 missed tackles, 2 knock ons, 1 tighthead
All stats courtesy of the Vodacom Rugby App, which is available for download in all app stores. Download it now and feel like a coach during the match, and a know-it-all at the post match braai.
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