It’s time for our weekly statistical analysis of the Sharks, courtesy of the statistics made available by www.rugbystats.com.au. Our focus this week is Saturday’s 30-34 loss against the Waratahs in Sydney.
Looking at the team stats, the first thing that stands out as a real positive is that total penalties conceded is way down, at only 6 for the match. That’s around half what it was in previous weeks, so the Sharks have worked really hard on their discipline. Possession favoured the Waratahs by the slightest margin (51%), but the Sharks had the lion’s share of the territory (62%). The Tahs bossed the ruck and maul count (97 to 85) and scrums (8 to 5), but the Sharks were well ahead in lineout wins (12 for 12 against 5 from 6). Telling, though, was the number of line breaks to the home side, who managed 8 to the Sharks’ 4.
The Sharks made more tackles (161 to 142) but their completion statistic was again lower than their opponents’ (and too low in general) at 79%. That translates to a whopping 43 missed or infective tackles over 80 minutes.
Marcell Coetzee again emerged as the top tackler, with 25 hits and 3 misses, while Willem Alberts (18) and Dale Chadwick (15) also put in huge work on defence. Jannie du Plessis has the best effectiveness of the starting team, with 8 hits and no misses, while Coetzee (86%), Alberts (90%) and Time Whitehead (85%) also doing well. It’s interesting to note that Marius Joubert made 4 tackles and missed none. The worst offenders for missed tackles were Lwazi Mvovo (5) and Riaan Viljoen (4).
Coetzee again made the most runs (11) followed by Whitehead (10), but it was Meyer Bosman who made the most metres with ball in hand, with 72, ahead of Whitehead’s 65m. The four line breaks were shared one apiece between Bismarck du Plessis, Pat Lambie, Lwazi Mvovo and Keegan Daniel. Coetzee also hit the most rucks (13) followed by Alberts and Whitehead, with 7 each.
Anton Bresler gave away 2 penalties, with Chadwick, Whitehead, Odwa Ndungane and Hiehahn Herbst each responsible for one. With a total error score of 7, from those penalties, plus 3 turnovers and 2 missed tackles, it’s Bresler who has the highest score, closely followed by Mvovo with 6.
Most Valuable Player, once again, goes to Coetzee for coming out top of the pops in most of the categories that count.
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Great to see out discipline has improved! That’s at least something. Congrats to Marcell for yet another great performance.
One thing is for sure is that Marcel is playing him self into the Bok team.
Just goes to show who the hardest working players are… The youngsters! Coetzee, Whitehead, Chadwick… Am i mistaken in saying that Chadwick has played every minute of every game thus far?
@The Quirk (Comment 3) : he has yes
Missed tackles… there you go.
43 is not acceptable and primarily the reason why we lost.
If you look at their tries:
1) Scrummy diving over top of the ruck to score.
2) Centre diving thru the middle of the poles
3) Wing (being marked) able to grind his way into the corner.
Bad defense Sharkies, there’s no way a good defensive team should have allowed the lighter backline players to muscle their way over the whitewash.
Good to see something positive from the game! By the end of the season we may have to double Marcell’s pay to keep him in Durbs
@Die Kriek (Comment 6) : He is definitely the business!
@The Quirk (Comment 3) : you would not be mistaken in saying that. 400 minutes so far
Well done Marcell! All your hard work finally gets rewarded! Keep it up Buddy!
Wat nou!!!!
I have not watched the game yet but according to Butchie and most others MJ was solely responsible for losing the game due to missed tackles, are these stats correct and if yes are some prejudiced for whatever reason ala Meyer Bosman of last year.
@Salmonoid (Comment 10) : glad you spotted it 🙂
An interesting stat is that despite hitting 13 rucks, Coetzee didn’t turn-over one ball (although this is according to an Aussie website). That’s not great for a 6.
This same website only has him making 5 turn-overs all season. Even if it’s underestimating his contribution, it shows he still has plenty of growing to do. Give him a couple of years of gym time/plaas werk with Bissie and he should be a Bok.
@Flashman (Comment 13) : Send him off to dip the sheep at Bissie’s farm, I say. 🙂
@Flashman (Comment 13) : Worth noting what the Aussies call a turnover is giving possesion away, knock-on, penalty, etc. A turnover as we call it is a steal/pilfer in Aus
@Flashman (Comment 12) : why is that surprising though, no matter where the website is from?
He is a ball carrier for us. I can’t actually recall a single turnover he made on Saturday, so I don’t find the stat surprising or biased at all.
@Flashman (Comment 12) : Not all sixes are fetchers though and in the case of Schalk Burger, it hasn’t impeded his Springbok career. Also Marcell, is actually a 7/8 filling in at 6 as I understand it.
@Salmonoid (Comment 10) :
I think most people’s gripe with MJ is that he adds no value off the bench whatsoever.
Hence the call for Jordaan to be in the mix in case we find ourselves 4 points down with 5 mins to go again.
MJ has nothing left in the tank, adds no spark when required against tired legs and is totally passed it.
Whoever said that he was to blame because of missed tackles has it wrong but I think the rest of us have are correct in saying that he is of no use. Especeially coming off the bench.
@John Galt (Comment 18) : Also, stats only paint a part of the picture as we should all know by now. Tackle stats would provide no insight into gaps he might have been responsible for on defence.
@Salmonoid (Comment 10) : I wouldn’t go as far as saying Marius Joubert cost us the game. I would go as far as saying Marius Joubert is as useful as a wooden tit on an expectant mother though. 😈
@Culling Song (Comment 20) : and I don’t know any wooden tits that can play rugby…
@Culling Song (Comment 20) : Eish thats harsh, especially for those that he is deemed to be better than.
@KSA Shark © (Comment 16) : @vanmartin (Comment 17) : If he’s constantly hitting more rucks than anyone else (which he should be on the openside) then he is our main fetcher. Every game he plays he makes more rucks and affects fewer turn-overs than most. I’m just saying that’s a relatively simple part of his game to improve.
@Franshark (Comment 21) : See you got a silver star! Congrats!
@vanmartin (Comment 19) :
Exactly right.
@Salmonoid (Comment 22) : I suspect my feelings regarding MJ has passed the limits of rationality…
@vanmartin (Comment 19) : @John Galt (Comment 25) :
Do you guys have those stats for the team?
@vanmartin (Comment 17) : Yup he’s actually a 8.
@vanmartin (Comment 19) : True. MJ was in a large part responsible for the last try we conceded. He rushed out of the line and didn’t manage to get to the ball.
@Salmonoid (Comment 27) : They don’t keep track of those types of defensive lapses on that website. Maybe there are others out there that do but I suspect it would be a pretty difficult thing to do.
So according to them Bismark only pilfered the ball twice in the competition… He stole the ball at least four or five times per game!!
@King Shark (Comment 31) : maybe more than twice, but “at least 4 or 5 times per game”… ??? 😯 😯
@vanmartin (Comment 24) : 🙂 thanks
@vanmartin (Comment 24) : and the uncomfortable frog is gone 😉
Just a reminder! Marcell is only 20, duhu, of course he still has a lot to learn!
@Franshark (Comment 34) : New avatar is definitely an improvement! 😀
@underdog (Comment 35) : DuH! We know! We are HUGE fans…of which I claim to be the biggest Marcell fan! 😉
@Ice (Comment 37) : and anyone on here knows not to mess with me regarding M! 😈 I am a rather feared creature.
I felt like, even when we did make our tackles, we did not make them effectively enough and always gave the Waratahs to much go forward, even at the start of the game, when we would not have had any fatiguing effects.
We need to be more aggressive in the tackle and put our opposition on the back foot, thus creating less space and weaker attacks from them. Thus making it easier to turn over possession and get front foot attacking ball.
@Salmonoid (Comment 10) : 😈 Yip. Blame it on the guy who played 30 seconds…and Meyer Bosman was the hero this week… 😈
@Ben (Comment 29) : 😈 To be objective you need to groan more about Tim’s bad moment than to focus on MJ rushing defence which is a well used move close to the line where one player moves up to try and win meters. There were far worse f****ups by our heros than with MJ’s move! 😈