Let’s look at a few of the statistics to come out of the drab win over the Kings, courtesy of www.rugbystats.com.au.
We’ll need to change the way we do this, this year, since it seems Verusco no longer has their stats on-line. The thing to bear in mind with any statistics, though, is that they are always very subjective, depending on the means used to collate them. These numbers are probably, then, more interesting in a relative, than in an absolute sense.
Looking at defence, as we usually do first up, the Sharks’ best defender was Marcell Coetzee, who made 12 tackles and missed none (100% effectiveness). Pat Lambie wasn’t far behind, with 11 tackles and no misses, while Jacques Botes made 10, also without a miss. The only players to miss more than a single tackle were JP Pietersen (3) and Craig Burden (2). Unfortunately for the hooker, those were the only two attempts he made, leaving him with a 0% effectiveness score – statistically the worst defender on the day.
Marcell Coetzee made the most runs (11), followed by Beast Mtawarira, Ryan Kankowski and Louis Ludik (9 each). Coetzee also made the most metres (54m) followed by Ludik (50m) and Pietersen (49m). Cobus Reinach made 2 line breaks, which was the most, while Kankowski and Frans Steyn each made 2 offloads.
Coetzee hit the most rucks (10), followed by Mtarawiwra (9) and Botes (8).
Beast Mtawarira, Marcell Coetzee, Jacques Botes and Louis Ludik each gave away 2 penalties, while Cobus Reinach (3) conceded the most turnovers, with Paul Jordaan giving away 2. In terms of total errors, it was Reinach who recorded the highest total error score, with 4, just ahead of Mtawarira, Burden, Jordaan and Pietersen (3 each). That’s made up by combining the number of penalties, turnovers and missed tackles conceded by a player..
Based on his contribution, Marcell Coetzee is once again the clear MVP from a statistical point of view, with Ludik the runner-up and Mtawarira in third place.
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Just having a look at the stats showed how dominant the Sharks were in all aspects but results:
Kings had to make 165 tackles vs. 85 for the Sharks.
Kings missed 15 vs. 9 for the Sharks
Sharks made 549 m with ball in hand vs. 252 for the Kings.
Sharks – 3 line breaks with 1 for the Kings
Sharks – 12 offloads vs 4 for the Kings
Statistically the negatives for the Sharks were:
13 penalties vs 11 for the Kings
10 turnovers vs 13 for the Kings
@Bokhoring (Comment 1) : And 0 tries. 😈
@McLovin (Comment 2) : Most important is the win. 🙂
@McLovin (Comment 2) : I did say – dominant in all aspects but results
@Bokhoring (Comment 4) : I’m just being ‘aspris’.
Last year one of my biggest fears, when Lambie was selected for the Boks, was that Heyneke would turn him into the player we’re seeing at the moment.
Maybe I’m wrong but it appears that he is playing the way Heyneke wants him to play and not the way he used to play. 🙄
@Pokkel (Comment 6) : And you know for sure that it is Heyneke who has influenced him to play like this and not what he’s been told to do by the Sharks staff? and that he is completely ignoring people like Carlos Spencer and only playing for selection and not for his team?
@Pokkel (Comment 6) : And I clearly remember Ludik kicking just as much from the back and up and unders from the line, yet Ludik is playing like a star and Lambie is playing for himself?
@Seth101 (Comment 7) : @Seth101 (Comment 8) :
I’m not saying anything…..I’m speculating to why we aren’t seeing the same Lambie as in 2010. It could be any number of factors. I’m just mentioning one that comes to mind. For one Lambie seems to be standing a lot deeper than usual and he started doing that for the Boks which was out of character for him.
@Pokkel (Comment 6) : aren’t the players supposed to have access to online tips telling which areas need to improve in order to make the Bok squad?
Anyways, vs kings every player played for himself, that’s why we didnt’ score any tries. The guys were licking their lips for each scoring tries. We underestimated the opposition.
@Pokkel (Comment 9) : Playing deeper is not only done for kicking. If you look at the kings defense they were up very fast, in fact IMO of sides most of the time. Take a second to think maybe Lambie was playing deep because he has enough intelligence to realise if he didn’t he risked throwing interceptions or being taken out before feeding the back line. All those skip passes and crash balls from Steyn never came with no back line ball I can tell you that much.
@Seth101 (Comment 7) :
I’m not seeing a hell of a lot of Carlos Spencer in the Sharks backline at the moment.
@Pokkel (Comment 12) : I completely agree with you. But I don’t think Lambie is to blame, the centers are not linking as well as should be expected, steyn is obsessed with running at the line and jordaan is struggle with the basics such as staying on his own to feet or keeping the ball in his hands.
@Seth101 (Comment 13) :
It might not be Lambie, it might be Reinach or Steyn. Lambie is suppose to be the general and whatever is causing the Sharks backline to look impotent is reflecting badly on Lambie.
@Pokkel (Comment 14) : You say he is meant to be the General and yes, to an extent he is, but he has the team captain right next to him, there is only so much leadership influence he can have. I just don’t see us in as bad a space as everyone else seems to, we are 3 from 3, and 2nd on the log, compared to last year that is a marked improvement, and we not even at peak performance. I think its a good start and a good base to improve on.
@Seth101 (Comment 15) :
I’m not all that negative. I’m quite happy with where we are. I just really want to see some action and see the Sharks play the way I know they can, the way they played when under pressure towards the end of the S15 last year.
Where is the Verusco player stats???? This was 100% better than what we have now.
@Marge (Comment 17) : I agree with you, Marge. Unfortunately, Verusco are no longer publishing statistics on their website.
@Pokkel (Comment 16) : I think what we are seeing is a more matured Lambie. He has been faced with 2 incredible flat, defensive oppositions the last 2 weeks so he played a more territorial game.
I believe that when we start playing against the New Zealand teams he will open the backline up nicely.
The Sharks left 3 or 4 trys on the field. On any other day those trys could have, should have been scored. The Kings never came close. Hats off to them, they defended like trojans. With the Brumbies, Sharks will have to be at their best and we will be shocked at how easily do it.
The sharks also tend to always play at the same level as their opposition. We will raise our game this week. This is our week to make a statement.
@Ernie (Comment 20) : I agree, a slightly less pedantic ref and both Ludik’s and McLoud’s tries would have been given
In my opinion its Reinach ,his service and speed to the breakdown just isn’t good enough. His passes aren’t accurate and he doesn’t feed first receiver rapidly enough- giving oppositon the time to reset
@Talent (Comment 23) : Its amazing how after a while every No.9 who plays for us gets the exact same thing said about him, Hoffman, McLoud, Reinach, even freddy when he played there, had that exact accusation put on them. Ever consider its not the man but the coaching or the forwards? The Kings were throwing players at the ruck when we had our forwards in the back line. The ball is always going to be slow when its coming from a scrappy break down.
@Seth101 (Comment 24) : I also think our rucks can do with some work. It may be may perception but we are the teams (in top 8 from last year) that concedes the most ruck turnovers. That said Reinach is not without blame either.
@Seth101 (Comment 24) : Explain to me why our forwards had to often step in and make the pass for a wonder about Reinach .
And yes I know there is so much more to quick ball then just the scrummy, starting with how the forwards carry the ball into contact and so on, but I feel Reinach is to blame in this instance. The difference between him and Mcleod is like night and day.
this is not on…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hg2KU5oD2UY&feature=youtube_gdata_player
@Megatron (Comment 27) : Kings supporters got thumpd 😆 😆 but no thats not cool
@Megatron (Comment 27) :
Completely uncalled for..
I hope the Kings management take serious steps!
@Megatron (Comment 27) : PE at its best.
Poor.