Numbers, numbers: We love our stats at Planet Rugby
Stats are like Aussie commentators - you either love them or hate them! And once again, we couldn't resist hauling out the calculators and punching through some interesting figures from 2011.
Thanks for the support this year, and have a safe and prosperous 2012!
51 - Number of tries scored in this year's Six Nations (three more than last year - 48)
25 - Number of career tries scored in the Championship by Ireland centre Brian O'Driscoll, breaking the record held by Scotland's Ian Smith since 1933.
10 - The number of years since all of the teams had the same head coach as in the previous year's tournament.
9 - Number of times Italy have picked up the wooden spoon since joining the Six Nations in 2000.
559 - Number of tries scored in Super Rugby this season (4.51 per match)
0 - Number of points scored by Super Rugby newbies the Melbourne Rebels in their opening game against the Waratahs.
43 - Number of points conceded by Super Rugby newbies the Melbourne Rebels in their opening game against the Waratahs.
228 - Number of points scored by Reds pivot Quade Cooper in Super Rugby this season (leading points scorer).
16 - Number of years it took for the Reds to win another Super Rugby title after beating the Crusaders 18-13 in the final.
696 300 - Financial loss suffered by the homeless Crusaders, who were affected drastically by the earthquake that shook Christchurch earlier this year.
8 - Number of games Northampton Saints went unbeaten on their way to the Heineken Cup final.
27 - Number of unanswered points scored by Leinster in the second half of the Heineken Cup final (after trailing by 16 points at half-time) to pick up their second European Cup title.
72,456 - Attendance figure at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff for the Heineken Cup Final between Northampton and Leinster.
18 - Number of times Toulouse have won the Bouclier de Brennus after beating Montpellier 15-10 in the Top 14 final.
15 - Number of tries scored by Toulouse speedster Maxime Médard (leading try-scorer in the 2010/2011 Top 14)
12 - Number of years it took for the Lions to be crowned Currie Cup champions again.
61 - Number of years it took for the Lions to win the Currie Cup at their home ground again.
1 - Number of matches won by South Africa in this year's Tri-Nations.
26 - Number of tries scored in the 2011 Tri-Nations (4.33 per match)
10 - Number of years it took for Australia to end their Tri-Nations title drought.
9 - Number of times the New Zealand Sevens team have won the World Sevens Series title.
40 - Number of tries scored by Springbok Sevens flyer Cecil Afrika last season (World Sevens Series leading try-scorer for 2010/2011)
2,245 - Points scored at the 2011 Rugby World Cup (The average of 46.8 points per match was the second-lowest behind only the 37.4 set at the 1991 RWC).
301 - Points scored by New Zealand at the 2011 Rugby World Cup, 73 more than second-best Wales.
262 - Tries scored at the 2011 Rugby World Cup (The average of 5.46 per match was the second lowest behind only the 4.6 scored at the 1991 event).
171 - Penalties scored at the 2011 Rugby World Cup. The average of 3.56 per match was the lowest ever.
92 - Points scored by Italy in their four pool matches, the most by a team that failed to make the quarter-finals.
18 - Matches in Japan's record RWC winless streak.
1,250 - Dan Carter's career Test points world record after he scored 21 points in his two matches at the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
62 - Points scored by Morné Steyn at the 2011 Rugby World Cup, more than any other player (The fewest points scored by a tournament top-scorer in RWC history).
21 - Players to have played 100 Test matches after All Blacks Richie McCaw and Mils Muliaina and Wallaby Nathan Sharpe reached that milestone during the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
19 - Wales wing George North, at 19 years and 166 days old, became the youngest RWC try-scorer when he touched down against Namibia.
836 - Caps in the South Africa starting line-up for their RWC quarter-final against Australia - the most capped line-up in Test history.
3 - Three of the four pool winners were knocked out of the 2011 Rugby World Cup in the quarter-finals, the most to lose at that stage in a RWC.
5 - Fewest first-half points in a RWC Final. New Zealand led France 5-0 at half-time.
8 - New Zealand's score in the 2011 World Cup Final was the lowest winning score in any RWC match.
8,891 - Days between the first RWC Final in 1987 when New Zealand beat France at Eden Park, and the 2011 RWC Final - which ended with the same result.
1342 - Days left until the start of the 2015 Rugby World Cup!
Compiled by Dave Morris
Comments
Rosbif says...
@BVD, no worries, I always read your stuff, trolling or otherwise... Btw, to get an idea of how in a minority we French and SAfricans are within the PR readership, just check out the results of the "Who will win RWC2015" poll. Our two countries are currently vying for 7th place, well behind wales, ireland and england. Need I say more?
Posted 19:44 30th December 2011
BokVanDam says...
@Golden_State: THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU. By alluding to our admittedly disgraceful past, you have just proved my point. To paraphrase the words of Jake White who spoke in a BBC interview a good few years back: 'When it comes to refereeing decisions against South Africa, we're still being punished for the sins of our fathers.' Honestly, thank you mate. You have just proved beyond doubt that I have been right all along, SA ARE being unfairly punished by referees who have a prejudiced view of South Africans in general.
Posted 17:19 30th December 2011
XavfromNantes says...
4 - the number of people (including me) that have fallen so far to the trolling tactics of BokVanDam
Posted 14:48 30th December 2011
golden_statenba says...
@BVD
Not nice when there is one set of rules for one group and different set for another right?
Posted 13:06 30th December 2011
pinky says...
0 - the number of games of rugby that BVD has actually played in his life
Posted 13:03 30th December 2011
BokVanDam says...
SA's lack of discipline? Go take a look at Rolland's sending off of Rossouw. He basically tapped McCaw on the side of his head - it looked more like he was fixing his hair - and got carded for it. Fact remains - in the eyes of the IRB there is one set of laws for SA, and another for the rest of the world.
Posted 11:43 30th December 2011
sshkboy says...
0 - the number of readers who take BVD seriously, which is also the same number of tries his almighty SA scored on home soil in the tri nations, as well as the same number of SA players in the 2011 team of the year
Posted 10:40 30th December 2011
rohan1992 says...
BokVanDam maybe that just points out SA's lack of discipline?
Posted 10:33 30th December 2011
BokVanDam says...
How about giving us the figure for the amount of players SA had sent off in the 3N compared with NZ and Aus? I think you'd find the result horribly skewed against SA. Who can remember Danie Rossouw getting sent off by that biased clown Allain Rolland for tapping Richie McCaw on the side of the head?
Posted 08:49 30th December 2011