Six Nations statistics

Editor

Who conceded the most penalties? Who did the most kicking? We dissect the Official Match Data from the weekend's Six Nations action.

Who conceded the most penalties? Who did the most kicking? We dissect the Official Match Data from the weekend's Six Nations action.

After smashing a half-century of points against Italy, the stars of this week's show are Martin Johnson's boys in white. Or are they?

England completed the most passed – 234 – but that's no surprise considering that they enjoyed more possession than any other team, nearly double that of their opposition.

More interesting to note is that England conceded the most penalties – 18 – while the visitors to Twickenham won more turnovers than any other team, an impressive six.

Marc Lièvremont was rather grumpy after his team nearly threw victory away in Dublin, but France's coach can at least be pleased that his side missed just three tackles, a massive improvement from last week's 25. Les Bleus were also the weekend's most disciplined side, conceding a meager eight penalties at Landsdowne Road.

No surprises that England lead the line-breaking stats. They breached the Italian defence a whopping 15 times.

Ireland can be proud of their defence: France were the best attacking side last week, but managed only one line break on Sunday. The Irish missed four tackles, which isn't bad, but not as good as England, who missed just two.

Wales' trip to Murrayfield saw the most kicking of the weekend, with both Warren Gatland's team and their hosts way out ahead of the rest in terms of possession kicked. The men in red put ball to boot the most – 27 times.

As expected, considering all those line-breaks, England made the most offloads – 17 – but Scotland weren't far behind with 16.

With two rounds completed, we can also start looking at the overall statistics for the tournament, although the game at Twickers tilted most of the stats in England's favour having scored the most points and tries, thanks largely to a certain Chris Ashton, the championship's number one hitman.

Italy have the worst record from the kicking tee with a poor 62 per cent success rate. England are the only team to have nailed all their attempts at goal thanks to Toby Flood (11) and Jonny Wilkinson (4).

Most tackles made: Italy 141 (Wales 137)
Most tackles missed: Wales 14
Most passes completed: England 234
Most line breaks: England 15
Most possession kicked: Wales 27
Most turnovers won: Italy 6
Most offloads in tackle: England 17
Most errors made: Scotland 19 (Ireland 17)
Most penalties conceded: England 18

Least tackles missed: England 2
Least errors made: Italy 6
Least penalties conceded: France 8

Overall for the tournament so far:

Most tackles made: Italy 253
Most tackles missed: France 28
Most passes completed: Scotland 402
Most line breaks: England 17
Most points scored (team): England 85
Most points scored (player): Ashton 30
Most tries scored (team): England 10
Most tries scored (player): Ashton 6
Most possession kicked: Wales 45 %
Most turnovers won: Ireland 8
Most penalties conceded: England 27
Most offloads in tackle: France 25
Most errors made: Ireland /Scotland 31

Least tackles missed: Ireland 7
Least errors made: Italy 14
Least penalties conceded: France 15


England 59 – 13 Italy

Unlike in Rome, the Azzurri set piece was put under pressure in London where Italy lost nine line-outs but could steal just one from England.

Nick Mallet's men also paid for being unable to get their hands on the ball enough, especially in the English 22.

Minutes in possession:
England: 42 mins
Italy: 20 mins, 9 sec

Minutes in opponents half (total):
England: 47mins, 26 sec
Italy: 42mins, 12 sec

Ruck and drive v Ruck and pass:
England: 20 -70
Italy: 10 -59

Ball won in open play – in opposition 22 – in set pieces – in turnovers:
England: 97 – 38- 27 – 1
Italy: 73 -14 – 25 – 6

Possession kicked – Kicks to touch – Percentage kicks
England: 16 – 3 – 28 %
Italy: 15 – 1 – 30 %

Tackles made – tackles missed
England: 81 – 2
Italy: 141 – 9

Total errors made – errors from kicks:
England: 11 – 2
Italy: 6 – 2


Scotland 6 – 24 Wales

Scotland enjoyed the lion's share of territory and possession, but crucially their errors came mainly while they had the ball (26 per cent) – that's more than double Wales' errors count while in possession.

Minutes in possession:
Scotland: 29 mins, 33 sec
Wales: 24 mins, 32 sec

Minutes in opponents half (total):
Scotland: 46 mins, 10 sec
Wales: 33, 28 sec

Ruck and drive v Ruck and pass:
Scotland: 20 -77
Wales: 15 – 53

Ball won in open play – in opposition 22 – in set pieces – in turnovers:
Scotland: 101 – 39 – 23 – 1
Wales: 71 – 14 – 23 – 1

Possession kicked – Kicks to touch – Percentage kicks
Scotland: 25 – 3 -35 %
Wales: 27 – 4 – 43 %

Tackles made – tackles missed
Scotland: 83 – 6
Wales: 137 – 14

Total errors made – errors from kicks:
Scotland: 19 – 4
Wales: 8 – 0


Ireland 22 – 25 France

The very similar stats show that the scoreline is probably a fair reflection of a very close game. Ireland let themselves down with too many errors. France didn't need loads of possession in their opponents' 22, they could kick penalties from further away.

Minutes in possession:
Ireland: 23mins, 31 sec
France: 23mins, 36 sec

Minutes in opponents half (total):
Ireland: 41mims, 15 sec
France: 48 mins, 14 sec

Ruck and drive v Ruck and pass:
Ireland: 19 – 50
France: 20 – 62

Ball won in open play – in opposition 22 – in set pieces – in turnovers:
Ireland: 71 – 44 – 19 – 4
France: 85 -7 – 22 – 1

Possession kicked – Kicks to touch – Percentage kicks
Ireland: 10 – 1 – 22 %
France: 15 – 3 – 34 %

Tackles made – tackles missed
Ireland: 108 – 4
France: 88 – 3

Total errors made – errors from kicks:
Ireland: 17 – 1
France: 9 – 2