Some interesting statistical trends from the last four years of Tier 1 test rugby which were affirmed by #RWC2019, and some others which ran contrary to what we had seen earlier in the cycle:
Making ground by carrying the ball continued to become more difficult, with the average carry in the World Cup making 3.2m - compared to 3.7m in tests in 2016.
Offloading also trended down over the cycle: 6.1% of carries in Japan resulted in an offload, vs. 8.0% in 2016.
Offloading also trended down over the cycle: 6.1% of carries in Japan resulted in an offload, vs. 8.0% in 2016.
While the average number of passes completed per carry remained in the 1.23-1.29 range in each year between 2016-2018, the average for this World Cup was 1.18.
The impact of Australia's change in attack structure is clear: they passed only 1.03 times per carry at the RWC, vs. 1.35 across the entire cycle.
Ireland's figure at the tournament was also notably down on their cycle average, from 1.27 in the 2016-19 period as a whole to 1.07.
Ireland's figure at the tournament was also notably down on their cycle average, from 1.27 in the 2016-19 period as a whole to 1.07.
England - whose attack has been revamped under Scott Wisemantel over the last 18 months - were at the other end of the spectrum among quarter-finalists. Their passes-per-carry figure in the RWC (1.27) was 7% higher than their 2016-19 average (1.19).
On the defensive side of the ball, South Africa restricted opponents to 2.2m per carry on average; this was markedly lower than the second-ranked defence by this metric (New Zealand: 2.6m).
The relative regularity with which teams kicked in open play increased at the World Cup, after falling for a couple of years in the middle of the cycle.
Teams carried 4.7 times for every kick at the tournament, compared to figures of 5.9 in 2017 and 5.0 in 2018 (2016: 4.8).
Teams carried 4.7 times for every kick at the tournament, compared to figures of 5.9 in 2017 and 5.0 in 2018 (2016: 4.8).
To no one's surprise, RSA led the way on this front: they completed only 3.2 carries for every kick in Japan.
NZL were the outlier among the semi-finalists with a below-average figure of 5.4 (ENG 4.6, WAL 4.2) - in their SF against ENG, this rose to 6.4 carries for every kick.
NZL were the outlier among the semi-finalists with a below-average figure of 5.4 (ENG 4.6, WAL 4.2) - in their SF against ENG, this rose to 6.4 carries for every kick.
Also to no one's surprise, AUS were the only other team with more than 5 carries per kick on average.
With a figure of 9.0, they kicked almost half as often as an average Tier 1 side at the tournament when they were in possession.
With a figure of 9.0, they kicked almost half as often as an average Tier 1 side at the tournament when they were in possession.
RSA - showing their reliance on Faf de Klerk's box-kicking - were the shortest-kicking team, with an average kick length of 22.8m.
ENG and WAL were the two longest-kicking teams, both averaging 31.1m per kick.
ENG and WAL were the two longest-kicking teams, both averaging 31.1m per kick.
In terms of overall game structure, matches continued to trend away from penalties and set pieces and towards breakdowns.
The average number of rucks and mauls per lineout or scrum was 5.6 at this RWC (2016: 4.9), and the average number per penalty was 11.3 (2016: 9.1).
The average number of rucks and mauls per lineout or scrum was 5.6 at this RWC (2016: 4.9), and the average number per penalty was 11.3 (2016: 9.1).
(All data is courtesy of @espnscrum, with the exception of kicking metres [@rugbyworldcup]. RWC figures include all matches between T1 teams and Japan, while all other figures include matches between T1 teams only.)
