Statistic of the Day

[cashead]

I still have no idea why Wales gives caps for these festival matches at all, or why these ones but not others. Fiji and Brazil capped their Baabaas matches this year, as have Canada, Czechia, Georgia, Portugal, Spain, Tunisia and Zimbabwe.

I think at least one of them was about getting someone their 100th test cap, like Martyn Williams or Stephen (or Steven? I can't remember which variation applies to the dickhead "journo" and which goes with the pretty good Welsh 10) Jones. I vaguely remember at least one of those two were involved.

[Puja]

I still have no idea why Wales gives caps for these festival matches at all, or why these ones but not others. Fiji and Brazil capped their Baabaas matches this year, as have Canada, Czechia, Georgia, Portugal, Spain, Tunisia and Zimbabwe.

I think at least one of them was about getting someone their 100th test cap, like Martyn Williams or Stephen (or Steven? I can't remember which variation applies to the dickhead "journo" and which goes with the pretty good Welsh 10) Jones. I vaguely remember at least one of those two were involved.

Shane Williams, IIRC. What's fun is that everyone who played in that game is tied to Wales, whereas Mike Haley, who played England vs Barbarians and England A vs South Africa A has been free to go to Ireland because South Africa A wasn't technically nominated as their 2nd XV at the time.

Not that I'm saying the eligibility rules are broken, but...

Puja

[Lizard]

One of the capped matches was to mark the 130th anniversary of the WRU. I’m not sure that warrants a cap, although the NZRU capped the 3 test series against a World XV for its 100th in 1992.

[zer0]

Because Lizard is very unlikely to do it, here are the total 2020 records for each NZ franchise:

Crusaders @ 11-1-2 (79%)
Blues @ 10-1-4 (67%)
Hurricanes @ 9-5 (64%)
Highlanders @ 7-7 (50%)
Chiefs @ 4-10 (29%)

The Blues were cruelly robbed of their inevitable win today. That guaranteed win would've brought them equal with the Crusaders on 11 wins for the year, and identical SRA records (6-2).

[Lizard]

Because Lizard is very unlikely to do it, here are the total 2020 records for each NZ franchise:

Crusaders @ 11-1-2 (79%)
Blues @ 10-1-4 (67%)
Hurricanes @ 9-5 (64%)
Highlanders @ 7-7 (50%)
Chiefs @ 4-10 (29%)

The Blues were cruelly robbed of their inevitable win today. That guaranteed win would've brought them equal with the Crusaders on 11 wins for the year, and identical SRA records (6-2).

Fucken hate rugby now.

[cashead]

The All Blacks have never conceded a single point on the 23rd of September.

They've only ever played 2 games though - a tour match against Bristol in 1905 which they won 41-0 (which would have been 59-0 by modern scoring) and the test against Scotland at the 07 RWC.

[Lizard]

The All Blacks have never conceded a single point on the 23rd of September.

They've only ever played 2 games though - a tour match against Bristol in 1905 which they won 41-0 (which would have been 59-0 by modern scoring) and the test against Scotland at the 07 RWC.

Nice stattage.

[Lizard]

Largest margins of defeat for Australia:

1. 45 points (53-8, v SA, 2008)
2. 39 (61-22, v SA, 1997)
3. 38 (43-5, v NZ, 2020)
4. 37 (43-6, v NZ, 1996)
5. 36 (36-0, v NZ, 2019)

[Lizard]

All Blacks largest winning margins by opponent:

Japan: 128 (1995)
Tonga: 102 (2000)
Italy: 98 (1999)
Portugal: 95 (2007)
Fiji: 91 (2005)
Samoa: 87 (2008)
Argentina: 85 (1997)
Romania: 77 (2007)
USA: 68 (2014)
Canada: 66 (1995)
Namibia: 62 (2019)
Ireland: 60 (2012)
South Africa: 57 (2017)
Wales: 52 (2003)
France: 51 (2007)
Scotland: 49 (2000)
England: 42 (1998)
Australia: 38 (2020)
Georgia: 33 (2015)
Lions: 32 (1983)
World XV: 28 (1992)
Pacific Is: 15 (2004)

[Lizard]

If A. Ioane, Aumua, Grace and Jordan all take the field, Saturday will be the first time four All Blacks had their test debuts in the same match v Australia since 21 June 1980.

[Lizard]

Just copying this over from another thread, seeing as I've done the work.

There is serious trend of highly prolific All Blacks wingers suffering a precipitous decline in scoring rates in their late twenties.

I've looked at the numbers for every All Black ever with at least 12 tries playing on the wing (excluding Tana Umaga, who was really a centre despite his first 24 caps and 21 tries being on the wing). With one exception (Jeff Wilson, because he’s a bloody legend), the career of every retired played can be divided into prolific early years and poor later years:

Retired players

Stu Wilson: last test aged 29. Scored 15 tries in his first 24 tests (0.63/game) but only 4 in his last 10 (0.4).

John Kirwan: last test 29. 29 tries in first 38 tests (0.76), 6 in last 25 (0.24).

Terry Wright: last test 28. 13 tries in first 15 tests (0.87), 5 in last 15 (0.33).

Jeff Wilson: last test 27. The exception to the rule. His strike rate briefly dipped around the 20 cap mark, but recovered and did not noticeably decline at the end of his career. He scored 7 tries in 10 tests (0.70), 11 in 20 (0.55), 21 in 30 (0.70), 28 in 40 (0.70), 34 in 50 (0.68) and 44 in 60 (0.73). A remarkable career.

Jonah Lomu: last test 27. 28 tries in first 40 tests (0.70). 9 in last 23 (0.39)

Doug Howlett: last test 29. 41 tries in first 49 tests (0.84). 8 in last 13 (0.61) boosted by a hat-trick against a poor Italy at RWC2007.

Josevata Rokocoko: last test 27. 43 tries in first 47 tests (0.91). 3 in last 21 (0.14). This is probably the starkest example.

Sitiveni Sivivatu: last test 29. 27 tries in first 26 tests (1.04). 6 tries in last 22 (0.27)

Cory Jane: last test 31. 16 tries in first 41 tests (0.39). 2 in last 12 (0.17). Never really a strike winger as such.

Israel Dagg: last test 29. A bit of an unusual one. 10 tries in first 17 tests (0.59). 16 tries in last 49 tests (0.32).

Julian Savea: last test 26. 38 tries in first 39 tests (0.97). 7 in last 15 (0.47).

Waisake Naholo: last test 27. 14 tries in first 20 tests (0.70). 2 in last 6 (0.33).

Nehe Milner-Skudder: last test 27. Not a fair comparison as his career was ruined by injury, but you could say he scored 11 tries in his first 10 tests (1.10) and only 1 in last 3 (0.33).

Current players with 12+ tries on the wing

Ben Smith is aged 33. Not really a strike winger. His strike rate so far peaked at 0.57 after 23 tests, dipped to 0.39 after 49 tests, and since then has stayed between 0.40 and 0.48. He’s currently on 0.45 after 83 tests.

Reiko Ioane is only 22. His strike rate so far has peaked at 22 tries in 21 tests (1.05) but since then he has scored only 2 tries in 7 tests (0.29) but this includes one run off the bench and one at centre. Hopefully this is only a mid-career dip and not an early decline.

Just updating this:

Ioane has picked up 2 tries in 4 tests since the above post; one on the wing, one off the bench. Obviously he's being tried at centre so the analysis will get a bit complex.

Smith is obviously now retired. He played one match following the above, on the wing and scoring twice v Wales, ending on an overall strike rate of 39 tries in 84 matches on the wing i.e. 0.46 tries per test. (On the wing, he got 23 in 37, i.e. 0.62).

No one else has joined the 12+ tries wingers club yet. J Barrett and Bridge both have 9 on the wing so far. Barret also has 4 at FB and 1 at 1st 5/8, for 14 tries in 21 tests (0.67). Bridge has had 10 caps, so he's on 0.90![/quote]
Update: Will Jordan (25 years old) is on a fairly remarkable 22 tries in 22 tests.

[Lizard]

I'll look at these wingers at some point. in the meantime...

Progression of the All Black's Try-Scoring Record
Opai Asher, 1 (scored on 15 August 1903): The first try scorer in NZ’s first test. Equalled in the same match by Dick McGregor and George Tyler.

Duncan McGregor, 2 to 6 (scored between 13 August 1904 - 16 December 1905): No relation to Dick, he scored twice in NZ’s 2nd ever test v Lions to take the record to 2. This was equalled by Archie McMinn, George Smith and Bob Deans (of disallowed try v Wales fame). McGregor then scored an amazing 4 tries in the Originals’ test v England to take the record to 6, where it remained when he retired.

Frank Mitchinson, 7 to 10 (25 July 1908 – 2 July 1910): Mitchinson equalled McGregor’s mark in the first test against the Anglo-Welsh in 1908, before scoring 3 tries in the 3rd test of the series to take the record and extend it to 9. He scored once more, v Australia in 1910 and retired as the record holder in 1913 with 10. This mark stood through both World Wars until…

Ian Kirkpatrick, 11 to 16 (6 January 1973 – 30 July 1977): This legendary loose-forward gained the record against England on 6 January 1973, having drawn level the previous year v Australia. He took the record to 16 in his penultimate test, the 3rd of 4 against the 1977 Lions.

Stu Wilson, 17 – 19 (16 July 1983): It was on the very next Lions tour to NZ (only 6 years later!) that Stu Wilson equalled the record in the 3rd test and scored 3 in the 4th test hiding to move the record to 19 – the second time that the record was taken in a hat-trick against a team now regarded as Lions. (The only other hat-trick v Lions was recorded by Springbok Tom van Vollenhoven in the 2nd test in 1955).

John Kirwan, 20 – 35(3 July 1988 – 9 July 1994): Kirwan drew equal with and surpassed Wilson in scoring twice v Australia in 1988. He held the record for the rest of his career, retiring with 35.

Jeff Wilson, 36 – 39 (14 October 1999 – 31 October 1999): Once again the record was equalled and overtaken in the course of a hat-trick, this time by Goldie moving the mark to 37 v Italy at RWC1999. Wilson became the first record holder to be overtaken during his career (he ended in 2001 with 44 tries to his name), by the incomparable…

Christian Cullen, 40 – 46 (19 August 2000 – 29June 2002): Cullen took advantage of Wilson taking a break from test rugby in 2000 to level the record on 5 August 2000 v Oz in the Tri Nations, and take it outright scoring a brace two weeks later v SA. Wilson never caught up and when Cullen was outrageously dropped he had taken the record to 46.

Doug Howlett, 47 – 49 (23 September 2007 – 29 September 2007): Howlett drew level with Cully by virtue of yet another RWC hat-trick v Italy on 8 September 2007. He took the record to 48 in his next game v Scotland, and to 49 v Romania. Staggeringly, he was hubristically rested for the infamous QF so that is where his record ended and still stands today.

And while I'm updating, this record is still not under any serious threat given that J Savea has been unable to mount a comeback and increase his tally of 46 (2nd= with Cullen & Rokocoko).

Current contenders include Beauden Barrett, who needs 16 more tries to take the crown. He might increase his strike rate (0.42) playing more at fullback but he's still going to need 30-odd more tests to get there. If the test schedule returns to normal, and he plays through to RWC2023 (when he will be 32) as a regular starter, he has a chance.

Rieko Ioane is just over halfway there, with 26 tries off 32 caps. At his current strike rate (0.81) he would also need about 30 more caps to get there and he's far from assured of that at the moment.

George Bridge has had a good start, with 9 tries in 10 tests (including 3 off the bench). However, 4 of those were against Tonga, and 2 against Japan.

[16th man]

25 15 Today I would think.

[CunningPunter]

Does Sanchez now hold the record for the highest points tally by one man in a match against the All Blacks?

[cashead]

Does Sanchez now hold the record for the highest points tally by one man in a match against the All Blacks?

Doesn't even crack the top 3.

Morne Steyn holds the record at 31 (Durban 2009), Christophe Lamaison has the next two (that semifinal in 1999, and an AI test in Marseille in 2000).

[CunningPunter]

Thanks - he'll have to try harder next time!

[Puja]

Statistic of the day - first back-to-back losses for New Zealand since August 2011, when they lost to South Africa and Australia in the 3N. They then went on a 20 match unbeaten run.

While it's unlikely that Argentina will turn them over again in the rematch, if it did happen, it'd be their longest losing streak since losing all 5 games in the 1998 3N and Bledisloe.

Puja

[Lizard]

So for completeness...

First/last test wins against the All Blacks:
Ireland: 2016/2016
World XV: 1992/1992
France: 1954/2009
England: 1936/2012
Lions: 1930*/1993
South Africa: 1921/2014
Australia: 1910/2015
Wales: 1905/1953

*Playing as "Great Britain"

Urgh. Time to update this, I guess.

First/last test wins against the All Blacks:
Argentina: 2020/2020
Ireland: 2016/2018
World XV: 1992/1992
France: 1954/2009
England: 1936/2019
Lions: 1930*/2017
South Africa: 1921/2018
Australia: 1910/2020
Wales: 1905/1953

Argentina joins the club, and everyone but Wales & France (and World XV) gets an updated "last win".

So who will be next to be added to this list? And will that happen before Wales get an update?

Teams yet to beat the All Blacks:
Scotland 31 attempts (2 draws)
Italy 14
Samoa 7
Canada 6
Tonga 6
Fiji 5
USA 3
Romania 2
Japan 2
Namibia 2
Georgia 1
Portugal 1
Pacific Islanders 1

Teams in the current top 20 not to have played NZ are Spain, Uruguay & Russia.

[cashead]

Thanks - he'll have to try harder next time!

In all fairness, he's fourth, and is only behind Lamaison's Marseille record by just a point or two.

[Lizard]

Does Sanchez now hold the record for the highest points tally by one man in a match against the All Blacks?

Doesn't even crack the top 3.

Morne Steyn holds the record at 31 (Durban 2009), Christophe Lamaison has the next two (that semifinal in 1999, and an AI test in Marseille in 2000).

Steyn has the unique distinction of his record points haul in a match v All Blacks being higher than the reciprocal record of most points in a match by an All Black v Springboks (set at 25 by Carlos Spencer in 1997 and equaled by Carter in 2006).

[Lizard]

In anticipation of the Pumas rolling us up again...

All consecutive wins v All Blacks

Six of the best
SA: 1937-49*

Threepeats:
Wallabies: 1929, 1978-80, 1991-92, 1998, 2000-01
Springboks: 1970-76, 2009
Le Bleu: 1994-95

Back-to-back:
Wallabies: 1949*, 1990-91
Springboks: 1976, 1998, 2004-05
Le Bleu: 1973-77, 2007-09
England: 2002-03
Wales: 1935-53

Teams that have beaten the All Blacks but not in consecutive tests are Argentina, Ireland, World XV, B&I Lions,

*1949 matches played on simultaneous tours of SA and Aust

[Lizard]

Tryless matches in the 3N/TRC
Aus 15 - 15 Arg, 21.11.2020
Aus 12 - 12 NZ, 16.08.2014
NZ 12 - Aus 6, 13.07.2002
NZ 12 - SA 3, 21.07.2001

[Lizard]

Can Argentina crack this record?

Time and matches* between 1st and 2nd wins over the All Blacks
Ireland: 742 days, 3 tests (2016-2018)
Australia: 1,181 days, 5 tests (1910-1913)
SA: 2,499 days, 3 tests (1921-1928)
France: 6,923 days, 10 tests (1964-1973)
Lions: 10,683 days, 12 tests (1930-1959)
Wales: 11,296 days, 3 tests (1905-1935)
England: 13,769 days, 8 tests (1936-1973)

*Inclusive of both wins

[Lizard]

Try-scorers in RWC wins over the All Blacks
1991 semi-final: DI Campese, TJ Horan
1999 semi-final: P Bernat-Salles, C Dominici , R Dourthe, C Lamaison
1999 3/4 playoff: BJ Paulse
2003 semi-final: SA Mortlock
2007 quarter-final: TS Dusautoir, Y Jauzion
2019 semi-final: EM Tuilagi

[Lizard]

All Blacks and nil scores

The All Blacks have kept a clean sheet 36 times in their history*. Their biggest scores in doing so are:

102 v Tonga, 2000
91 v Fiji, 2005
78 v Samoa, 2017
63 v Canada, 2019
60 v Ireland, 2012
57 v South Africa, 2017
40 v Scotland, 2007
38 v Argentina, 2020
36 v Australia, 2019
30 v France, 2013
29 v Lions**, 1908

Oddly, the above top eleven are all against different opposition. Wales come in at 15th= with themselves (19-0 in 1924 and 1969). England don't appear until 20th (15-0***, 1905). New Zealand have never held to nil Georgia, Italy, Japan, Namibia, Pacific Is, Portugal, Romania, USA or the World XV.

On the other hand, the All Blacks have been held scoreless on eight occasions*. In their losses, they conceded:

17 v SA, 1928
13 v England, 1936
13 v SA, 1960
11 v Australia, 1910
3 v Wales, 1905
3 v France, 1954

So NZ's most recent nil score was in the 1964 draw with Scotland. How does this compare to other teams (limited to RWC participants + Lions)?

Argentina v NZ 38, 2020
Georgia v Wales 18, 2020
Italy v Scotland 17, 2020
Russia v Scotland 61, 2019
Canada v NZ 63, 2019
Samoa v Scotland 34, 2019
Australia v NZ 36, 2019
Namibia v Russia 20, 2109
South Africa v NZ 57, 2017
Spain v Uruguay 16, 2016
Uruguay v Romania 40, 2016
USA v SA 64, 2015
France v Aust 6, 2014
Scotland v England 20, 2014
Portugal v Romania 24, 2014
Ireland v NZ 60, 2012
Fiji v Wales 66, 2011
Romania v Scotland 42, 2007
England v SA 36, 2007
Wales v Aust 31, 2007
Tonga v Samoa 36, 2006
Japan v Wales 98, 2004
Ivory Coast v Zmbabwe 32, 1998
Lions v NZ 9, 1983

Then daylight back to NZ in 1964.

* Including two nil-all draws - SA in 1921, Scotland in 1964
*Actually an Anglo-Welsh selection now posthumously claimed by the Lions
*** 3-point tries in those days