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Wallabies 2021

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Greg Davis (50)
a former Wallabies coach stripping Australia's rugby talent?

Riley was playing with Brisbane City in the NRC in 2017 with no Super Rugby contract on the horizon when the Panasonic Wild Knights, with former Wallabies coach Robbie Deans as head coach, came calling.

While he went overseas for an opportunity rather than money, the financial security the Japan competition provides is a lure.

"I didn't really have an opportunities back home and this came up to come to Japan and play under an awesome coach Robbie Deans so I took it," Riley said.

This seems like an odd sentence
 

RugbyReg

Rocky Elsom (76)
Staff member
No 8 time.

7 players have played No 8 this year.

Pete Samu – 6 times
Brynard Stander – 5
Harry Wilson – 5
Michael Wells – 5
Jack Dempsey – 4
Will Harris – 2
Seru Uru – 1

So taking out Uru as a 1 capper!

Tackle Success:

Dempsey @ 93.55%
Samu @ 86.79%
Wells @ 85.45%
Harris @ 82.35%
Stander @ 82.14%
Wilson @ 78.18%

Wilson the real worry. That’s just not good enough for test rugby

Tackles per game


Wells @ 9.4
Stander @ 9.2
Wilson @ 8.4
Samu @ 7.67
Dempsey @ 7.25
Harris @ 7

Waratahs blindsides doing all the tackling. Wells going great guns

Defensive importance to team

Wells @ 8.48%
Wilson @ 8.22%
Stander @ 8.22% (although he has made 16.84% of his team’s total missed tackles)
Samu @ 6.1%
Dempsey @ 5.97%
Harris @ 5%

Attack Efficiency

Same @ 136
Wells @ 103.21
Harris @ 76.45
Dempsey @ 18.07
Wilson @ 14.32
Stander @ 0%

Again, Wilson’s stats a concern. He’s been noticeably used a lot closer to the ruck though which is a point of difference to Samu. Samu a standout as expected, but Wells again kicking but.

Lineout use:

Wells – 12 (11 won)
Samu – 6
Dempsey – 6 (4 won)
Stander – 5
Harris – 1
Wilson – 0

Again, Wilson’s lack of use probably ruins a few people’s arguments about him. Wells outstanding. Samu surprisingly high.

Most penalties conceded:

Wells / Dempsey – 6
Samu – 3
Stander / Wilson – 2
Harris – 0

Work Rate:

Stander – 19
Wilson / Harris 18
Dempsey – 17
Wells / Samu – 14

Stander carrying a big load, while Wells and Samu biding their time. Probably more impact players considering their high attack efficiency.

In summary, if these stats are an indicator, Wilson is under the pump. Again, much depends on the balance of the backrow the selectors want.

Seru Uru my one to watch though. In his one game at 8 he made 16 tackles without a miss (10.67% of his team’s defensive work)

His attack stats were Stander-like (0) but he took a couple of lineouts and didn’t concede a penalty, while his workrate was at 24.
 

Dctarget

John Eales (66)
Fascinating @Reg, that Wilson's stats are so poor. Admittedly he hasn't been a standout in the past few games but I assumed he was a shoo-in for Wallaby #8. Will watch him more closely now.
 

TSR

Mark Ella (57)
Alternate strategy - based on the results of Anstee & Uru we a should rotate guys through the jersey and never give any of them more than 1 game. :)
 

Rugbynutter39

Michael Lynagh (62)
No 8 time.

7 players have played No 8 this year.

Pete Samu – 6 times
Brynard Stander – 5
Harry Wilson – 5
Michael Wells – 5
Jack Dempsey – 4
Will Harris – 2
Seru Uru – 1

So taking out Uru as a 1 capper!

Tackle Success:

Dempsey @ 93.55%
Samu @ 86.79%
Wells @ 85.45%
Harris @ 82.35%
Stander @ 82.14%
Wilson @ 78.18%

Wilson the real worry. That’s just not good enough for test rugby

Tackles per game


Wells @ 9.4
Stander @ 9.2
Wilson @ 8.4
Samu @ 7.67
Dempsey @ 7.25
Harris @ 7

Waratahs blindsides doing all the tackling. Wells going great guns

Defensive importance to team

Wells @ 8.48%
Wilson @ 8.22%
Stander @ 8.22% (although he has made 16.84% of his team’s total missed tackles)
Samu @ 6.1%
Dempsey @ 5.97%
Harris @ 5%

Attack Efficiency

Same @ 136
Wells @ 103.21
Harris @ 76.45
Dempsey @ 18.07
Wilson @ 14.32
Stander @ 0%

Again, Wilson’s stats a concern. He’s been noticeably used a lot closer to the ruck though which is a point of difference to Samu. Samu a standout as expected, but Wells again kicking but.

Lineout use:

Wells – 12 (11 won)
Samu – 6
Dempsey – 6 (4 won)
Stander – 5
Harris – 1
Wilson – 0

Again, Wilson’s lack of use probably ruins a few people’s arguments about him. Wells outstanding. Samu surprisingly high.

Most penalties conceded:

Wells / Dempsey – 6
Samu – 3
Stander / Wilson – 2
Harris – 0

Work Rate:

Stander – 19
Wilson / Harris 18
Dempsey – 17
Wells / Samu – 14

Stander carrying a big load, while Wells and Samu biding their time. Probably more impact players considering their high attack efficiency.

In summary, if these stats are an indicator, Wilson is under the pump. Again, much depends on the balance of the backrow the selectors want.

Seru Uru my one to watch though. In his one game at 8 he made 16 tackles without a miss (10.67% of his team’s defensive work)

His attack stats were Stander-like (0) but he took a couple of lineouts and didn’t concede a penalty, while his workrate was at 24.
This is really great and revealing analysis. Wells being the one tahs should not let get away
 

Members Section

John Thornett (49)
Wells is un-contracted after this season as well. Surely Isi must have been on some promise from RA/Rennie after he went into surgery after the 2nd Wallabies "A" game (which he got a hatrick in) v los pumas last year to be named in the players of interest squad.
 

Joe Blow

Peter Sullivan (51)
Wells is one of the most underrated players in Australia. He has a great rugby brain and almost always takes the best option.
He would not be out of place is test footy.
 

RugbyReg

Rocky Elsom (76)
Staff member
Time for the battle of the opensides!!!

6 players used this year with only the Brumbies using 2 different players.

Carlos Tizzano – 6 games

Fraser McReight – 6
Kane Koteka – 5
Richard Hardwick – 5
Jahrome Brown – 4
Tom Cusack - 2


Tackle Success:

McReight @ 97.73% (2 missed tackles all season)

Tizzano @ 89.55%
Brown @ 87.10%
Koteka @ 85.39%
Hardwick @ 84.21%
Cusack @ 76.47%

McReight simply outstanding

Tackles per game

Tizzano – 20 per game

Koteka – 15.2
McReight – 14.33
Cusack – 13
Hardwick – 9.6
Brown – 6.75
That’s astounding stuff from Tizzano – simply phenomenal

Defensive importance to team

Tizzano – makes 15.67% of his team’s total tackles!

McReight – 13.01%
Koteka – 10.53%
Cusack - 8.81%
Hardwick – 8.66%
Brown – 5.88%
Carlos – incredible!!

Attack Efficiency

Hardwick – 86.98

McReight – 50.57
Koteka – 31.82
Tizzano – 13.23
Cusack – 3.13
Brown – 0
Hardwick and McReight very high, but McReight when matched with his tackle work is excellent. Koteka good too.
Brumbies really struggling to get much out of their OSFs. Reckon they injured Brown on purpose to get Miller back?

Turnovers per game:

Hardwick – 1.6

McReight – 1.5
Cusack – 1
Tizzano - .83
Koteka - .4
Brown – 0
No surprises the top two, but how does McReight do it when also making so many tackles? Hardwick’s tackle stats could indicate he’s standing back a bit, watching and waiting for the turnover opportunity, while McReight is just in everything.
Again, Brown…..

Most penalties conceded:

McReight / Tizzano – 6

Hardwick / Cusack – 3
Brown – 2
Koteka - 1

Work Rate:

Tizzano – 29 involvements per game

McReight – 24
Koteka – 21
Cusack – 18
Hardwick – 16
Brown – 10

Tizzano killing it with McReight and Koteka pushing hard. Hardwick surprisingly low.

Overall, McReight making a very strong case for the test jersey but how did Tizzano not snag a PONI spot?
 

RugbyReg

Rocky Elsom (76)
Staff member
Ok, just for the sake of it I thought I'd look at the backrow combos and how they work. Not relevant Wallaby 2021 related, but may put some of the above stats in perspective.

Tackle Success:
Reds @ 89.79%
Rebels @ 88%
Tahs @ 87.91%
Brumbies @ 85.79%
Force @ 85.79%

Tackles per game:

Tahs - 40 (of which half is from Carlos)
Reds - 35.17
Force - 33.80
Rebels - 26.40
Brumbies - 26.17

Interesting stat about the Brumbies - they are doing this backrow thing differently (perhaps Rebels too, need to explore further). I suspect we'll see soon the impact on attack a low defensive load means...

Defensive importance to team

Reds backrow make 10.64% of their team's tackles
Tahs - 10.44%
Rebels - 7.94%
Force - 7.80%
Brumbies - 6.94%

Somebody else is doing all the tackling for the Brumbies backrow. It has me perhaps just enough intrigued to explore another day.

Attack Efficiency
Rebels - 54.57
Brumbies - 42.70 (mostly just Samu and Valetini)
Reds - 18.48
Tahs - 17.26
Force - 11.19

It's starting to show now, the backrow units with the least defensive load are the top attackers when compared to the other team units.

Turnovers per game:
Rebels - 2.8
Reds - 2.17
Force - 2
Tahs - 1.83
Brumbies - 1.67

Most penalties conceded:
Tahs - 14
Rebels - 13
Reds - 12
Brumbies - 9
Force - 6

Work Rate:

Tahs - 67
Reds - 62
Force - 59
Rebels - 44
Brumbies - 43

About 50% more involvements by the Tahs/Reds backrow v the Rebels/Brumbies. Perhaps a tip to the Reds to ease the load on Wilson to perhaps get more out of his attacking game, while McReight and ASY (Angus Scott-Young) (Liam Wright?) carry the heavy load.
 

TSR

Mark Ella (57)
Firstly Reg - great work. And thanks. Very interesting reading. A couple of eye openers and a different perspective on a few things.

Question to the floor then - does this show the Brumbies are deliberately chasing quality over quantity from their backrow - Samu & Valetini in particular? If they are then it does seem to be getting a result for them.

No surprises to me with McReight though - the kid is a freak.
 

Adam84

Nick Farr-Jones (63)
Interestingly Stan posted stats on their Monday which showed McReight as having the highest post contact meters out of all the back-rowers in Super Rugby AU. So it seems someone is tracking those kind of stats, wallabies staff no doubt have the same ones.
 
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