Munster’s excellent 47-23 victory over Toulouse got the Heineken Cup weekend off to a wonderful start for the Irish provinces, but unfortunately that success was not a sign of things to come.
Ulster agonisingly missed out against Saracens on a 17-15 scoreline, while Leinster were dismantled by Toulon at Stade Mayol yesterday. Here are some of the stats that confirm several of the impressions we may already have formed from watching the games live.
Munster v Toulouse
- 9 turnovers won. Rob Penney’s men have been superb at the breakdown and in-contact all season, and that continued against Toulouse. CJ Stander led the way with three steals of the French team’s possession, while James Coughlan made two.
- 10 tackles. Stander’s man of the match award was fully deserved, as the South African delivered his best performance in a Munster jersey, leading the tackle count. The 24-year-old was excellent at the maul and also made 11 aggressive carries in attack.
- 0 rucks lost. Munster have been amongst the best performing teams in Europe with their attacking rucking, and Toulouse got no return from their attempts to rob the pill. It was notable that Munster’s rucking efficiency was shared by all 22 players.
- 18 defenders beaten. Toulouse were clearly the better side in this statistic [Munster had 9], but the number gives no indication of when or where the defenders were beaten. Munster conceded two tries, but their defence often looked comfortable.
Ulster v Saracens
- 79 carries. Despite having a man less on the pitch, Ulster has a larger share of possession [57%] and made more carries than Saracens [who had 63]. However, that extra body helped the English team to snuff out the real try-scoring threats.
- 100% set-piece success. Sarries did perform convincingly in this area of the game, with their six scrums all being won, as well as their 12 line-outs. Schalk Brits was excellent at both set-pieces and made important contributions around the pitch too.
- 1 red card. The major talking point from the game came early on, as Jared Payne was sent off for his reckless aerial challenge on Alex Goode. If the Ulster fullback had just got off the ground, the incident would have looked a whole lot better.
- 6 tackles. Johann Muller made his final Heineken Cup appearance for the province, completing all of his tackles and excelling at the maul too. The 33-year-old has been an inspirational rock for Ulster in recent years; replacing him will not be easy. There are simply no stats available for the mental factors he brought at Ravenhill on Saturday.
Toulon v Leinster
- 27 missed tackles. Leinster were battered by the pace and power of Toulon’s ball carriers and while their scramble defence in the first half was excellent, all those missed tackles started to tell after the interval.
- 3 clean breaks. Matt O’Connor’s side were some way off their best in attack, failing to put together threatening passages of play in attack. Just 91 passes and 2 offloads are further markers of that, but it’s all linked to…
- 18 turnovers conceded. Leinster lost possession too often, particularly through a failure to get supporting players to the breakdown early. Steffon Armitage had 3 vital steals for Toulon, while Juan Martín Hernández made two.
- 504 metres made. With Danie Russouw, Mathieu Bastareaud, Craig Burden and Armitage leading the charge, Toulon were an unstoppable juggernaut at times. They must be the most physically impressive club side of recent years.
Clermont v Leicester
- 3 clean breaks. Clermont usually finish Heineken Cup games with more busts of the opposition defence than this, but the absence of Sitiveni Sivivatu blunted them slightly. The French side did beat 21 defenders, although many of those missed tackles were covered by the Leicester’s scrambling.
- 17 points. Morgan Parra did most of Clermont’s scoring with the boot, missing just two of his shots at goal. If Vern Cotter’s men are finally going to overcome their Heineken Cup stage fright this season, the scrum-half will be central.
- 69 metres run. Equally as important in the semi-final against Saracens will be Wesley Fofana, who is gradually building towards his peak. The France centre led the way for Clermont in attack, beating 4 defenders and making 2 clean breaks.
All statistics from the ERC.
Where did you think these quarter-finals were won and lost? What do the available stats not tell us about the games?
