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Recognising that it’s difficult to get reliable rugby stats, and frustrated by nothing being available on Ruck stats, and having some time on my hands, I decided to gather some ruck stats of my own.
I concentrated only on the Wallabies as I was interested in knowing who was working hard and actually making an impact in this important aspect of the game.
The following data was gathered from watching replays of each Test and compiling an average across Tests played.
Attachment 3582
Notes:
1. Average rucks have been normalised as if each player played for the full 80 minutes. In reality only Hooper and McCalman achieved this feat. Simmons x 2 and Carter x 1. As the front row, in particular are usually flagging, this normalised number probably boosts what they would have achieved.
2. Early to ruck means 1st or 2nd after the tackler.
3. Impact at ruck means active engagement, strong physical contact, changed shape of ruck, clean-out, etc. (more than hand on someone's bum or playing statues.) Impact doesn't mean that the player was "menacing" at the ruck.
Discussion
Total Rucks
1. In the last Test against South Africa the Wallabies engaged 61% of rucks in Defence.
2. In the last Tests against Argentina and New Zealand the Wallabies engaged 90% of rucks in Defence.
3. Over the 4 Tests on the Spring Tour the Wallabies reduced the engagement on rucks in Defence from 70% against Wales, 60% against France, 55% against Ireland, down to a low of 40% against England. The average engagement of rucks in Defence was 60%.
Summary
Carter and McMahon are our best at the ruck.
Hooper and Fianga’a a step below.
Slipper, Simmons and McCalman another step below.
Kepu is clearly our worst at the ruck.
Individual Performance
McMahon makes lots of rucks, arrives early and has reasonable impact.
Carter is not far behind McMahon in total rucks, similar timing and the highest impact. Carter often makes the initial cleanout.
Hooper makes the most rucks but with average early engagement and one of the lowest impacts. Clearly he is not a regular “fetcher” at Test level.
Fianga’a was one of the workhorses at rucks, often using his good technique to drastically change the shape of the ruck.
Slipper works in much the same way as Fianga’a but with slightly less impact.
Simmons makes lots of rucks early as a blocker without making much impact.
McCalman, our best ball-carrying forward (109m) on tour, made fewer rucks but appeared to pick his time of arrival to make impact when needed. (Hooper - 77m)
Kepu makes lots of rucks but is generally a late arrival and most often just filling space and playing statues to one side. He rarely “hits” a ruck and is more into leaning or pushing.
Ruck Involvement by Backs
Against Wales: Leali’ifano – 22, Kurudrani – 22, Tomane – 18 and Foley - 13.
Average over 4 Tests: Toomua – 17 (2 Tests only); AAC – 12; Foley - 10
Others?
As we know Hodgo didn't get a lot of game time.
If the game against the Barbarians is included, Hodgo played for 98 minutes.
He made 70 rucks (Attack 47/23 Defence).
46 rucks in 74 mins against Barbarians. 18 rucks in 13 mins against Wales
Early - 90%. Impact - 79%. (Both better than all the above)
Hooper made a ruck every 2 minutes. Hodgo made a ruck every 1.4 minutes.
He made a turnover in each of his 3 appearances (13 mins, 11 mins, 74 mins).
Looking forward to a great year from Hodgo in 2015.
(Have corrected an error in Hooper's ruck stats and comment re Flankers being lowest on Defensive rucks.....only McMahon)
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Originally Posted by Stone Cold
