The scrum-half ... by the numbers ...

Sometimes stats amaze me, sometimes they bore me. Work was making me insane today, so I web-surfed in the interest of rugby. I came upon these statistics about the last zillion test matches, and started doing some rugby math ... and had some thoughts ...

In an typical 80 minute international game the followings occur approximately x amount of times:

• Stoppages (total of line-outs, scrums, scrums with resets, free kicks, penalties, drop-outs, pretty much any time the whistle blows) - about 85
• Ruck/Maul/Tackle - about 160
• Trys - 5
  

If you figure that the time for the ref to blow the whistle, set the mark, and facilitate the scrum/lineout/penalty activity takes about 20 seconds, that's 28 minutes we can knock off the playing-time clock, so we're down to 52 minutes.

Every time a try is scored, it takes about 1 minute from whistle through conversion attempt through drop kick. Now we're down to 47 minutes.

And what the heck, lets eat up 3 miscellaneous minutes for referee discussions, explanations of penalties, bla bla bla. That takes us to 44 actual minutes of running, passing, kicking, tackling, rucking, mauling, scrumming, line-outing, and generally participating in rugby.

• At every single scrum the scrumhalf is involved, defensively as well as offensively
• At every single lineout (unless your driving it into the tryzone, and even then, seriously), the scrumhalf is involved. Less so on defense but still somewhat involved.
• Hopefully, if a scrum half is fit, they are involved in most rucks and mauls. Offensively, they obviously are, defensively we count on them to direct the defensive effort of the forwards.

Of course they're not in every single event, but most of the time, if they are not, its because they were actually the ball-carrier.

So lets be conservative - lets assume that our scrum half doesn't kick for touch, but does execute quick taps and penalty plays. Lets assume they are involved in 80 percent of the rucks and mauls and occasionally at tackles.

According to my rugby math, in the course of one single rugby match, a scrumhalf is actively engaged in at least 140 activities, and most of those activities are decision making activities.

In 44 minutes of rugby? 80 minutes with stoppages? This basically means that for every minute of running time, the scrumhalf does two things. If you break it down only to active time, that's one activity per 15 seconds of play.

The really really good scrumhalves don't just put the ball in the scrum, distribute, and direct traffic - they are evasive, they can kick, they are fast, and they are playmakers!

So I guess its pretty darn important that that scrum-half be a big-time leader and a highly competent decision maker. I mean, we all know this intuitively, but looking at the numbers is kind of interesting.

To think all I've been worried about is that darn left handed pass!

Work Rate - What is it, how do you use it?

We coaches throw around the term "work rate" alot, especially when we're talking with players. Sometimes it seems like an easy answer for every selection question ...

Player: Hey coach, what do I need to do to get into the starting lineup?
Coach: Well, I'd really like to see you up your work rate.

So what is it? Simply put, it's how hard the player works on the pitch, from start to finish. While I was working with the former girls U19 coach, I was first exposed to a statistical method for calculating work rate (thank you Karl!). I did a little tweaking of my own, and present to you the result (im sure it's still quite imperfect).

This method requires a full statistical analysis of a match, preferably using video. Then i use an algorithm that awards points for the following actions by a player:

• Ball Touch - 1 point
  
• Link - 1 point for the first action at a breakdown
  
• Ball Running - 1 point
  
• Tackles - 1 point for each Level 1 tackle, 2 points for every level 2 tackle (no gain or loss by ball carrier), 3 points for a level 3 tackle
  
• Poach - one point
  
• Kick - 1 point
  
• Pass - 1 point
  

This gives you a raw number reprentative of a player's workrate during a particular match. If you go a step further, you can determine a players "effective" workrate ...

• Missed Tackle - minus 2 points
  
• Knock, forward pass, or other handling errors - minus 1 points
  
• Turnover - minus 2 points (only 1 point if the result of a minor infraction)
  
• Penalty - minus 2 points
  

Here's a screenshot of some stats I did after a match my team played last year (click to enlarge) ...



I've only included players 1-9 here, and have removed their names. As you can see - it's a telling story. Taking the time to do these sorts of stats really helps you get a total picture of a players performance. When meeting with players, you've got lots of hard data to identify a plan for improvement. This sort of data is also helpful for selections, WITH CERTAIN CAVAETS:

• From game to game stats vary widely, through no fault of the players. If in one match, you play a team that loves to attack the fringe, your tight forwards will have more opportunites to tackle, poach, ruck, etc than they might in another game. If you play a team that loves to go wide, your wings will find themselves working harder and your forward's stats might drop off.
  
  
• You've got to exercise caution when comparing positionally. For example, the scrumhalf will always have a high work rate, as long as she's doing her job. They have the opportunity to touch the ball more that other players, so the stats will reflect that.
  
  
• Make sure you annotate how long a player was in. Some players may have a high work rate for 40 minutes, yet when you look at them for 80 minutes, the numbers don't change (this is player who "paces" him/herself).
  
  
• Stats are a great tool for positional assessments - which lock is working the hardest, which prop, which wing? Is there anyone who's where they need to be, but not being effective (WR vs EWR?) Is it better to split halves between two particular players, and therefore get a higher EWR over 80 minutes?
  

Anway - those are my thoughts on Work Rate. There are several commercial packages out there to help you with statistics, but I don't have any. If you decide to try it out, drop me a line.

thanks!