Review exposes faults

Major problems with the scrum and a drop in the number of tries scored were among the worrying trends highlighted in an IRB statistical review of the Six Nations.

The introduction of a scrum clock into television coverage of rugby matches showed just how much game time is wasted by collapsing and resetting scrums. And the IRB’s review revealed almost 50% of scrums in this year’s Six Nations collapsed with almost 40% producing penalties or free kicks.

A staggering 21 minutes were consumed by forming and resetting scrums in Ireland’s 32-14 victory over Scotland in the Aviva Stadium. When compared with the 2005 Six Nations, this year’s competition had nearly twice as many collapsed scrums and almost three times as many penalties or free kicks from the scrum.

The review makes for frustrating reading from an Irish perspective, illuminating some glaring issues within Ireland’s game.

With a total of 13 tries, Ireland crossed the whitewash more than any other team, a feat made all the more impressive by the fact they had the least amount of possession throughout the tournament, averaging a try for every six and a quarter minutes of possession.

However Ireland rank bottom of the disciplinary table for the 2012 Six Nations, having coughed up the most penalties/free kicks.

The frailties in the scrum were exposed in humiliating fashion against England in Twickenham but the IRB’s review also showed Ireland were the least successful team in retaining possession from their own lineout.

The IRB refrained from making suggestions or conclusions about how to address these issues.

The full report can be downloaded from www.irb.com.