Winners stayed true to themselves

Rugby World Cup statistical analysisWith the schools cup knockout format the main recruiting ground for rugby players in this country, perhaps Ireland should have been able to adjust to the rigours of the recent World Cup.

The tournament was a throw-back to traditional leathering of the ball at every opportunity. Territory was king, the most successful teams - South Africa, England and Argentina - forcing opponents into mistakes in or near their 22.

The IRB have released their statistical review which supports this assertion. It helps explain why nations like New Zealand, France and Ireland failed to attain the heights they reached earlier in the year. It also proves knockout rugby is a different game.

Unsurprisingly, the IRB homed in on the competition's most remarkable match: the France v New Zealand quarter-final.

In November 2006 the All Blacks demolished France 47-3 at the Stade de France, scoring seven tries and creating just 43 rucks. Fast forward 11 months and you find a staggering contrast. They created 165 rucks, 50 per cent more than any other team managed in a single game, and "certainly the highest figure ever seen in an international match".

"The successful formula of recent years (an expansive approach) had been abandoned for some reason and New Zealand found themselves out of the competition," was the IRB conclusion.

The French later failed to maintain their game-plan when the temperature was raised in Paris. A month earlier they had kicked the ball 19 times in their 22-9 victory over England in Marseilles. Come the semi-final they put boot to ball 46 times.

The average Test produces 55 kicks. In the semi-finals and finals of the World Cup that figure broke 85, peaking at 91 in the final.

So creativity is dead come the World Cup? Thankfully the Fijians bucked the trend. They had the worst lineout and scrum in the tournament but loyalty to their natural running style saw them kick the ball just 38 times against Wales and South Africa. This yielded six tries.

"In achieving this, perhaps they also laid down a marker - that a team's approach to matches outside RWC can be replicated at the tournament if the fear of losing can be overcome and it can concentrate on what it does best," says the review.

The South Africans were also consistent with their approach leading up to the World Cup: an aggressive defence, an ability to turn opposing errors into points via Percy Montgomery's 75 per cent place-kicking return and a try-per-game average of 4.7.

Ireland? Ronan O'Gara's place-kicking return was just 53 per cent. The source for five of their nine tries was the lineout, and three of the seven tries they conceded came off the scrum.

The English RFU have announced record results for the year ended June 2007, with revenues up 25 per cent to €150 million and operating profits up 73 per cent to 40 million.

Profit margin also increased to 27 per cent and total net worth increased in the year by 18 million to 193 million, with record retained profits of €19.2 million.

Revenues, which exceeded 143 million for the first time in the RFU's history, included records for ticketing and hospitality thanks to the extra capacity following the completion of the new south stand at Twickenham.

Nick Eastwood, RFU finance director, said: "These figures illustrate the huge effort made by the RFU to secure a sound financial base and reflect the progress made since 1997 when the RFU incurred a considerable operating loss."