It was semifinal time in the Super 15. 1 played 4 and 2 played 3 - Reds played Blues and the Stormers played the Crusaders. Both matches produced clear winners.
It was semifinal time in the Super 15. 1 played 4 and 2 played 3 - Reds played Blues and the Stormers played the Crusaders. Both matches produced clear winners.
Hats off, especially, to the Crusaders.
They beat the Sharks in a play-off in New Zealand and then trekked across to Cape Town and beat the Stormers at Newlands. Then they turned round for Brisbane and a final against the Reds. You would not bet against them!
Results, semifinals
Reds vs Blues, 30-13
Crusaders vs Stormers, 29-10
Sanctions
Nobody was yellow-carded, red-carded or cited and suspended.
Possession
(i) Reds vs Blues
Penalties conceded: 21
Reds: 11
Blues: 10
Reasons for the penalties:
Reds:
Tackle: 8 (Sumo & Robinson, Simmons, Wallace-Harrison* 2, Holmes, Gill 2, Ioane)
Offside: 1 Cooper
Scrum: 1 (Daley)
Discipline: 1 (Simmons - air tackle)
Blues:
Tackle: 7 (Stanley, Munro, Lowrey 2, Payne*, Luke Braid, Kaino)
Offside: 1 (Lowrey)
Scrum: 1 (Faumuina)
Discipline: 1 (Mealamu - obstruction)
The Reds side missed two penalty kicks at goal.
Free kicks conceded
Reds: 0
Blues: 1 (line-out)
Line-outs
Reds: 12 (4 lost, 1 skew, 1 free kick)
Blues: 11 (1 lost, 1 skew)
Scrums
Reds: 4 (2 collapses, 1 penalty)
Blues: 9 (1 collapse, 1 penalty)
There were no resets.
Drop-outs
Reds: 0
Blues: 1 (line-out)
Stoppages: 60
(ii) Stormers vs Crusaders
Penalties conceded: 26
Stormers: 11
Crusaders: 15
This is a high number of penalties. The number of penalties at the tackle (see below) is also inordinately high.
Reasons for the penalties:
Stormers:
Tackle: 11 (Marshall* 3, McCaw, Carter, Owen Franks 2, Crockett 3, Read)
Offside: 2 (Read 2)
Discipline: 2 (Todd - obstruction; Fotuali'i - high tackle)
Crusaders:
Tackle: 7 (Grant, De Villiers*, Burger, Liebenberg, Louw, Köster*, Habana)
Scrum: 2 (Blaauw*, Harris)
Discipline: 2 (Bekker* - +10; Schreuder* - high tackle)
The Crusaders missed two penalty kicks at goal.
Free kicks conceded
Stormers: 1 (scrum)
Crusaders: 0
Line-outs
Stormers: 12 (2 lost)
Crusaders: 12 (1 lost)
Scrums
Stormers: 6 (1 reset, 4 collapses, 1 lost, 1 free kick, 1 penalty)
Crusaders: 6 (2 collapses, 1 penalty)
The Crusaders demolished the Stormers' scrum.
Drop-outs
Stormers: 2
Crusaders: 1
Stoppages: 67
Some Match Totals
Tries scored per match
Reds vs Blues, 4 + 1 = 5
Stormers vs Crusaders, 1 + 2 = 3
Penalties scored per match
Reds vs Blues, 1 + 2 = 3
Stormers vs Crusaders, 1 + 5 = 6
Ball in Play Time
Jan Taljaard has again provided these meticulous statistics.
The average playing time for such matches is just over 33 minutes.
Reds vs Blues (Kaplan):
17 minutes 43 seconds + 17 minutes 58 seconds = 35 minutes 41 seconds
Stormers vs Crusaders (Joubert):
14 minutes 56 seconds + 17 minutes 58 seconds = 32 minutes 54 seconds
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