The big result in this round was that absorbing, then thrilling one-try match in the wind and the rain - Argentina vs Georgia. We give statistics from that match and the eight before it, plus some totals. The stats for Ball in Play time show that the ball was in play during this wet and windy match for longer than in any other match at the 2011 Rugby World Cup.. The referee was Wayne Barnes.

The next batch will take us to the end of the Pool matches and we shall do various totals for those matches. We shall also see how well the scrums have gone, for the impression that they are much better than they have been in recent years.

Results

Italy vs Russia, 53-17
Tonga vs Japan, 31-18
South Africa vs Namibia, 87-0
Australia vs USA, 67-5
England vs Romania, 67-3
New Zealand vs France, 37-17
Samoa vs Fiji, 27-7
Ireland vs Russia, 62-12
Argentina vs Scotland, 13-12

Sanctions

Cited and suspended

Nobody

Yellow cards

Fabio Ongaro (Italy) - late, armless tackle
James Arlidge (Japan) - offside and stopping pass
Halani Aulika (Tonga) - tackle infringement
Tukulua Lokotui (Tonga)  - offside
Blaine Scully (USA) - deliberate knock-on
Konstantin Rachkov (Scotland) - deliberate knock-on

Possession

(i) Italy vs Scotland

Penalties conceded: 17

Italy: 5
Scotland: 12

Reasons for the penalties:

Italy:
Tackle: 2 (Geldenhuys, Zanni)
Offside: 1 (Mauro Bergamasco)
Scrums: 1 (Lorenzo Cittadini)
Discipline: 1 (Ongaro - dangerous tackle)

Russia:
Tackle: 4 (Korshunov, Shakirov, Voytov, Grachev)
Offside: 3 (Several, Voytov & Prishchepenko, Garbuzov)
Scrum: 5 (Prishchepenko 2, Botvinnikov, Prishchepenko & Botvinnikov, Korshunov)
The Italy side missed three penalty kicks at goal, the Russia one.

Italy missed a penalty kick at goal.

Free kicks conceded

Italy: 2 (scrums)
Russia: 1 (scrum)

Line-outs

Italy: 7 (1 lost, 1 quick)
Russia: 11 (4 lost, 1 quick)

Scrums

Italy: 16 (3 reset, 4 collapses, 2 free kicks, 4 penalties, 1 penalty try)
Russia: 6 (1 reset, 1 collapse, 1 lost, 1 free kick, 1 penalty)

Drop-outs

Italy: 1
Russia: 1

Stoppages: 67

(ii) Tonga vs Japan

Penalties conceded: 27

Tonga: 15
Japan: 12

Reasons for the penalties:

Tonga:
Tackle: 6 (Lutui 2, Hufanga, Fatafehi 2, Aulika)
Offside: 5 (Ma'afu, Tonga'uiha, Undetermined 2, Lokotui)
Scrum: 1 (Ma'asi)
Discipline: 3 (Hufanga - air tackle; Vainikolo - man without ball; Taumalolo - armless tackle)

Japan:
Tackle: 9 (Leitch 3, Hatakeyama, Kitagawa, Thompson* 2, Webb, Kikutani)
Offside: 1 (Arlidge)
Scrum: 2 (Hatakeyama, Horie*)

Neither side missed a penalty kicks at goal.

Free kicks conceded

Tonga: 2 (1 mark, 1 scrum)
Japan: 0

Line-outs

Tonga: 6 (2 lost)
Japan: 17 (2 lost, 1 reset)

Scrums

Tonga: 11 (2 reset, 1 collapse, 2 penalties)
Japan: 8 (1 free kick)

Drop-outs

Tonga: 1
Japan: 0

Stoppages: 74

(iii) South Africa vs Namibia

Penalties conceded: 20

South Africa: 6
Namibia: 14

Reasons for the penalties:

South Africa:
Tackle: 4 (Habana, Rossouw, Burger, Mtawarira)
Scrum: 1 (Steenkamp)
Discipline: 1 (Rossouw - obstruction)

Namibia:
Tackle: 9 (Burger* 3, Du Plessis 2, Visser, Esterhuyse, Du Toit, Van Lill)
Offside: 1 (Redelinghuys)
Scrum: 3 (Visser, O’Callaghan, Du Toit)
Discipline: 1  (Du Plessis - collapsing maul)

Neither side missed a penalty kick at goal.

Free kicks conceded

South Africa:  0
Namibia: 1 (mark)

Line-outs

South Africa: 17  (2 lost, 1 skew)
Namibia: 7 (3 lost)

Scrums

South Africa: 6 (2 resets, 1 collapse, 1 penalty)
Namibia: 13 (2 reset, 3 collapses, 1 wheel, 2 penalties)

Drop-outs

South Africa: 1
Namibia: 0

Stoppages: 69

(iv) Australia vs USA

Penalties conceded: 15

Australia: 4
USA: 11

Reasons for the penalties:

Australia:
Tackle: 2 (Mitchell, Palu)
Offside: 1 (McCalman)
Scrum: 1 (Alexander)

USA:
Tackle: 4 (Fry, Pittman, Danahy, Johnson)
Offside: 3 (Basauri, Usasz, Gagiano)
Scrum: 3 (Pittman, Fry 2)
Discipline: 1 (Scully - deliberate knock-on)

Neither side missed a penalty kick at goal.

Free kicks conceded

Australia: 0
USA: 2 (line-outs)

Line-outs

Australia: 12 (1 lost, 1 quick, 2 free kicks)
USA: 10 (1 lost, 1 skew)

Scrums

Australia: 10 (1 reset, 2 collapses, 3 penalties)
USA: 6 (2 resets, 3 collapses, 1 penalty)

Drop-outs

Australia: 0
USA: 1

Stoppages: 59

(v) England vs Romania

Penalties conceded: 23

England: 12
Romania: 11

Reasons for the penalties:

England:
Tackle: 7 (Haskell 2, Deacon, Cueto, Thompson, Croft, Moody)
Offside: 1 (Shaw)
Scrum: 1 (Corbisiero)
Discipline: 3 (Croft - obstruction; Corbisiero* - obstruction; Ashton - +10)

Romania:
Tackle: 5 (Ciuntu, Cazan, Apostol, Nere, Dumbrava)
Offside: 1 (Ratiu*)
Scrum: 3 (Nere 2, Ion)
Discipline: 2 (Poperlan - early tackle, Dumitras - high tackle)

The Romania missed four penalty kicks at goal.

Free kicks conceded

England: 1 (scrum)
Romania: 0

Line-outs

England: 13 (1 skew, 3 quick)
Romania: 11 (6 lost, 1 skew, 1 quick, 1 reset)

Scrums

England: 8 (2 resets, 2 collapses, 1 lost)
Romania: 8 (1 free kick)

Drop-outs

England: 3
Romania: 0

Stoppages: 70

(vi) New Zealand vs France

Penalties conceded: 18

New Zealand: 11
France: 7

Reasons for the penalties:

New Zealand:
Tackle: 5 (Mealamu, McCaw, Kahui, Nonu 2)
Offside: 1 (McCaw)
Scrum: 3 (Woodcock 3)
Discipline: 2 (Thompson - collapsing maul; Kaino* - man without ball)

France:
Tackle: 4 (Poux, Traille, Médard, Yachvili)
Offside: 1 (Poux)
Scrum: 2 (Poux, Barcella*)

Neither side missed a penalty kick at goal.

Free kicks conceded

New Zealand: 0
France: 2 (scrums)

Line-outs

New Zealand: 9 (1 quick)
France: 11 (1 lost, 1 skew)

Scrums

New Zealand: 11 (4 reset, 5 collapses, 1 lost, 2 free kicks, 2 penalties)
France: 8 (1 collapse, 2 penalties)

Drop-outs

New Zealand: 0
France: 0

Stoppages: 64

(vii) Fiji vs Samoa

Penalties conceded: 14

Fiji: 7
Samoa: 7

Reasons for the penalties:

Fiji:
Tackle: 5 (Murimurivalu** 2, Nalaga, Ravulo*, Talei)
Scrum: 2 (Ma'afu* 2)

Samoa:
Tackle: 6 (Taulafo, Tusi Pisi, Johnston 3, Leo)
Discipline: (Sapolu - obstruction)

Fiji missed a penalty kick at goal, Samoa two.

Free kicks conceded

Fiji: 3 (1 mark, 1 scrum, 1 line-out)
Samoa: 0

Line-outs

Fiji: 13 (1 skew)
Samoa: 7 (1 lost, 1 free kick)

Scrums

Fiji: 13 (1 reset, 5 collapses, 1 wheel, 2 lost, 1 free kick)
Samoa: 8 (1 reset, 1 collapse, 2 penalties)

Drop-outs

Fiji: 3
Samoa: 1

Stoppages: 65

(viii) Ireland vs Russia

Penalties conceded: 22

Ireland: 10
Russia: 12

Reasons for the penalties:

Ireland:
Tackle: 6 (O'Brien, Healy 2, Leamy, Boss, Buckley)
Scrum: 3 (Buckley 3)
Discipline: (Buckley - obstruction)

Russia:
Tackle: 7 (Byrnes 2, Fatakhov, Tsnobiladze, Popov, Gresev, Babaev)
Offside: 1 (Khrokin*)
Discipline: 4 (Rachkov - deliberate knock-on; Byrne - collapsing maul; Antonov - +10; Gresev - collapsing maul)

Neither side missed a penalty kick at goal.

Free kicks conceded

Ireland: 0
Russia: 3 (1 scrum, 2 line-outs)

Line-outs

Ireland: 14 (2 lost, 2 quick)
Russia: 17 (4 lost, 1 skew, 2 free kicks)

Scrums

Ireland: 5  (2 collapses, 1 free kick, 1 penalty)
Russia: 10 (1 lost, 1 wheel, 2 penalties)

Drop-outs

Ireland: 0
Russia: 0

Stoppages: 71

(ix) Argentina vs Scotland

Penalties conceded: 19

Argentina: 8
Scotland: 11

Reasons for the penalties:

Argentina:
Tackle: 6 (Farias Cabello, Camacho 3, Bosch & Albacete*, Figallo & Albacete)
Scrum: 2 (Figallo, Roncero*)

Scotland:
Tackle: 6 (De Luca 2, Cross*, Paterson, Ford, Barclay)
Offside: 1 (Jacobsen)
Scrum: 3 (Cross* 2, Jacobsen)
Discipline: (Morrison - obstruction)

Argentina missed four penalty kicks at goal, Scotland one.

Free kicks conceded

Argentina: 1 (mark)
Scotland: 2 (1 scrum, 1 mark)

Line-outs

Argentina: 11 (4 lost, 1 skew)
Scotland: 12 (2 lost)

Scrums

Argentina: 6 (1 reset, 1 collapse, 2 penalties)
Scotland: 6 (3 reset, 3 collapses, 1 free kick, 1 penalty)

Drop-outs

Argentina: 3
Scotland: 4

Stoppages: 68

Some Match Totals

Ball in Play Time

Again Jan Taljaard has provided these remarkable statistics. Have a look at the last one.

Italy vs Russia (Barnes):
17 minutes 36 seconds + 19 minutes 7 seconds = 33 minutes 43 seconds

Tonga vs Japan (Pearson):
15 minutes 4 seconds + 16 minutes 34 seconds = 31 minutes 38 seconds

South Africa vs Namibia (Clancy):
15 minutes 56 seconds + 16 minutes 41 seconds = 32 minutes 37 seconds

Australia vs USA (Owens):
16 minutes 13 seconds + 15 minutes 11 seconds = 31 minutes 24 seconds

England vs Romania (Poite):
16 minutes 39 seconds + 15 minutes 3 seconds = 31 minutes 42 seconds

New Zealand vs France (Rolland):
18 minutes 47 seconds + 15 minutes 21 seconds = 34 minutes 8 seconds

Fiji vs Samoa (Lawrence):
14 minutes 35 seconds + 18 minutes 57 seconds = 33 minutes 32 seconds

Ireland vs Russia (Joubert):
17 minutes 19 seconds + 15 minutes 1 seconds = 32 minutes 20 seconds

Argentina vs Scotland (Barnes):
17 minutes 14 seconds + 24 minutes 1 seconds = 41 minutes 15 seconds

Stoppages

Italy  vs Russia:  67
Tonga vs Japan:  74
South Africa vs Namibia:  69
Australia vs USA:  59
England vs Romania:  70
New Zealand vs France:  64
Fiji vs Samoa:  65
Ireland vs Russia: 71
Argentina vs Scotland: 68

Scoring

Tries scored

Italy  vs Russia:  6 + 3 = 9
Tonga vs Japan: 3 + 3 = 6
South Africa vs Namibia:  12 + 0 = 12
Australia vs USA:  11 + 1 = 12
England vs Romania:  10 + 0 = 10
New Zealand vs France:  5 + 2 = 7
Fiji vs Samoa:  1 + 2 = 3
Ireland vs Russia: 8 + 2 = 10
Argentina vs Scotland: 1 + 0 = 1

Remarkable how just one can have such importance!

Penalties scored

Italy  vs Russia:  0 + 0 = 0
Tonga vs Japan: 4 + 1 = 4
South Africa vs Namibia:  1 + 0 = 1
Australia vs USA: 0 + 0 = 0 
England vs Romania:  1 + 1 = 2
New Zealand vs France:  1 + 1 = 2
Fiji vs Samoa:  0 + 4 = 4
Ireland vs Russia: 1 + 0 = 1
Argentina vs Scotland: 2 + 2 = 4

That means that in this group of matches 70 tries were scored to 18 penalties. on an average roughly 8 tries per match to 2 penalties.