SIX NATIONS GUINNESS SIX NATIONS 2019 CHAMPIONSHIP REPORT AN EXCEPTIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 2 AN EXCEPTIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 2019 GUINESS SIX NATIONS | INTRODUCTION 3 EDITORIAL REVOLUTIONISING THE RUGBY VIEWING EXPERIENCE New dynamic statistics that provide better insights were introduced during this year’s Guinness Six Nations Championship, powered by Amazon Web Services (AWS) analytics. Try origins were introduced during the 2019 Championship, showing how and where each try in the game originated. This statistic looks at the phase of play before a try is scored and provides an insight into how much a counter-attack attributed to the try, or whether it was from lineout, penalty, scrum, free kick, or turnover. This analysis helps to unearth key turning points in each game and help viewers get a deeper understanding of each team’s attacking strategy. Thirty- three of the 84 tries scored during the 2019 Championship originated from lineouts, with 16 of those tries in the first three phases. Lineouts provided the highest number of tries for England (9) and Ireland (9) as well as the joint-highest total for France (4), Italy (4) and Wales (3) - only Scotland scored more tries originating from a different source (turnovers - 6). Dominant tackles became a key feature of the 2019 Championship, as England were responsible for 146 (30.1%) of the 485 dominant tackles in the 2019 Guinness Six Nations. This included 46 dominant tackles in their opening fixture against Ireland. More data than ever before was available at the breakdown, allowing analysis on the 3,085 rucks during the 2019 Guinness Six Nations. While England lost just six of their 430 rucks, they were around the 2019 Championship average (3.67 seconds) for their average speed (3.66 seconds for England). Ireland were the quickest nation at the breakdown, with an average ruck speed of 3.22 seconds, while France were the slowest, with an average ruck speed of 4.11 seconds. A team's type of play was also analysed, providing an insight into how a team utilised their possession - breaking this down into certain areas of the pitch and game states. For example, it provided data on England's style of play, as Eddie Jones' side kicked from open play more than any other nation (11.0%), although Wales were the most aggressive when it came out of kicking out of their own 22 (39.8% compared to England's 32.1%). 2019 GUINESS SIX NATIONS | EDITORIAL 5 SUMMARY tarting with the overall team Championship S statistics, before moving into individual performances and data on all teams, this report will look at every aspect of the 2019 Guinness Six Nations - complete with insights. 01 2019 CHAMPIONSHIP STATISTICS Page 6 6 02 03 INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES TEAM PERFORMANCES Page 46 Page 66 2019 GUINESS SIX NATIONS | SUMMARY 7 01 2019 CHAMPIONSHIP STATISTICS RESULTS BY ROUND 10 2019 CHAMPIONSHIP TABLE 12 2019 CHAMPIONSHIP HIGHLIGHTS 16 POINTS ANALYSIS 18 SCORING BREAKDOWN 22 ATTACK 24 DEFENCE 26 BREAKDOWN 30 SET PIECE 32 KICKING 36 DISCIPLINE 38 MATCH RECORDS 42 POSITION PROFILES 44 8 2019 GUINESS SIX NATIONS | CHAMPIONSHIP STATISTICS 9 RESULTS BY ROUND WEEK 1 WEEK 2 Wales' 24-19 win against France after trailing England recorded their biggest win against 16-0 was the biggest come-from-behind France in the history of the Six Nations. victory in Six Nations history. H GAME A H GAME A 19 France - Wales 24 13 Scotland - Ireland 22 33 Scotland - Italy 20 15 Italy - Wales 26 20 Ireland - England 32 44 England - France 8 WEEK 3 WEEK 4 France have won all 10 of their home matches For the first time in Six Nations history, the against Scotland in the history of the Six winning side between Scotland and Wales Nations. failed to reach 20 points. H GAME A H GAME A 11 Scotland - Wales 18 27 France - Scotland 10 57 England - Italy 14 21 Wales - England 13 26 Ireland - France 14 16 Italy - Ireland 26 WEEK 5 Scotland claimed a draw despite trailing 31-0 against England, the biggest comeback to avoid defeat in Six Nations history. H GAME A 14 Italy - France 25 25 Wales - Ireland 7 38 England - Scotland 38 10 Wales have won the Grand Slam four times in the history of the Six Nations, more than any other nation in the Championship. 2019 GUINESS SIX NATIONS | CHAMPIONSHIP STATISTICS 11 2019 CHAMPIONSHIP TABLE POS TEAM P W D L PF PA PTDIFF GS TB LB PTS 1 Wales 5 5 0 0 114 65 49 3 0 0 23 2 England 5 3 1 1 184 101 83 0 4 0 18 3 Ireland 5 3 0 2 101 100 1 0 2 0 14 4 France 5 2 0 3 93 118 -25 0 1 1 10 5 Scotland 5 1 1 3 105 125 -20 0 2 1 9 6 Italy 5 0 0 5 79 167 -88 0 0 0 0 There were a total of just 179 points scored in Wales' games during the 2019 Guinness Six Nations - all other nations' games combined to feature over 200 points. It's therefore not a surprise that Wales won the 2019 Championship with the lowest number of points scored for any winner since their the Grand Slam victory in 2012 when they scored just 109 points. They were the only nation to concede fewer than 100 points, as they allowed just 65 points - the lowest total for any nation since Ireland conceded just 56 points in the 2015 Championship. 12 2019 CHAMPIONSHIP TABLE POINTS GALORE This is the first time in Six Nations history that five different nations have conceded 100 or more points in their five games in a Championship. Only two sides conceded 100 points or more in 2017 and 2018, while four nations conceded 100 or more points in a single Championship on only five occasions prior to this edition (2000, 2001, 2002, 2007, 2015). England's +83 points differential is the largest differential by a side who failed to win a Championship since they finished with a differential of +131 in 2002, only to lose out to France (+81). 2019 GUINESS SIX NATIONS | CHAMPIONSHIP STATISTICS 13 Wales' 2019 Guinness Six Nations campaign was one of only five campaigns in the history of the Six Nations where a team did not concede 20 or more points in any of their five games in the Championship - alongside England in 2000 and 2003, Wales in 2008 (when they also won the Grand Slam) and France in 2017. 14 2019 GUINESS SIX NATIONS | CHAMPIONSHIP STATISTICS 15 2019 CHAMPIONSHIP HIGHLIGHTS RECORDS WERE SET DURING THE 2019 GUINNESS SIX NATIONS, FROM PLAYER APPEARANCES TO COMEBACKS TO TRY SCORING. MORE THAN 80 TRIES WERE SCORED DURING THE 2019 CHAMPIONSHIP FOR THE FIRST TIME AS THE SIDES COMBINED TO SCORE 84, SIX MORE THAN THE PREVIOUS RECORD OF 78 THAT WAS SET JUST ONE YEAR AGO. 16 BY THE NUMBERS POINTS SCORED TRIES SCORED PENALTIES SCORED 676 84 44 DOMINANT TACKLES CARRIES KICKS 485 3,757 756 TACKLES MADE TACKLE MADE % LINEBREAKS 5,402 89.5% 120 TOTAL RUCKS BREAKDOWN STEALS TOTAL MAULS 3,085 55 144 RUCK SPEED 0-3 % RUCK SPEED 3-6 % RUCK SPEED 6+ % 53.5% 32.2% 14.3% ATT. BREAKDOWN ARRIVALS DEF. BREAKDOWN ARRIVALS PENALTIES CONCEDED 7,8 05 2,179 239 2019 GUINESS SIX NATIONS | CHAMPIONSHIP STATISTICS 17 POINTS ANALYSIS POINTS PER WEEK 160 148 147 128 140 80 113 0 Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5 POINTS DIFFERENTIAL +49 +83 With a points difference of +49, as England's +83 points difference was the Wales became the first nation to win a highest in a single year since Ireland ended Championship with a points difference below the 2014 Championship with the same points +50 since Ireland won the Grand Slam in differential. 2009. POINTS SCORED POINTS CONCEDED POS. NATION POINTS POS. NATION POINTS 1 England 184 1 Wales 65 2 Wales 114 2 Ireland 100 3 Scotland 105 3 England 101 4 Ireland 101 4 France 118 5 France 93 5 Scotland 125 6 Italy 79 6 Italy 167 18 England secured the biggest win of the 2019 Championship with a 57-14 victory against Italy 2019 GUINESS SIX NATIONS | CHAMPIONSHIP STATISTICS 19 NATION YEAR POINTS England 2000 229 England 2001 184 England 2019 184 England 2002 173 Ireland 2018 160 20 ENGLAND SCORED 184 POINTS IN THE 2019 GUINNESS SIX NATIONS, THE JOINT-SECOND HIGHEST TOTAL IN A SINGLE CHAMPIONSHIP. 2019 GUINESS SIX NATIONS | CHAMPIONSHIP STATISTICS 21 SCORING BREAKDOWN There were 84 tries scored in the 2019 Guinness Six Nations - 5.6 per match, which is a Championship-high in Six Nations history, but the distribution of them is fascinating. Only two other Championship winners have scored fewer tries than Wales did in 2019 (10) - Wales themselves in 2013 (9) and Ireland in 2015 (8) - as they were the joint-lowest try scorers in this year's Championship, alongside Italy. The Champions accounted for just 11.9% of total tries scored in the 2019 Guinness Six Nations, while England (24) scored the most tries in a single year since they scored 29 tries in 2001 - the record total in the history of the Six Nations. Wales also made 16 penalties, twice as many as any other nation. It was the first time in Six Nations history in which only one side reached double figures for penalties scored - at least three teams made ten penalties or more in every other Championship in Six Nations history. MOST PENALTIES MADE MOST CONVERSIONS MADE POS. NATION TOTAL POS.