Final player stats for Ireland’s World Cup squad don’t make for great reading

The final numbers are in, and few of the Ireland squad come out looking great.

Over the course of the World Cup campaign, in Japan, Opta Sports has been tracking the team and players statistics of Ireland. These Ireland stats don’t read fantastically well, but a few players do come out in credit.

Joe Schmidt’s men finished second in Pool A but were eliminated from the tournament when New Zealand doled out a 46-14 walloping at Tokyo Stadium.

After a fine start to their World Cup campaign against Scotland, the Irish side were punctured by hosts Japan and struggled to regain the form, swagger and confidence that had served them so well in 2018.

The final statistics reflect a squad that were blessed with a handful of excellent performers but who, overall, failed to fire.

The Irish pack was lacking in ball-carrying punch and variety to their attacks and most defences saw them coming. There were a couple of bright sparks in the backline – notably Garry Ringrose, Andrew Conway and Jordan Larmour – but, as a whole, they were guilty of basic errors in attack and of falling off tackles, and switching off, in defence.

Here are some of the statistical highlights (and lowlights):

THE GOOD

Carries

1. CJ Stander (74)
2. James Ryan (51)
3. Jordan Larmour (42)

Metres gained

1. Jordan Larmour (197)
2. Andrew Conway (157 off 17 carries)
3. Garry Ringrose (146 off 29 carries)
4. CJ Stander (145 off 74 carries)

Clean breaks

1. Garry Ringrose (7)
2. = Andrew Conway & Jordan Larmour (6)

*Rob Kearney had five line breaks on his 18 carries. Keith Earls had four line breaks on 28 carries.

Defenders beaten

1. Jordan Larmour (17)
2. Garry Ringrose (10)
3. CJ Stander (8)

Offloads

1. Keith Earls (6)
2. CJ Stander (4)
3. = Jacob Stockdale & Garry Ringrose (3)

Tackles

1. Josh van der Flier (55)
2. CJ Stander (53)
3. James Ryan (44)

Tackle success rate

• Jack Conan – 14 tackles at 100%
• Andrew Conway – 7 tackles at 100%
•  James Ryan – 44 tackles at 98%
• Iain Henderson – 40 tackles at 98%
• CJ Stander – 53 tackles at 96%

*Sean Cronin (2 tackles) and Jordi Murphy (1) both had 100% tackle success rates in their sole RWC 2019 appearances.

Turnovers won

1. Peter O’Mahony (5)
2. = Tadhg Beirne & Jordan Larmour (3)

*Andrew Conway, Bundee Aki and Cian Healy all won two turnovers apiece.

THE BAD

Tackle success rate

• Jacob Stockdale – 57%
• Rob Kearney – 63%
• Joey Carbery – 67%
• Luke McGrath – 70%

Least ground made per carry

Five players in the squad (listed below) had more carries than ‘metres gained’ for Ireland.

• Jordi Murphy – 0.25 metres per carry
• Rory Best – 0.63 metres
• Andrew Porter & Jean Kleyn – 0.66 metres
• Cian Healy – 0.71 metres
• Joey Carbery – 0.75 metres

Backs with no line breaks

Conor Murray, Jack Carty and Joey Carbery.

THE GRIM

Turnovers conceded

• Keith Earls (9)
• Tadhg Furlong & Jack Carty (6)
• Andrew Conway, Bundee Aki, Conor Murray, Jacob Stockdale, Johnny Sexton (5)

Penalties conceded

• Conor Murray & Peter O’Mahony (4)
• Cian Healy & James Ryan (3)
• CJ Stander, Dave Kilcoyne & Jack Conan (2)

Handling errors

• Keith Earls (8)
• Andrew Conway, Bundee Aki, Conor Murray & Robbie Henshaw (4)
• Tadhg Furlong, Jordan Larmour, Garry Ringrose, Iain Henderson & Jack Carty (3)

A lot to reflect on, but many of that Ireland squad will be keen to move on and hope to make amends with their provinces, first, then the national team in 2020.

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The latest episode sees Andrew Trimble and Jerry Flannery look back on Ireland’s World Cup exit to New Zealand.

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