IRB report highlights closeness of World Cup

Captain Richie McCaw holds the Webb Ellis Cup after the 8-7 victory over France in the Rugby World Cup Final. Photo / Getty Images

The All Blacks had to endure the closest final in history in order to get their hands on the William Webb Ellis Cup, and a report has now revealed the tournament as a whole was the most competitive ever.

When Richie McCaw lifted the trophy following the 8-7 nailbiter against France at Eden Park in late October it was the culmination of a month and a half of rugby in which the "Tier 2'' nations closed the gap on their "Tier 1'' counterparts, in spite of being given less chance to recover, in a schedule devised by the International Rugby Board.

Now the IRB is celebrating the performances of nations such as Tonga and Samoa, who severely tested the big guns and, in the former's case, beat defeated finalists France in their pool match.

A report released today (Wed) by the IRB, which is described as the "most detailed rugby World Cup statistical analysis ever'', shows how the game has evolved since the 1995 World Cup won by hosts South Africa, and states:

- Winning margins in the opening pool matches between Tier 1 and Tier 2 halved, reflecting the improved performances of Tier 2 teams since France 2007 with Tier 1 teams no longer pulling away from Tier 2 opposition in the final 20 minutes of a match as frequently as in the past.

- The smaller winning margins extended across the whole tournament with Tier 1 v Tier 1 matches producing far smaller winning margins than ever before.

- Despite such competitive matches, yellow cards were half those issued at rugby World Cup 2007.

- Rugby World Cup 2011 also confirmed that any scrum problems are concentrated on matches between Tier 1 teams with collapses and penalties in matches played between Tier 2 teams being substantially fewer.

The report states the 2011 tournament saw fewer set pieces, a substantial reduction in kicks from hand and a renewed emphasis on running rugby.

It also states that at the 1995 World Cup there were as many set pieces as breakdowns, but now there are four times as many breakdowns as scrums and lineouts combined.

The comparison with 1995 shows:

- Ball in play has increased by 33 per cent.

- Passes have gone from 179 per match to 263 - an increase of almost 50 per cent.

- Rucks/mauls have more than doubled, going up by almost 100 from 69 per match to 162 per match.

- Kicks from hand have gone down from 75 to 41 per match.

- Scrums have gone down from 27 to 17 with lineouts down from 37 to 24.