The stats don't lie: Semifinals review

Sean Maitland's intercept try took his season tally to nine this season. Photo / Getty Images

The Reds reinforced why the were the minor premiership winners of Super 15 this year as they ran in four tries to beat the Blues.

Meanwhile the Crusaders showed that travel has become second nature for them as they systematically snuffed out the Stormers in Cape Town. In a bizarre coincidence the opening try of both semifinals was scored from an intercept.

REDS v BLUES (30-13)

- Pat Lam's gamble to start Lachie Munro on the right wing instead of Rene Ranger failed to pay off, as Munro threw the intercept pass for the Reds' first try of the evening. Munro also missed the tackle on Quade Cooper that saw him run 60 metres and evade three Blues defenders before offloading in Alby Mathewson's tackle for Ben Tapuai to score the try of the night.

- In the lead up to the intercept try Stephen Brett had made a 25 metre linebreak, and the Blues had built up seven phases of play to create a three man overlap down the left wing side until the fateful cut-out pass was thrown by Munro.

- The Blues made six linebreaks in this game but only Chris Lowrey's resulted in points, with his solo run off a ruck just before halftime giving the Blues their only try of the game.

- Rene Ranger was subbed on for Munro just before half time and made a total of 100 running metres and one linebreak in the 41 minutes he played.

- The battle of the breakdown was marginally won by the Reds, winning seven off the Blues and losing five of their own.

- The last time they played the Reds the Blues only conceded five penalties. On Saturday night they conceded 10, with seven coming at the breakdown leading to a team warning from referee Jonathan Kaplan.

- The Blues won 9/11 lineouts and stole two off the Reds.

- The Reds made 10 handling errors with nine knock-ons and one forward pass. The Blues knocked the ball on five times, made two forward passes and conceded two intercepts.

- Quade Cooper made 110 running metres, two linebreaks and four offloads in this game. The only area he didn't excell in was his goal kicking where he succeeded with just three from seven place kicks, but he did land his only drop kick attempt.

- Rod Davies' hat-trick of tries was the first ever in the long history of Reds rugby.

STORMERS v CRUSADERS (29-10)

- The Crusaders out-defended the best defensive side in the competition making 84 per cent of their tackles while the Stormers made 80 per cent of theirs.

- Top tacklers for the Crusaders were Richie McCaw with 14 and Wyatt Crockett with 12.

- Once again the Crusaders' scrum proved an effective weapon winning one clean tight head and gaining possession twice off the Stormers' feed. They also won a penalty from a Stormers' feed.

- The Crusaders dominated the breakdown winning nine turnovers and conceding just three. In total the Crusaders only turned the ball over five times in the match.

- Sam Whitelock stole two lineouts off the Stormers' throw, while the Crusaders won 11 of their 12 lineout throws.

- There were only four linebreaks in the game with Robbie Fruean making two, while Sonny Bill Williams and Bryan Habana made one each.

- The Crusaders conceded a hefty 16penalties in this game, with 10 of them coming at the breakdown. The Stormers only conceded nine, with six coming at the breakdown.

- Sean Maitland's intercept try took his season tally to nine, making him top equal try scorer with Bjorn Basson (Bulls) and Sarel Pretorius (Cheetahs). Maitland will get the chance to become the individual top try scorer when the Crusaders play the Reds in the Final.

- Dan Carter landed seven from nine kicks at goal, with one of his misses hitting the upright.

- It was the second time the Crusaders have beaten the Stormers in Cape Town this season, and they have now won 10 of the 11 semifinals they have played in.

- More stats can be found at haka.co.nz

- HERALD ONLINE