The Aviva Premiership - a barren place for tries?

Instead of posting this in the thread about wingers, I decided it should be a new topic.

2011/12
Tries - 489.
Average per game - 3.7
TBPs - 33
LBPs - 69

2010/11
Tries - 507
Average - 3.84
TBPs - 38
LBPs - 54

2009/10
Tries - 427
Average - 3.2
TBPs - 27
LBPs - 55

2008/09
Tries - 544
Average - 4.12
TBPs - 41
LBPs 62

2007/08
Tries - 603
Average - 4.6
TBPs - 47
LBPs - 59

2006/07
Tries - 535
Average - 4.05
TBPs - 42
LBPs - 63

2005/06
Tries 535
Average - 4.05
TBPs - 10 (yes 10!)
LBPs - 64

2004/05
Tries - 513
Average - 3.9
TBPs - 37
LBPs - 58

2003/04
Tries - 577 (Rotherham conceded 90)
Average - 4.4
TBPs - 45
LBPs - 49

2002/03
Tries - 552
Average - 4.2
TBPs - 16
LBPs - 48

TBH it tells us bugger all.

Not a great season for tries, but better then 09/10.
A record number of LBPs hints at a more competitve league?

I wonder how the Try Per Game average compares to the RaboPro12, the Top 14 and the Super Rugby? Would be enlightening and would give a broad based sense of Rugby globally.

Rabo this season - 469 tries, average 3.55 (from official site)
Super XV - Average 4.6 (from http://www.lassen.co.nz/s14tab.php)
Top 14 - Average 2.99 (From ESPN)

The LBP figure is encouraging as it shows how tight our league is. More than half the matches this season were settled by margins of 7 points or less.

The lack of tries is disappointing. There looks to have been a relatively dramatic drop off over the last 3 years from the previous 7. What can we take from this? During this time teams like Northampton, Saracens and Harlequins have come to the fore, all of whom are renowned for their big, powerful defences. Leicester have remained fairly constant over the whole period. We have not had any whipping boys in the league (e.g. Rotherham) over the last few years. A few years ago teams like Irish under Smith the first time, Bath under Meehan and Gloucester under Dean Ryan were scoring more than they do now (I'm guessing, without looking at any numbers).

There was a huge drop 3 seasons ago - as teams were scared to keep possession of the ball as the changes to the breakdown officiating meant they would be penalised and conced 3 points. So we got that aimless kicking, and defences took over.

Teams still concentrate more on defence than attack - in part because it is easier to coach.

However there are positive signs. More teams are starting to look at running the ball as a first option - but there has been a real lack of clinical application near the try line.

To see how many close matches there were you might want to count the drawn games too as they wont have attracted LBPs.

My quick count of the RaboPro12 says we had,

TBPS = 36
LBPs = 51

But we had 6 drawn games. Glasgow played in 4 of those.

.

It would be interesting to see a breakdown for teams. All but Sarries of the play off teams score alot of tries but towards the bottom it seems to dry up a little.
I would think that about a quarter of the matches being tbps being about right also.

It says alot about preception if the Prem has more tries then Rabo or T14

Any idea how many games had no tries I would expect with that high number of tries it will be low

Been looking at few figures...

Over the last 3 seasons, Saracens have come 3rd, 3rd, 2nd in the regular season standings scoring 39, 35, 35 and conceding 22, 26, 30 tries respectively. Results dictate that their style has clearly been effective. However this alone contributes a lot to the overall figures as over the last 10 years top 4 sides average around the 60 tries scored mark. There is also a knock on effect - if a top team is successful with this method, other clubs try to emulate their success using the same model.

For anyone who's interested in individual team breakdowns, I used the premiership table on the Gloucester offy and a drop down box in the top right lets you change year, and each teams tries for and against are listed as columns in the table. I'm a new member so not allowed to post the link sorry.

How many tries did Tigers score this year they seemed to score alot more then normal

With 969 tries ins 347 premiership matches, Tigers are quite comfortablt the leading Try scores. Also one of the few (only?) teams to score more tries than penalties:

http://www.premiershiprugby.com/premiership/stats/team.php?includeref=14967&teamid=4


By season, number tries (position in try scorers table):

2012 70 (1)
2011 67 (1)
2010 46 (2=)
2009 62 (2)
2008 58 (4=)
2007 58 (1)
2006 51 (5)
2005 75 (1)
2004 53 (4=)
2003 44 (7)
2002 72 (1)
2001 60 (4)