The stats don't lie: Super 15 final review

Will Genia's 65-metre break from a Crusaders' turnover led to his match winning try. Photo / Getty Images

Tracey Nelson looks at the key statistics from Saturday night's Super 15 final between the Reds and Crusaders.

REDS v CRUSADERS (18-13)

- This was the first Super Rugby title for the Reds, and they are the second Australian team after the Brumbies to win a title. Both New Zealand and Australia can now boast two winning franchises, while South Africa have only had one (Bulls).

- The 18 points scored by the Reds is the lowest number of points scored by the winning team in a Super Rugby final, one point less than the 19 points scored by the Crusaders in 2006.

- The Reds made five linebreaks to the Crusaders' four, and it was Will Genia's 65 metre break from a Crusaders' turnover that lead to his match winning try.

- The usually defensively sound Crusaders had one of their worst games when it came to missed tackles with just 70 per cent made successfully. They missed a total of 27 tackles, while the Reds missed 20 with the slightly higher tackle success rate of 74 per cent.

- Richie McCaw made 15 tackles missing only one, and had seven ball carries. Kieran Read was the top ball carrier for the Crusaders with 11, and gained a total of 61 metres.

- The breakdown was fiercely contested and both sides lost turnover ball, with the Reds conceding eight and the Crusaders conceding nine.

- There was a higher than average number of scrums in this game with a total of 24, 13 feeds by the Reds and 11 by the Crusaders.

- The Crusaders had the better of the scrums winning two against the feed but lost six of their 12 lineout throws, with Corey Flynn throwing three not straight. The Reds won all 10 of their lineouts.

- Dan Carter scored all of the Crusaders' points with a try, conversion and two penalties but still fell short of Andrew Mehrtens' record of 16 individual points by a New Zealander in a Super Rugby final. Carter missed just one penalty for a 75 per cent kicking success rate on the night.

- Quade Cooper kicked three from five for a kicking success rate of 60 per cent.

- Sonny Bill Williams made five offloads in the game, the most of any player in the match. He also made 119 running metres for the Crusaders. Dan Carter made the most metres gained for his side with a total of 154.

- There were only 13 penalties in the game, with the Crusaders conceding seven and the Reds six.

- HERALD ONLINE