The Stats Don't Lie: Turnovers cost Chiefs

The Chiefs conceded 22 turnovers that included eight handling errors and five lost lineouts. The Crusaders conceded nine turnovers, six of which were handling errors. Photo / Getty Images

Opinion

Tracey Nelson crunches the numbers from the weekend's Super 15 action.

CRUSADERS v CHIEFS (43-15)
The Crusaders ended the Chiefs' run of six consecutive wins and also inflicted their biggest loss of the season, their previous worst having been against the Reds in round nine in a game they lost 23-31.

A poor start set the tone for the Chiefs, with five penalties conceded in the first 19 minutes of the game - three of which were conceded in their own 22. Dan Carter converted four of those five penalties into points.

Despite the initial flurry of penalties in the opening quarter, the Chiefs managed to get some discipline into their game and only conceded a further four penalties for the rest of the match. The Crusaders only conceded three penalties through to the 60th minute of the game, but went on to concede seven penalties in the final quarter.

The Crusaders won the battle of the breakdown winning four turnovers to one, and also held up the Chiefs in a maul to win the turnover.

The Chiefs conceded 22 turnovers that included eight handling errors and five lost lineouts. The Crusaders conceded nine turnovers, six of which were handling errors.

The Crusaders made 85 percent of their tackles, while the Chiefs made just 79 percent. Carter and Kieran Read were the top tacklers in the match with 12 each.

Carter landed seven from nine attempts at goal (with one attempt hitting the upright) and became the first player to surpass 1500 Super Rugby points. Only two other players have scored more than 1000 Super Rugby points - Stirling Mortlock and Morne Steyn.

HURRICANES v HIGHLANDERS (44-49)
The Highlanders achieved their first away win of the season in what was the highest scoring game of the 2013 Super season to date. Their win also lifted them off the bottom of the points table.

Not surprisingly given the blow-out score there were plenty of missed tackles, particularly in the second half of the match. The Highlanders missed a total of 38 tackles, while the Hurricanes missed 25. Highlanders openside flanker Elliot Dixon was the top tackler in the match with 23.

The Highlanders conceded 13 penalties in this game, seven of them being ruck offences - and five of those were conceded in their 22. The Hurricanes conceded 10 penalties.

The Highlanders seem to be on a roll conceding yellow cards and this week it was Aaron Smith's turn - their 11th yellow card for the season. While he was in the bin the Hurricanes scored two tries (Ben Franks and Julian Savea) and the Highlanders one (Hosea Gear).

There were remarkably few handling errors by either side given the tempo of the game - both teams made just four knock-ons, with the Hurricanes also throwing three wayward passes that resulted in turnovers.

Beauden Barrett was 100 percent with the boot converting five tries and three penalties for a personal tally of 16 points.

The Hurricanes now haven't beaten the Highlanders in Wellington since 2009.

CHEETAHS v BLUES (29-13)
The Blues lost their fifth consecutive game, and in doing so put themselves out of play-off contention and cemented the Cheetahs place in the top six teams.

Jamison Gibson-Parkes got his team off to a great start scoring his first Super Rugby try from a Peter Sai'ili linebreak, and also made two of the Blues' four linebreaks.

The Cheetahs made 18 handling errors which included 15 knock-ons, while the Blues made 10 handling errors. Of the Blues' eight knock-ons, Charles Piutau made four.

While there were only 12 lineouts in this game, there were 26 scrums (11 to the Cheetahs and 15 to the Blues). The Blues conceded the only tight-head of the match, which resulted in a try to Cheetahs No 8 Phillip van der Valt.

Again discipline was an issue for the Blues, conceding 12 penalties to the Cheetahs' five. Luke Braid was the most penalised player with three, followed by Keven Mealamu with two.

Rene Ranger made the most running metres in this game with 82, and also made a linebreak in the second half.

While the Blues only missed two tackles in the first half, they went on to miss a total of 24 for the match. The Cheetahs missed 17 tackles, but their overall defensive effort was led by Heinrich Brussow who was the top tackler in the game with 13.