The International Board (IRB) through their magazine Oval World, produced a statistical analysis of every participant in the recent Rugby World Cup '99. For example, Ireland only managed to cross the gain line eight times against Australia and 12 against Argentina yet had a whale of a time against the USA (30).
Ireland made a total of 55 handling errors in the World Cup, way above the average.
However the most revealing and perhaps damning statistic to emerge was that in the entire World Cup, the Irish wingers received a total of 18 passes in over 320 minutes of rugby at an average of five a match.
Those who looked for an inkling as to what might happen on the opening day of the Six Nations Championship might have picked up on the fact that, of the 20 competing teams at the World Cup, Ireland and Wales had the lowest average tackle count per game (39). They went on to concede 50 and 36 points respectively last Saturday week.
On a lighter note Oval World lists Ireland's three pool opponents in the World Cup as Canada, Namibia and Fiji.
