Super Rugby’s 18-team format results in big scores

IN CAPE DESPITE Super Rugby expanding to an 18-team format the tournament has seen an increase in the overall points-scoring effectiveness with games averaging over 50-points.

The sanzarrugby.com website reports that Super Rugby has enjoyed a period of expansion over the last decade. Since the end of the 2010 season the roster of teams competing for the trophy has ballooned from 14 to 18 and as such we’ve noticed trends in the overall pointsscoring effectiveness of the teams involved.

In 2010, the final year of the 14team competition, a whopping 52.9 points were scored per game, the most of any season in the last 10 years. The Bulls led the way as they topped the table for a second consecutive year with 436 of those points.

The introduction of a 15th team, the Melbourne Rebels, saw this figure cut to 46.3 points per game, a 6.6 point difference and the second lowest of any season in the last seven seasons.

However, in 2016 where we’ve seen three new teams added to the competition all at once, there has been no reduction in points scored, in fact, it has increased.

The Chiefs are the point-scoring wizards of the 2016 season with 342 already in the bank for the campaign despite being one of the teams who have already had their two byes for the season.

That means the Hamilton side score an impressive 34.2 points per game, contributing the majority of the 50.6 threshold on their own in their fixtures this year.

While the 2016 season still needs a touch over 1 000 points to catch up to 2012 as the highest scoring season in Super Rugby history, there’s certainly no shortage of entertainment behind the avalanche of points that have already been scored. – ANA