Expansive and entertaining or play-safe and dull? An examination of the playing styles of international rugby teams participating in the 1998 Tri-nations Series and the 1998 Five Nations Championship

 Considering the large financial investment made by broadcasters and sponsors in the game of rugby union recently, the nature of elite rugby as a spectacle is of great interest to these parties as well as the game's administrators. What style of play characterises international rugby Test matches? Are they exhibitions of the best that rugby has to offer, characterised by an exciting, expansive and inherently risky style of play? Or do their participants reflect a defensive, no -mistakes, safety -first attitude borne of the weight of national expectations and the spectre of losing a high -profile and financially rewarding position in the national team? Is an expansive style of play conducive to winning Test matches? Which national teams exhibited expansive styles of play in their respective international competitions in 1998? 

Studies have been conducted using notational analysis to identify and measure indicators of a team's willingness to play expansive rugby (Carter and Potter, cited in Ackford,1995c; Thomas, cited in Ackford, 1997c). Honan (1996) has identified two indicators of a team's use of an expansive game style. Firstly, the attack ratio calculates number of general play passes (discounting scrumhalf passes) divided by the number of general play kicks. The second indicator counts the number of passes per attack. Eight games from the 1998 Five Nations Championship and all six games of the 1998 Tri- Nations series were analysed. The total number of passes, kicks, runs, successful runs, tries, penalties, conversions and phases were recorded. From this data, each team's attack ratio, number of passes per attack, successful run percentage and run -kick ratio were calculated. 

Two further indicators of a team's style of play were taken and measured from Thomas' study (Ackford, 1997c). These were the percentage of total points scored as tries and the time in the match that these tries were scored. Results revealed that, in their respective international competitions, England (336%), France (345%) and Scotland (304%) had higher attack ratios than New Zealand (257%), South Africa (203%) and Australia (150%). New Zealand, out of the eight countries analysed, had the highest number of passes per attack with 1.64 (and did not win a game in the Tri-Nations series) while Australia had the lowest number of passes per attack with 1.18. 

These results would appear to indicate that the 1998 Tri-Nations series exhibited less expansive rugby than was evidenced in all of the 1998 Five Nations games played by England and Scotland and the majority of games played by France. This suggests either a more effective defensive contribution in 1998 Tri-Nations matches or a greater willingness to attack with the ball -in -hand on the part of England, Scotland and France. In light of England's performances against Australia and South Africa in late 1998 and Scotland's winning of the 1999 Five Nations Championship, this data might have proved a useful predictor of these countries' intended tactical direction.