We give some statistics from three Tests played over the weekend, three matches with interesting results.

France beat New Zealand in New Zealand, Australia did not beat Italy by as much as expected and Argentina, home again, turned the tables on England.

Results

France vs New Zealand, 27-22
Australia vs Italy, 31-8
Argentina vs England, 24-22

Sanctions

There were no cards of any hue.

Penalties

In this section we record the times a team was penalised.

* = points conceded

(i) New Zealand vs France

Total number of penalties: 18

New Zealand: 7
France: 11

The reasons for the penalties were as follows:

New Zealand:
Tackle/ruck: 2 (Thomson, Tialata)
Scrum: 2 (Tialata 2)
Discipline: 3 (Hore* - collapsed maul; Messam - air tackle; Thorn* - collapsed maul)

France:
Tackle/ruck: 7 (Heymans, Servat, Papé*, Ouedraogo* 2, Dusautoir, Jauzion)
Off-side: 2 (Dusautoir*, Papé)
Scrum: 1 (Marconnet)
Discipline: 1 (Dusautoir* - late tackle)

Each side missed a penalty kick at goal.

(ii) Australia vs Italy

Total number of penalties: 19

Australia: 12
Italy: 7

The reasons for the penalties were as follows:

Australia:
Tackle/ruck: 4 (Robinson, Smith* 2, Sharpe)
Off-side: 2 (Sharpe & Horwill, Kimlin)
Scrum: 2 (Robinson)
Discipline: 4 (Sharpe - obstruction; Burgess - obstruction; Mortlock - dangerous tackle; Smith - collapsing maul)

Italy:
Tackle/Ruck: 3 (Parisse, Ghiraldini, Gower)
Off-side: 1 (Bortolami)
Scrum: 1 (Staibano)
Discipline: 2 (Bergamasco - obstruction; Bortolami - dissent)

Neither side missed a penalty kick at goal.

(iii) Argentina vs England

Total number of penalties: 18

Argentina: 11
England: 7

The reasons for the penalties were as follows:

Argentina:
Tackle/ruck: 6 (Fessia, Roncero* 2, Tiesi, Albacete*, Lalanne*)
Scrum: 1 (Ayerza)
Offside: 2 (Lalanne, Albacete)
Discipline: 2 (Fernandez* - obstruction; Roncero - air tackle)

England:
Tackle/ruck: 2 (Payne*, Banahan)
Off-side: 3 (Easter*, Care, Borthwick)
Discipline: 2 (Steffon Armitage - obstruction; Care* - high tackle)

England missed a penalty kick at goal.

Possession

Getting possession - line-outs, scrums, free-kicks, drop-outs, turn-overs

In this section the figures represent the number of times you get to play with the ball.

(i) New Zealand vs France

New Zealand:

Line-outs: 15
Scrums: 6 (4 reset, 4 collapses, 1 free kick, 1 penalty)
Free-kicks: 3 (@ scrums, 1 mark)
Drop-outs: 4

France:

Line-outs: 9 (2 lost, 1 skew)
Scrums: 7 (2 reset, 1 collapse, 1 penalty, 2 free kicks)
Free-kicks: 1 (scrum)
Drop-outs: 1

(ii) Australia vs Italy

Australia:

Line-outs: 14 (1 skew, 1 reset, 2 free kicks)
Scrums: 8 (3 reset, 4 collapses, 1 penalty, 1 free kick)
Free-kicks: 2 (1 line-out, 1 mark, 1 scrum)
Drop-outs: 2

Italy:

Line-outs: 21 (3 lost, 2 skew)
Scrums: 11 (6 reset, 8 collapses, 1 penalty, 2 free kicks)
Free-kicks: 5 (3 scrums, 1 line-out, 1 +10)
Drop-outs: 0

(iii) Argentina vs England

Argentina:

Line-outs: 13 (2 lost)
Scrums: 11 (4 reset, 5 collapses, 2 free kicks, 1 penalty)
Free-kicks: 1 (mark)
Drop-outs: 0

England:

Line-outs: 15 (2 lost, 2 quick)
Scrums: 6 (3 reset, 3 collapses)
Free-kicks: 2 (1 mark, 1 scrum)
Drop-outs: 0

Stoppages (total of line-outs, scrums with resets, free kicks, penalties, drop-outs):

New Zealand vs France: 70
Australia vs Italy: 93
Argentina vs England: 72

Tries

This is the number of tries each team scored.

(i) New Zealand vs France: 5

New Zealand: 2
France: 3

(ii) Australia vs Italy: 6

Australia: 5
Italy: 1

(iii) Argentina vs England: 3

Argentina: 2
England: 1