RUGBY STATS NERD
20 OCTOBER 2026Independent rugby. In perspective.

From the feed.
Into the detail.

The 16 posts from 16–20 October, expanded into native web stories.

Dates use New Zealand time. Every post has a matching article, with charts, evidence and related references.

2026-10-20

A deeper pack than one team sheet.

Six tighthead options and 12 at lock in the mapped recent capped cohort. Availability and overlapping cover still matter.

2026-10-20

Do England really kick more?

Yes, in this 2026 comparison. But their own recent history tells a different story.

2026-10-20

A century. A very different journey.

One milestone can take eight years or eighteen. The road to 100 tells us more than the final number.

2026-10-20

Is there a winning age?

Ten World Cup champions. Ten opening-day squads. Experience matters, but history does not supply a single recipe.

2026-10-19

All Blacks depth: the whole pool matters.

Selection, experience and availability produce different pictures. Explore the refreshed player pool, position by position.

2026-10-18

Different ways to rotate.

South Africa change the most starters. France use the biggest player pool. Those are different stories.

2026-10-18

When the scoreboard looked finished.

South Korea overturned a 29-point deficit. The story of a comeback begins at the lowest point, not necessarily half-time.

2026-10-18

Keeping the title is hard. Repeating perfection is harder.

Thirteen Grand Slams across 27 championships. No consecutive sweeps in the men’s Six Nations era through 2026.

2026-10-18

Beauden Barrett, in perspective.

147 Tests, 48 tries and a career split between two starting positions. The numbers need room to breathe.

2026-10-17

France do both.

One of the busiest kicking games. The highest clean-break rate in this comparison. A team’s style needs more than one number.

2026-10-17

No.1 at the start. Then what?

Three titles and three quarter-final exits. Six World Cups offer a striking split, rather than a reliable prediction.

2026-10-17

Eben Etzebeth, beyond the record.

The Springbok cap record is a landmark. A career view shows the steps that led there.

2026-10-16

A decade at the top.

Six teams held No.1. Three of them shared just four of the 522 weekly observations.

2026-10-16

One kick apart.

Four of ten men’s World Cup finals were decided by three points or fewer. Two finished a single point apart.

2026-10-16

More tries. Fewer wins.

New Zealand scored 17 tries to South Africa’s 14. The Springboks still won the 2026 Test series 3–1.

2026-10-16

The teams behind the 23.

Eleven Wallabies from the Reds. Seven All Blacks from the Hurricanes. The club footprint of the Sydney selections.