While calculating this week’s Power Rankings, I came across some rather interesting statistics and thought that I would launch a new segment based on this. So here’s instalment number one of Inside The Numbers, a look at how the stats tell stories every Monday only at Sports After Dark.

Strength of Schedule

A typically American stat, strength of schedule will tell you how tough the draw so far has been for teams. Typically you would expect teams near the top of the table to have low strength of schedules and those near the bottom to have weak ones, but that’s not always the case.

Here’s how the Super 14 stacks up after week 3:

One thing that seems fairly obvious is that the Waratahs have had the easiest draw so far. The only team they’ve beaten with a win to their name is the Hurricanes. Some of the more interesting stories that this tells is that the bottom placed Cheetahs rank sixth in strength of schedule, just ahead of the first placed Bulls. So what story does that tell? It tells us that the Cheetahs have lost three games to teams with poor record (or more accurately weaker teams in the competition but I’m trying to be diplomatic here) and that the Bulls have beaten three teams with good records. Both of these factors are reflected in the team’s Power Rankings.

Points Against

Anyone who saw the Sharks defend so resolutely for the final ten minutes against the Chiefs knows that this is a good defensive team, but the stats tell how good they really are. So far the average number of total points scored in a game is 41.9 and the Sharks concede an average of just 13.3. If defense really does win championships, could this be the year of the Sharks?

Most other stats up until now are either uninteresting or skewed badly by an unusual result. For example the Bulls have the best attack in the competition by more than 30 points, but that was largely achieved by their seven try drubbing of the Blues. And speaking of the Blues, despite being fifth on the table, they have the third worst points differential, again thanks to the game with the Bulls.