As long term readers will be aware, last year I wrote a post about the declining number of tries being scored in international rugby. I think I went deep enough into the trend there and my reasoning behind it, but today I got to thinking:

What about specific teams?

Everyone knows 'oh we last beat those guys in xxxx' but what about tries? The Welsh test on the weekend made me wonder, because we didn't concede a try on that tour of course and 2008 was a great NH trip too.

The answer? November 19, 2006. And that was dotted down by a flanker. That's one hell of a drought, no wonder they had a winger taking a penalty on Saturday; he just wanted to be able to say he scored against the mighty All Blacks!

This dubious record is only exceeded by Scotland, who haven't scored against us since 2005. There's obviously a large discrepancy in the stats though - for example we've only played the Scots twice since 2005 but we've had four matches against Wales in the same period - but it's still an interesting stat-line to look at and may be helpful in seeing where some teams are going wrong later in the year. So here're the stats for 3N teams v 6N;

New Zealand:

v England - Last try was 21 June 2008 in Christchurch. They lost that match 44-12 and scored two tries to the All Blacks' 5. The two sides have met twice since.

v France - Last try was on June 20, 2009 in Wellington. They lost that match 14-10, with both sides scoring one try each - to Ma'a Nonu and Cedric Heymans respectively - but France ultimately lost due to NZ slotting 3 penalties. The two sides have met once since, in Marseille, where the All Blacks romped to a 39-12 victory.

v Italy - Last try was on 08 September 2007 in Marseille. The two sides met in pool play at the Rugby World Cup with Italy being throughly outplayed in the All Blacks' 76-14 win. The two sides have met twice since, both in 2009.

v Ireland - Last try was 12 June 2010 in New Plymouth. A match which will probably be remembered more for Ireland's lack of discipline than the dominant performance put forward by the All Blacks, Ireland went down 66-28. This is the most recent time the two sides have played.

v Scotland - Last try was 26 Nov 2005. The All Blacks would emerge on top 29-10 scoring four tries to Scotland's one. The two sides have met twice since, but not since Nov 2008.

v Wales - Last try was almost a year after Scotland to the day, 25 Nov 2006. The All Blacks won that game 45-10. The two sides have played each other three times since at the time of writing, with a fourth match to be held this weekend.

In looking into these I also checked out the All Blacks try-scoring stats. Incredibly, the last time we didn't score a try in an international was 07 Aug 2004 against Australia who beat us 23-18 - their sole try making all the difference. That's a 61-match streak the All Blacks sit on where they have scored a try in which they have lost 11 matches - seven to South Africa and two each to France and Australia. That's insane!

Conversely, the last time Australia were held tryless was last year at the 3N match at the Caketin which the All Blacks won 33-6 [you know, the one against the All Blacks that James O'Connor looked real out of his depth in. What do you mean that doesn't narrow it down?] Their record against the 6N is as follows:

Australia:

v England - Last scored a try on June 19 2010. The English won this match 21-20 in Sydney, their first win over Australia since the 2007 Rugby World Cup quarterfinal. This is the most recent time the two sides have played.

v France - France last crossed the chalkline on 22 Nov 2008. They lost that match 18-13. They have met once since, in 2009.

v Italy - Last try was June 13 2009. Australia won that game 31-8. The two sides have met once since, a week later.

v Ireland - Last scored 15 Nov 2009. That match ended in a 20 all draw. As much as the All Blacks appear to have the wood on Ireland, they seem to be Australia's bogey team. Since the last time Australia held Ireland tryless - 09 Nov 2002 - they've met seven times with the shamrock men always able to get across no matter what the score difference is. This is the most recent time the two sides have played.

v Scotland - 25 Nov 2006 is actually a bad day for both the Welsh and Scottish, as it's the last time the Scottish scored a try against Australia. They played last year - 21 Nov 2009 - and won 9-8 despite being held tryless. Last year's match was the only one which has been contested between the two sides since 2006.

v Wales - Last try scored on Nov 29 2008. Wales won that match 21-18, equalling Australia's two tries and getting an extra penalty. The teams have met once since, on Nov 28 2009.

The mighty imperial empire of South Africa is actually, on paper, a bit odd. For example, they're the 3N team most recently held tryless as they failed to take a five pointer against the Wallabies on September 05 2009.

South Africa:

v England - England last scored a try against the bokke in the leadup to the 2007 World Cup on June 02. The Boks seemed to learn from that match which they won 55-22 anyway, holding the English tryless in both pool play and the final at the RWC. The two sides have met three times since the last time England scored a try.

v France - Les Blues managed to get across the line twice on 12 Jun 2010, despite being thoroughly pantsed by the Saffers. This is the most recent time the two sides have played.

v Italy - Italy followed France and played SA this past weekend, managing to score one try. This is the most recent time the two sides have played.

v Ireland - Last scored a try on 28 Nov 2009. Like Australia v Scotland, SA have only played Ireland once since 2006. Almost unbelievably, Ireland have won their last three games against SA - in 2009, 2006 and 2004. This is the most recent time the two sides have played.

v Scotland - Last scored 15 Nov 2008 in their 14-10 loss to SA. This is the most recent time the two sides have played.

v Wales - Last scored on 05 Jun 2010. This math was even on the try ledger with both sides scoring three tries. SA ultimately grabbed the W with the final score being 34-31.

So while logistically we can't take much from these stats there are some interesting stats - for example South Africa appears unable to hold teams out from their tryline, but end up winning through a superior penalty count. The All Blacks have bucked the SH trend against Ireland and Australia seems to be like South Africa in struggling to maintain a stoic defense.

So what I posit is that we are too harsh on the All Blacks' defense at times. While it is relatively common to concede a match at 3N level, can't we put it in the perspective that we are playing Australia and South Africa more frequently than the 6N teams so of course we will figure out each other's differences.

In other words, we have a wall of blackness to celebrate, not lambast.

Remember the training sessions the All Blacks held last year where they had players running around with cameras strapped to their heads? Not to be outdone, check out this pearler of a press release from the Scottish 6 Nations team.

The Scotland rugby team has been taking advantage of technology pioneered by club and community rugby sponsor, Scottish Hydro, and their partners at technology firm, Cyberhawk Innovations, to offer a groundbreaking perspective on preparations for this weekend's 6 Nations opener against France at Murrayfield.

The flying Cyberhawk drones, nicknamed 'The Flying Scot' after Scotland's joint record try-scorer, Ian Smith, are kept stable by eight independent rotor-blades, managed by an on-board GPS.

The units are fitted with video equipment capable of relaying live action and still images to the team's coaches and video analysts from up to 300m above the training ground, or from directly behind the players themselves, to offer a player's view of the action.

So you're using cutting-edge robotics to make your team better? Couldn't you have just cut out the middleman and strapped giant robot legs to Chris Paterson? And has Northern Hemisphere rugby just resorted to the gimmick? First it was 3DTV, now it's flying robots... What's next, the Dallas Cowboys' cheerleaders?

From the Guardian...

The Six Nations countries drew a blank in the first full year of professionalism, 1996, but the majority of those fixtures were played in the southern hemisphere and none involved England. They have all had a crack this year but, unless England provide the biggest upset of the decade against New Zealand at Twickenham on Saturday, or Wales pick up a third win over a Tri-Nations side in the professional era at Australia's expense on the same afternoon at the Millennium Stadium, it will be, barring a draw, 20-0 to the southern hemisphere.

Comments on this one are good. According to some Northern rugby fans...

Most people in the north accept that the south is ahead in terms of skill and quality, but they also believe (rightly) that the north is streets ahead when it comes to passion, excitement and putting bums on seats. The technique is of higher quality in the south, but the spectacle is of infinitely higher quality in the north.

Gregor Paul latched onto this very point last week. Essentially, he argued that rugby in New Zealand is devoid of passion and elan. It is obsessive (to a degree that is almost psychotic) and thus thoroughly one-dimensional.

Most Englishmen wouldn't swap the passionate, ever-changing European scene for the tedious, repetitive SANZAR scene no matter how many 40 point shellackings we take at Twickers.

I suppose ultimately it depends on whether one takes the mature, civilised, old continent outlook of treating sport as a glorious irrelevance or the gauche, crass, new world outlook of treating sport as some sort of measure of national virility.

Gauche! Crass! Moi!?

So what's happening in the Six Nations tournament? I don't either. But Maire does and she's put up a good summary in the forums here and laid out all of this weekend's teams here (except Italy).

Here's your squads for the Six Nations opening weekend. 

England
Iain Balshaw, Paul Sackey, Mike Tindall, Toby
Flood, David Strettle, Jonny Wilkinson, Andy Gomarsall, Luke Narraway,
Lewis Moody, James Haskell, Steve Borthwick, Simon Shaw, Phil Vickery
(captain), Mark Regan, Andrew Sheridan.

Reserves: Lee Mears, Matt Stevens, Ben Kay, Tom Rees, Richard Wigglesworth, Daniel Cipriani, Lesley Vainikolo.

Wales
Lee Byrne, Shane Williams Sonny Parker, Gavin Henson, Mark Jones, James Hook,
Mike Phillips, Ryan Jones (captain), Martyn Williams, Jonathan Thomas, Ian
Gough, Alun Wyn Jones, Adam Jones, Huw Bennett, Duncan Jones.

Reserves: Matthew Rees, Gethin Jenkins, Ian Evans, Alix Popham, Gareth
Cooper, Stephen Jones, Tom Shanklin.

Ireland
Girvan Dempsey, Andrew Trimble, Brian
O'Driscoll (captain), Gordon D'Arcy, Geordon Murphy, Ronan O'Gara, Eoin Reddan,
Denis Leamy, David Wallace, Simon Easterby, Malcolm O'Kelly, Donnacha O'Callaghan,
John Hayes, Rory Best, Marcus Horan.

Reserves: Bernard Jackman, Tony Buckley, Mick O'Driscoll, Jamie Heaslip,
Peter Stringer, Paddy Wallace, Rob Kearney.

Scotland

Backs - Mike Blair, Chris Cusiter, Nick De
Luca, Andrew Henderson, Rory Lamont, Dan
Parks, Chris Paterson, Hugo Southwell, Nikki
Walker, Simon Webster

Forwards - John Barclay, Kelly Brown, Dave Callam, Ross Ford, Jim Hamilton,
Nathan Hines, Allister Hogg, Allan Jacobsen, Gavin Kerr, Scott MacLeod, Euan
Murray, Fergus Thomson, Jason White.

France and Italy have (probably) also announced their squads but I couldn't find them
 

Pipping the post just hours before the kick-off of this week's Super 14 matches, the Dropkicks share their thoughtful and insightful analysis on not only the Super 14, but the Six Nations, Formula One, the Cricket World Cup, US College Basketball, and pick their athlete and dick of the week...

Download Episode 2007/09.

Returned from their voyages to alternate realties, the Dropkicks return with more stunning insights into the Super 14, the Six Nations, and any other sport issues that take their fancy.

Download Episode 2007/08.

The Dropkicks discuss week 6 of the Super 14, some Six Nations (record try-scoring!), Roger Federer's defeat to a 14 year old Russian, Cricket World Cup (hat-tricks galore!), Tiger Wood's death, and Michael Schumacher's surprise return to Formula 1.

Download Episode 2007/07.

Actually managing to post the episode to the blog before this week's round of matches? Priceless.

Noizyboy, Sideline Mike and Tall Timber Tibby make do without The Mallet and Mouth of the South this week. In the surprisingly noisy environs of the Wellington Library cafe, the lads discuss the latest round of the Super 14, the Six Nations, and the Vatican World Cup of Soccer - The Clericus Cup.

Download Episode 2007/06.

Here it is, virtually (and in fact, actually) un-edited due to time constraints on the currently over-worked Dropkicks editor, episode 2 of the 2007 Dropkicks season, featuring the build-up to the first round of the Super 14, Six Nations, Tri-Series Cricket, mountain-biking (Vanessa Quinn), Dicks of the Week (Turkey Shooters), Athlete of the Week (Jacob Oram) and Roger Federer still being awesome.

Download Episode 2007/02.