Getting on the right side of the referee has long been advocated as a quality all champion teams must possess but Opta data suggests the Springboks bucked the trend in 2024.
Second-guessing how the referee will interpret the laws, and managing him or her throughout the game, can mean the difference between winning and losing.
However, the Springboks debunked this notion as they marched to The Rugby Championship title and completed their first European tour clean sweep in 11 years despite conceding the most yellow cards of the year.
South Africa incurred 13 sin-binnings at an average of exactly one per game, which was only ‘beaten’ by Georgia (a 1.1 average), who incidentally also overcame the handicap of being numerically challenged in most games to maintain their vice-like grip on the Rugby Europe Championship trophy.
yellow cards, 2024
In only four of their 13 Tests (11 wins and two defeats) did South Africa keep all 15 players on the field of play for the full 80 minutes: the second Test v Ireland, which they lost by a point, and in wins against Australia and Argentina in The Rugby Championship (rounds two and six) and the final Test of the year against Wales.
Having never previously received three yellow cards in a match in 133 years of playing Test rugby, South Africa suffered that fate in back-to-back games in July and August, against Portugal and Australia. However, Andre Esterhuizen’s yellow against Os Lobos, in the Springboks’ final Rugby Championship warm-up fixture, was ultimately upgraded to a red.
Interestingly, the finger of blame cannot be pointed to the big bruisers up front but rather to the back three contingent, who accounted for just over half of the tally of 13 yellow cards between them. Winger Kurt-Lee Arendse was the biggest culprit with three, while full-back options Willie le Roux and Aphelele Fassi accounted for two apiece.
Not that losing a man to the sin-bin was catastrophic for the Springboks, even with a new defensive system under Jerry Flannery. South Africa conceded an average of five points for every sin-bin period during The Rugby Championship, but in the Autumn Nations Series, the yellow cards to Makazole Mapimpi and Gerhard Steenekamp only cost them three points.
While they were not exactly whistled off the park, six teams conceded fewer penalties per match than the Springboks’ average of 10.1, with England leading the way on 9.25. Not that it did Steve Borthwick’s team much good.
South Africa’s biggest repeat offence was at the ruck, where their tally of 64 penalties was the second-highest of the year behind Scotland (69). One area where the Springboks reigned supreme, however, was at scrum time. The Springboks conceded a scrum penalty roughly every other game whereas the next-best team in that regard was New Zealand (1.07).
As for the rest, if you combine the card count with penalties conceded, Fiji are the team with the most work to do going into 2025. Mick Byrne’s team conceded a 2024 high of 11.2 penalties per game, while also collecting nine yellow cards and two reds.
France and Japan had the best record in 2024 in terms of yellow cards, only losing a man to the sin-bin every three to four games (an average of 0.27). But their record was marred by two red cards and in the case of Les Bleus, disciplinary problems away from the field.
Eddie Jones’ decision to blood a load of uncapped front-row forwards will, hopefully, stand the Brave Blossoms in good stead for Men’s Rugby World Cup 2027, but it came at a cost in terms of scrum penalties conceded in 2024, with 26 given away in their 10 games. Argentina and Wales were the only other teams to average two scrum penalties or more per match in 2024.
Samoa and England, meanwhile, were the ‘cleanest’ teams when it came to overall discipline. England’s penalty average per match was among those lower than Samoa’s 10.33 (ranked first with 9.25) but they received four yellows and a red – Charlie Ewels v Japan, as opposed to Samoa’s three yellow cards and one red. Even so, discipline is one positive that Steve Borthwick’s team can take from an otherwise forgettable 2024.
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What these stats actually seem to show is that there isn’t a massive about of variation in the number of cards/penalties conceded by the top teams.
South Africa received 13 yellow cards in 13 matches; Ireland received 11 in 12; New Zealand received 11 in 14. The difference is pretty immaterial.
In terms of penalties, SA conceded 131 in 13 matches; England conceded 111 in 12. Considering England had the best record of anyone, SA are hardly far off the pace.
Yes I was surprised at how close the pen count was – the spread between best and worst being just 2. The number of yellow cards though will surely be something the Boks will look to address
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