Wales completed the Grand Slam in emphatic fashion with victory over Ireland in Cardiff, capping off the Warren Gatland era with a third clean sweep.
Hadleigh Parkes’ early try and Gareth Anscombe’s boot proved the difference as the Welsh never gave Ireland a sniff at Principality Stadium.
And after crunching the numbers, thanks to Stats powered by AWS, a number of points emerged from the game.
When it comes to his leadership it is hard to quantify what Alun Wyn Jones adds to a team, such is the aura that surrounds him.
However he is much more than simply a leader of men, he is also a remarkable second row, and that was never more evident than against Ireland.
Picking himself up after an early knee injury, he proceeded to put in a monstrous defensive effort, racking up 17 tackles and missing none.
More importantly, he made five dominant tackles on his own. To put that into context, Ireland managed nine in total.
Add in nine cleanouts, the most of any Welsh player, five lineout takes and 27 ruck arrivals and it was an all-action display from the Welsh skipper who joined the select group of Welsh players with three Grand Slams to his name.
Only one man made more tackles than Alun Wyn Jones for Wales, flanker Josh Navidi who managed a remarkable 25.
He missed just the one and underlined his value as part of a brilliantly balanced Welsh back row.
Alongside him Justin Tipuric and Ross Moriarty combined for 29 tackles, without missing any, while a word also to Aaron Wainwright off the bench.
The Dragons youngster made 15 tackles in just ten minutes off the bench. That is in part due to the nature of those closing stages as Ireland pushed for a try, but still incredible work-rate.
It was an all-round defensive play from Wales though, topping 200 tackles and missing just eight. Any tackle percentage over 85 percent is impressive. If you can manage 96 like Wales did on Saturday, you have a good chance of winning most games.
It was a difficult afternoon for Ireland, who made more handling errors than we are used to seeing from them.
Peter O’Mahony kept plugging away throughout, and a quick look at the stats bears that out.
The back-rower hit 39 rucks, and added 13 cleanouts as he did everything he could to slow Welsh ball and earn Ireland quicker ball.
He also managed seven lineout takes but it was Wales’ Adam Beard who managed the only steal of the match – a big win for the hosts, who had struggled in the lineout over the course of the Championship.
