With the completion of the festive fixtures, the midway point of the regular 22 round season in the RaboDirect PRO12 has now passed and some interesting statistics have come to the fore.
Teams claimed ten losing bonus points between them in the eleven games played during rounds 10 and 11 taking the tally to 33 at the half way point, there were only 45 losing bonus points recoded for the whole of last season.
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Added to this three games were drawn during the same period, meaning that in 55% of the games played teams finished within a score of each other, comfortably a new record for the RaboDirect PRO12.
The average winning margin at the halfway point was 9.94, which is the first time it has ever been below 10 in the history of the League, also showing that currently the tournament is experiencing some very close games.
A further notable landmark was reached in round 12 when Zebre recorded their first home win – a 14-12 victory over fellow Italian side Benetton Treviso, at a packed Stadio Aprile XXV.
Teams can now look forward to the run in to the end of season Play-Offs starting with Round 13 in February, but before then there is a return to European action, with RaboDirect PRO12 teams leading three of the six Heineken Cup pools, and of course the start of the RBS 6 Nations Championship with Wales aiming for a record breaking third title in succession.
