Rugby tackle success rate: how to calculate it

Tackle success rate is the share of a player's tackle attempts that were completed. It is calculated as tackles made ÷ (tackles made + tackles missed) × 100. A player who makes 9 tackles and misses 1 has a tackle success rate of 90%.

The formula

Tackle success % = tackles made ÷ (tackles made + tackles missed) × 100

This is exactly how RugbyMetrics computes it. The bottom of the fraction is every attempt you tagged for that player: the tackles that were made plus the tackles that were missed. The top is only the ones that were made. Multiply by 100 to express it as a percentage. RugbyMetrics rounds the result to one decimal place.

If a player has no tackle attempts in a match, there is nothing to divide, so no rate is shown for that match. A rate of 0% means attempts were made and none succeeded, which is different from having no attempts.

A worked example

Take a flanker with 9 tackles made and 1 tackle missed in a match.

• Attempts = 9 made + 1 missed = 10
• Success = 9 ÷ 10 = 0.9
• Tackle success % = 0.9 × 100 = 90%

Now take a centre with 5 made and 3 missed. Attempts are 8, and 5 ÷ 8 = 0.625, so the rate is 62.5%. The centre made fewer tackles and also missed a bigger share of them, which is useful to know before the next match.

What counts as a missed tackle

The formula is simple. The hard part is agreeing what to tag as missed. Write your rule down before the season starts and give it to everyone who tags. A common working rule is that a tackle is missed when the defender had a clear chance to stop the carrier and did not complete the tackle, for example the carrier slipped out of the attempt or ran through it. A tackle is not missed just because the defender was not the closest player or was never in a position to tackle.

Whatever rule you choose, keep it the same all season. RugbyMetrics records the tag you make; it does not decide for you.

Comparing players fairly

Rates hide volume. A player on 100% from two attempts has shown less than a player on 90% from fifteen. Look at both numbers together: tackles made, and the rate. Be careful with small samples, because a single missed tackle moves a rate a long way when there are only a few attempts.

Position matters as well. Back-row forwards and centres tend to have many more attempts than wings. It is fairer to compare a player's rate with their own earlier matches than with a teammate in a different role. The RugbyMetrics report does this: each number is coloured against the player's own average from earlier matches.

Team tackle success

For the team, add up before you divide. Team tackle success is the total tackles made by all players divided by the total of all tackles made and missed, times 100. Do not average the players' individual percentages, because that would give a player with two attempts the same weight as a player with twenty.

For example, if one player made 9 and missed 1, and another made 5 and missed 3, the team total is 14 made and 4 missed. That gives 14 ÷ 18 × 100 = 77.8%. Averaging the two individual rates, 90 and 62.5, would give 76.25, which is a different and less accurate answer.