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Ellie Kildunne, la vitrine de l'Angleterre new-look
Ellie Kildunne aime repousser les limites. Les siennes, celles de son sport. Alors qu’elle avait marqué deux essais lors de chacun des trois premiers matchs du Tournoi des Six Nations 2024, elle a encore fait mieux la semaine dernière face à l’Irlande à l’occasion de la 4e journée. Éparpillées façon puzzle à Twickenham (88-10), les Irlandaises ont vu Kildunne amener le ballon trois fois dans leur en-but.
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Avec neuf essais en quatre matchs, elle sera ce samedi face à la France (coup d’envoi 17h45) pour la “finale” du Tournoi 2024 l’atout offensif N.1 d’une équipe qui n’en manque pourtant pas. Un total affolant, même quand on joue dans une équipe aussi dominatrice que les Red Roses, supérieur aux totaux de l’Italie (7), de l’Écosse (6) et du pays de Galles (4) toutes joueuses confondues !
Bien sûr, Kildunne ne sort pas de nulle part, puisqu’à 25 ans, elle a déjà soulevé quatre trophées des Six Nations, le premier WXV1, joué une finale de Coupe du Monde, participé aux JO 2020 avec l’équipe de Sevens de Grande-Bretagne… Mais elle est incontestablement la vitrine de cette Angleterre new-look qui cherche à se faire aimer.
Alors que les Red Roses ont construit leurs récents succès dans le Tournoi des Six Nations sur leur puissance sans commune mesure en Europe, provoquant parfois les sarcasmes de leurs propres supporteurs face à l’accumulation de ballons portés aussi attendus qu’inarrêtables, l’arrivée de John Mitchell à la tête de la sélection, au lendemain de la finale de la Coupe du Monde 2023, a amorcé une nouvelle ère parfaitement illustrée par Ellie Kildunne.
« On veut continuer à progresser. On marque des essais grâce à nos points forts traditionnels, mais on veut jouer plus vite », rappelait-il dans le Daily Mail, avant le lancement du Tournoi. « Le potentiel de ces filles est absolument énorme. Elles ont encore beaucoup à donner ».
La vitesse, voilà une notion qui colle au jeu de Kildunne. Elle est l’une des premières bénéficiaires de la nouvelle philosophie prônée par le technicien kiwi.
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« Notre triangle arrière, et même nos centres, a beaucoup plus d’occasions de s’exprimer, relève la pilière anglaise Sarah Bern, actuellement blessée, dans les colonnes du Guardian. On les voit plus souvent dans les espaces, parce que les défenses doivent marquer [la demi d’ouverture] Holly Aitchison, [le centre] Tatyana Heard. »
« Elles doivent aussi surveiller les coups de pied de [la demi de mêlée] Natasha Hunt et Holly. L’espace existe, donc si on donne le ballon à des joueuses comme Ellie qui s’épanouissent dans l’espace… C’est la façon dont l’Angleterre veut jouer, avec les joueuses du milieu qui contrôlent cela et le talent du pack qui leur obtient de bons ballons ».
Résultat, le trio Jessy Breach – Ellie Kildunne – Abby Dow squatte le podium des meilleures marqueuses du Tournoi, et les highlights du Tournoi regorgent des courses de la joueuse des Harlequins où, cheveux frisés au vent, elle virevolte entre ses adversaires, insaisissable. Un combo vitesse, vista, appuis, dévastateur.
En tête de presque toutes les statistiques offensives
« Comme je ne suis pas la plus costaude sur le terrain, j’évite les contacts, certaines filles déménagent. Les gens me demandent : ‘Pourquoi cours-tu comme ça ?’ Je réponds : ‘Pour éviter d’être plaquée’. Entre mêlée ou échappée, je choisis toujours la deuxième option », assure-t-elle dans The Red Bulletin.
« Je ne crois pas que je pourrais expliquer à quelqu’un comment je fais, car il y a une grande part d’instinct », complète-t-elle dans une vidéo postée par la fédération anglaise sur sa chaîne YouTube. « C’est une question d’instinct et de réaction des autres, car on ne peut pas savoir ce qu’ils vont faire non plus. C’est en pratiquant cela et en apprenant comment les gens réagissent à vos mouvements que j’arrive à m’en sortir et à continuer à m’étonner moi-même, tout comme cela étonne les autres ».
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Une capacité qui la classe directement au rang des meilleurs « steppers » masculins ou « casseurs de cheville », les Shane Williams, Jason Robinson, Cheslin Kolbe ou autre Rieko Ioane. Elle cite d’ailleurs le Néo-Zélandais spontanément parmi ses inspirations.
« J’adore cette espèce de jeu à la « Attrape-moi si tu peux ». Ce n’est pas toujours une question de vitesse sur les extérieurs. J’ai grandi en regardant les meilleurs ‘steppers’ et cela m’a toujours impressionnée. C’est presque comme une danse et quand on est si près des autres, ça les laisse pour morts. […] C’est tellement cool à regarder. »
Cool à regarder, et efficace. Ellie Kildunne domine ainsi la plupart des statistiques offensives sur le Tournoi. Elle est en tête sur les essais marqués, donc (9), les courses avec ballon (59), les mètres parcourus (791,7, soit presque 200 m par match !), les mètres gagnés (629,5), les franchissements (13)…
Les Bleues connaissent la menace, et sont prévenues. Ellie Kildunne a du feu dans les jambes et sera sans doute fournie en munitions pour repousser encore un peu les limites, et donner une nouvelle allure à des Red Roses moins unidimensionnelles, et donc plus dangereuses.
Womens Six Nations
P
W
L
D
PF
PA
PD
BP T
BP-7
BP
Total
1
England Women's
4
4
0
0
20
2
France Women's
4
4
0
0
19
3
Scotland Women's
4
2
2
0
8
4
Italy Women's
4
1
3
0
6
5
Ireland Women's
4
1
3
0
6
6
Wales Women's
4
0
4
0
1
Comments on RugbyPass
Great. More unwanted changes. Because these always work out well.
2 Go to commentsI’m sure South Africa’s opponents will rejoice at World Rugby minimising one of the Boks’ most potent weapons, but you just know Rassie is cooking something up with free-kicks that no-one else has else thought of. Let them play checkers. Rassie’s playing chess. 😂
2 Go to commentsAfter a fairly simple Pac4, the BFs will find out a lot about themselves in September when they face the rampaging RedRoses at Twickenham in front of a record crowd. After that they will face them again in Canada in WXV1. They also have France to contend with. Will be interesting to see what Australia have to offer with Jo Yapp at the helm.
1 Go to commentsSuper Rugby Pacific has been better as a spectacle due to the emphasis on speeding the game up and I’d look at taking things a step further. Instead of giving teams 90 seconds to take a conversion, let’s bring that down 60 seconds. You could also look at allowing 45 seconds for a penalty goal. Maybe teams could get 20 seconds instead of 30 to form a scrum before the ref then starts the engagement process. However, this year the most pleasing change is the added competitiveness in the Trans Tasman matches. What does frustrate me is how the rugby media in Australasia allow the the whole ‘‘rugby is boring’’/’’rugby yawnion’’ narrative to take hold from from vindictive league types, the chairman of the ARL commission and News Limited Australia. Stick up for the game and shift the narrative!
22 Go to commentsIt’s not new for nines to be the key playmaker. For the Boks it has been common, with Fourie du Preez and Joost vd Westhuizen being obvious examples. It's also not that recent for nines to be box kicking, covering high balls in the back field, and tackling in the defensive line. For example, Faf de Klerk has been doing all of that for years.
6 Go to commentsThe hell with this constant regurgitation of what this pretty boy is doing. For all I care he might as well be doing a Jamie Oliver cooking course. Rugby is not a progression toward the NFL, which, given its prominence in your reporting, you appear to regard as the ultimate contact sport. It has virtually nothing to do with rugby, and forever may that remain the case. I know that if I don’t like it I don’t have to read it, but I’m sick of seeing this dishwater-dull nonsense.
2 Go to commentsGuys Eben did not mean it in a ugly way as it’s just a feeling he had. We Safas rate the All Blacks and no Bok player wants to play NZ in a Knockout game
148 Go to commentsHe basically described who Aaron Smith also considers the GOAT 9….the one & only Fourie du Preez😎
6 Go to commentsI’m hoping that the Reds can win their last 4 games with a couple of try bonus points. The pessimist in me wouldn't be surprised if the Drua and the Tahs knock the Reds over. The Reds may end up ruing the fact they were distinctly 2nd best against the Force and just so clunky against Moana Pasifica. The Brumbies should win all their remaining games with some bonus points giving them at least a top 2 finish as the leading Kiwi sides will take points off each other. How the Brumbies handle the fact that they will be expected to beat the Crusaders will fascinate me. You’d probably have to go back to 2001 for the last time the Brumbies would go into a game against the Crusaders odds on to win.
8 Go to commentsFree to air is the key to fan expansion. I attended last weeks game at Suncorp (Reds v Blues) and the total cost is prohibitive to most people that wish to attend. Two tickets $130, parking (event day gouging) $75, road tolls $20, dinner beforehand $130, plus some petrol and a beer inside the stadium and a single game starts to cost $300-400. Who can afford that week in week out, I’d love to go more but could only afford this one game to see the Blues, I’d have loved to have seen more NZ teams here but I’d need to stop eating or sell a kidney.
22 Go to commentsBrumbies are looking good and if they keep their home form up a final is not beyond the realms of possibility. They showed against the Hurricanes exactly how clinical they can be as they absorbed pressure in that contest while also scoring points and applying their own pressure. Reds are well placed as well but need to find consistency. They are building a longer term project with a young side and plenty of quality players. Been surprising to see the strength of Aussie sides this year after the debacle of the world cup. Have NZ sides gotten weaker? Have Aussie sides gotten stronger? A bit of both I would say. Whatever the case its good to see some actual competition between NZ and Aus sides again and thats exactly what the fans wanted and is probably driving better viewership numbers. All of this can only be healthy for Aus and Super Rugby and I hope the Brumbies go all the way.
8 Go to commentsDead time reductions are important as is ball in play time increases. Premiership leads the way in terms of ball in play and Northern refereeing standards around the breakdown has sped up the game significantly. Super Rugby is trying new things but its not leading the way in terms of making gains in reducing dead time and ball in play time. Northern administrators are also not against speeding up the game, on the contrary they want a faster game and have been trying things and are embracing increasing the speed of rugby. Super Rugby isnt providing a blueprint for anything, its just part the agreed upon blueprint that administrators across the world are moving to.
22 Go to commentsSome interesting stats that just proved what my first impression of NZ’s drive to speed up Rugby Union would amount to - fine margins here and there to cut a few seconds off the game and nothing else. To do more there would have to be wholesale changes to the game like doing away with scrums, lineouts and bringing back the ELV’s to have free kicks instead of penalties. Very little chance of it happening but, in the end, Ruby Union would be a 15-man version of Rugby League. There are reasons why Rugby Union is globally more popular that Rugby League and what NZ are also not considering is the unintended consequences of what they want to achieve. This will end up turning Rugby Union into a low value product that will not be acceptable to the paying public. If people really wanted a sped-up version of rugby, then why is Rugby Union globally way more popular than Rugby League? Rugby lovers all over the world are also not stupid and have seen through what NZ are trying to achieve here, selfishly to bring back their glory days of dominance over every other nation and compete with Rugby League that is dominant in Australasia. NH countries just don’t have the cattle, or the fantastic weather needed to play like NZ SR franchises do so good luck to whoever has to try and convince the NH to accept going back to the days of NZ dominance and agreeing to wreck the game in the process. I have serious doubts on the validity of the TV stats presented by GP. All they did was expand the broadcasting base by putting it on free to air, not even any indication of arresting the continued drop in viewership. Match day attendance goes hand in hand with broadcast ratings so if there was an increase in the one you should expect to see it with the other. However, the drop in match day attendance is very evident to the casual highlights package viewer. The only club who looks to be getting solid attendance is the Drua. I am calling it now that NZ’s quest to speed up the game will fail and so will the vote on the 20-minute red card.
22 Go to commentsAll of these media pundits always miss the obvious whenever they analyse what is ailing or assisting the game. Rugby always has contentious points for debate when picking apart individual games and finding fault with itself. All this focus and scrutiny on “speeding up the game”, “high ball in play” etc is all contextual to the fan. As a tv viewer, if you’re absorbed into a game, regardless if your team is playing or not, more ball in play time and action are all byproducts of the contest. A good contest subliminally affects your memory in selectively remembering all the good aspects. A poor contest and your brain has switched off because its a blowout and the result is never in doubt or it’s a real chore to watch and remain engaged throughout. The URC, Top 14 and English premiership are all competitions that feel like there’s real jeopardy each week. The dominance of Super rugby by NZ teams was unhealthy from a sustainable interest perspective. You can’t fault those teams or the players, but the lack of competitions won by SA and Australian teams long term was always going to test the faith and patience of die-hard and casual fans from those regions. SANZAR took their eye off the fans and fans voted with their feet and subscriptions. They were so concerned about expanding their product they forgot the golden rule about broadcasting live sport. Viewers tune in more when there’s an atmosphere and a true contest. You need to fill stadiums to create one, host unions need to do more to service ticket buyers, and this year proves the other, there’s more interest in Super rugby this year only because more games are competitive with less foregone conclusions. All these micro statistics bandied about, only interest the bean counters and trainspotters.
22 Go to commentsThe match experience still sucks at SR games, irrespective of the game being a little quicker. Rugby has to compete with so much in the modern world, if you’re going to get people to leave their houses and pay to watch a game in winter then the experience has to be worthwhile.
22 Go to commentsIt’s a good, timely wake up call for NZ Rugby (seem to be a few of them lately!) - sort out the bureaucratic nonsense at board level. We can’t expect to stay the number one option without keeping fans/players engaged. We’ve obviously been bleeding players to league for years but can’t let the floodgates open (although I think this headline is hyperbolic as it’s a result of a recent Warriors pathways system where they are tracking things more closely) Understand the need to focus boys on rugby if they’re at a proud rugby school too, don’t think it’s harsh at all re Barakat in Hamilton. Reward the committed players with squad positions. An elite 1st XV system in NZ has done more for league than they even realise, think it’s good to protect our game further.
6 Go to commentsDon’t pay a blind bit of notice to Lukie… he likes the sound of his own voice and is always looking for something controversial to say. He has been banging on about Leinster's defensive system all season like he knows something Jacques Nienebar doesn’t. Which is the reason why he didn’t apply for the job obviously
16 Go to commentsWho got the benefits out of Schmidt, Lowe, Aki, and Gibson Park?
16 Go to commentsWhat’s new its a common occurrence, just the journos out there expecting a negative spin. The outcome will be beneficial to jordie and Leinster. The home grown lads hav got some experience to step up to and be more competitive, that or spend the 6 months keeping the bench warm.
16 Go to commentsI’m all for speeding up the game. But can we be certain that the slowness of the game contributed to fans walking out? I’m not so sure. Super rugby largely suffered from most fans only being able to, really, follow the games played in their own time zone. So at least a third of the fan base wasn’t engaged at any point in time. As a Saffer following SA teams in the URC - I now watch virtually every European game played on the weekend. In SR, I wouldn’t be bothered to follow the games being played on the other side of the world, at weird hours, if my team wasn’t playing. I now follow the whole tournament and not just the games in my time zone. Second, with New Zealand teams always winning. It’s like formula one. When one team dominates, people lose interest. After COVID, with SA leaving and Australia dipping in form, SR became an even greater one horse race. Thats why I think Japan’s league needs to get in the mix. The international flavor of those teams could make for a great spectacle. But surely if we believe that shaving seconds off lost time events in rugby is going to draw fans back, we should be shown some figures that supports this idea before we draw any major conclusions. Where are the stats that shows these changes have made that sort of impact? We’ve measured down to the average no. Of seconds per game. Where the measurement of the impact on the fanbase? Does a rugby “fan” who lost interest because of ball in play time suddenly have a revived interest because we’ve saved or brought back into play a matter of seconds or a few minutes each game? I doubt it. I don’t thinks it’s even a noticeable difference to be impactful. The 20 min red card idea. Agreed. Let’s give it a go. But I think it’s fairer that the player sent off is substituted and plays no further part in the game as a consequence.
22 Go to comments