Analysis: How Tasman are transforming Will Jordan into the next great All Black fullback
The 20-year-old fullback has flourished in Leon MacDonald’s ‘shark attack’ system since arriving to the Mitre 10 Cup last season.
The rookie was one of the most exciting players in the competition last year, breaking tackles and running riot across the provincial scene.
After making the Crusaders squad, Jordan sat on the sidelines and wasn’t seen at all during Super Rugby. Back with the Makos, he is proving his debut season was no one-hit wonder with blistering play.
Jordan is a fullback with the complete range of skills, scorching speed, and best of all – a prescience when it comes to finding a gap or the try line. With such a damaging strike weapon at the back, Tasman has found many ways to get him involved.
Tasman’s unbalanced ‘Shark attack’ system
The Makos run an ‘unbalanced’ 2-3-2-1 pattern as their main phase play structure.
If you cut the field in half, you have a 5-3 split of your 8-man forward pack, hence why it is ‘unbalanced’ based on man numbers.
Standard modern day systems (1-3-3-1 and 2-4-2) will both generally be balanced with a 4-4 distribution of the forwards. If you draw a line down the middle of the field, you could see even numbers on each side but here you have a 5-3 split.
In this attack system, it becomes more uneven when you consider spacing.
Those five forwards are usually spread over 30-40% of the width of the field, with the other three over the remaining 60-70%. During play, you end up with a ‘strong’ short side and a ‘weak’ open side.
The ‘weak’ open side just means that protection is limited to just three forwards across the wide space. If the ball goes to ground in a tackle, backs have to be capable of cleaning.
On the other side, however, with five forwards in a short space, the ball can be controlled by playing back-and-forth within the short side off 9.
Tasman are looking to play a 3-man pod back to the middle off 9 after stretching wide through the backs. They have another two forwards in the current ruck as cleaners, who will reload with some backs for a short side option on the next phase.
All five forwards are within a rather condensed space, leaving the remaining three other forwards wide to the left in the ‘weak’ open side.
The three remaining forwards are visible in this example after the pod of three has carried and set a ruck. They have a two-forward setup outside Mitch Hunt (10) and the last runner in isolation.
We can see just how much width is available to the left for this open side phase play.
This pattern creates opportunities for the backs to use those massive open sides, providing a platform for a strike weapon like Jordan to wreak havoc on the edge.
He might pop up behind the two-forwards (below) or stay wider, one-man inside the winger like a traditional fullback.
Either side of the field can be ‘strong’ or ‘weak’ and Tasman float between the two depending on where play restarts or how they get the ball.
The backs are afforded frequent opportunities with expansive room to work with, but the Makos can still play what is in front and don’t always have to fire to the edge when going to the ‘weak’ open side.
Building on the above example, when the 10 utilises the two-man pod as a runner, instead of releasing the backs, the lurking back (13) can join to create a two-man clean to set a midfield ruck.
Around every corner, the Makos have a surprise waiting.
The three-man pod from the ‘strong’ side can re-load and Tasman can switch the point of attack back towards that way with more designed set plays.
Against North Harbour, they switch play and use a ‘trigger’ release from the three-man pod to play Hunt out the back.
Jordan tries to pop off his shoulder but interrupts the line of Lomax (3) resulting in an error. When they run the same play against Counties, they iron out the problems and Jordan explodes on the outside before setting up Wyatt Crockett with some impromptu dance moves.
We are getting into the dizzying array of pet plays that Tasman have installed into their pattern around the distribution skills of Hunt and speed of Jordan.
Controlled by young maestro Mitch Hunt, the Makos have built the most frenetic attack in the competition and one of the more innovative structures in World Rugby.
It is common to see Jordan pop up in both channels – playing the short side or getting room out wide. His ability to dodge defenders at the line with quick feet or use quick hands makes him a potential playmaker in this situation as well, and he has no troubles playing flat at the line.
On this short side raid, Jordan takes a loose pass and is able to wriggle for a second lunge, scoring a try out of nothing. On another occasion he fires a long ball in one catch-and-pass motion.
This is just scratching the surface of how Will Jordan is utilised in the Makos game, showing the ways they introduce him in their ‘strong’ short side and ‘weak’ open side phase play.
Their set-piece platform is another rabbit hole of attacking possibilities, with strikes off first, second and third phase they can potentially run. We detailed a couple of them here, breaking down the ‘mousetrap’ play.
Tasman’s system finds a way to maximise Jordan’s skills, many of which lead to big plays for the side. He had a whopping 209 run metres on five line breaks against Counties, beating nine defenders for good measure.
He is currently one of the top three or four most exciting prospects in New Zealand Rugby, on a path to play at the highest level. There are shades of Cullen with his line running, not seen since the Paekakariki Express was tearing apart teams in the late 90’s.
This is a special talent just getting started, and the scary part is he hasn’t even hit Super Rugby yet. The Crusaders have the heir to Ben Smith waiting in the wings, and potentially the next great All Blacks fullback.
Comments on RugbyPass
A wallaby front-row of Bell, Blake and Tupou…now that would be hefty
1 Go to comments“But with an exceptional pass accuracy rating “ Which apart from Roigard is not a feature of any of the other 9s in NZ. Kind of basic for a Black 9 dont.you. think? Yet we keep seeing FC and TJ being rated ahead of him? Weird if it’s seen as vital to get our backline beating in your face defences.
1 Go to commentsThanks BeeMc! Looks like many teams need extra time to settle from the quadrennial northern migration. I think generally the quality of the Rugby has held up. Fiji has been fantastic and fun to watch
13 Go to commentsLets compare apples with apples. Lyon sent weak team the week before, but nobody raised an eyebrow. Give the South African teams a few years to build their depth, then you will be moaning that the teams are too strong.
41 Go to commentsDid footballs agents also perform the scout role at some time? I’m surprised more high profile players haven’t taken up the occupation, great way to remain in the game and use all that experience without really requiring a lot of specific expertise?
1 Go to commentsSuper rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
11 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
10 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
11 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
24 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
10 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
35 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
35 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
17 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to comments