Analysis: How the All Blacks set-piece switch baffled the Wallabies
The All Blacks‘ set-piece attack fired up for a quick strike at a pivotal moment in Bledisloe III, stretching the lead from 20-13 to a two-score 27-13 lead at the 57-minute mark, making a Wallabies comeback that little bit tougher.
Beauden Barrett spoke post-match about the satisfaction of pulling off the play just days after it was installed at training. The coaches brought the idea to the table and the side had troubles executing on the training field.
“It’s satisfying. The coaches presented that at the strategy meeting earlier in the week,” Barrett said. “We trained it a few times but we didn’t train it as well as we put out there, which is pleasing.”
The switch play was cleverly designed to give Rieko Ioane some extra space on the blind side, playing on the fact the Wallabies would break to the open side and using that against them.
The Wallabies also tried a similar play moments later, looking to target the All Blacks in the same space with a designed kick to Israel Folau.
Both plays were designed to target the ‘sweeping’ winger, and both teams had never run these plays this year. Last week we looked at one possible way to target this area with a banana trick play, and both sides seemed to take this on board.
One play worked whilst one play didn’t, but both offered an intriguing insight into a weak spot of the defence and how big-play potential exists by targeting this area.
The All Blacks switch play
The All Blacks used an 8-9 break to the open side before Barrett drops under TJ Perenara. Prior to the play, the Wallabies’ blindside protection is limited to Will Genia (9) and Ned Hanigan (6), with Israel Folau, dropped back deep for the kick.
As TJ shapes to play Barrett underneath, all three Wallabies loose forwards have broken to the open side, as well as Genia (tucked in behind Hanigan out of sight).
Liam Squire (6) will shape as key man, offering a pick’n’roll-type block on Hanigan, forcing him to go over/under him to get back to blind side, buying an extra second for Ioane.
As Barrett releases his pass, Hanigan is stuck in traffic and only Wallabies lock Izack Rodda and halfback Will Genia have unobstructed paths to double back into the open 15-metre channel.
A defining factor on the success of this play is the slow reaction of ‘sweep’ winger Israel Folau. The centre had just been moved to the right wing and showed he isn’t yet accustomed to the position.
At the highest level, being off by half a second can cost your side and it did on this occasion. It requires instinctive anticipation of where the attack is going to be and he isn’t into the shot until a full three seconds after Perenara’s pass.
Ioane is already in full stride with Barrett looping in trail support, and the All Blacks already have an isolated matchup with Ioane one-on-one with Genia.
Israel Folau (13) is directly behind him, out of sync and lacking communication. Both players show a lack of urgency to close down this space, with Genia turning his back and back-peddling a good five metres after identifying the switch, and Folau floating sideways.
Ioane cuts back inside, beats Genia and draws Folau before freeing up Barrett with the offload. As identified in The Lab, if you beat the sweeping blind side winger you can rip off a big play as there is nobody else left to cover you.
? Rate this @beaudenbarrett + @rieko_ioane piece of brilliance out of ?#NZLvAUS pic.twitter.com/HhxxbGI4Hn
— All Blacks (@AllBlacks) October 27, 2018
The Wallabies switch-kick
The Wallabies also took this concept into consideration when they tried to strike back directly after the kickoff with this attacking kick by Bernard Foley into the space behind the scrum.
This play was very similar to one detailed during the week, except the Wallabies didn’t use the guise of a halfback kick chaser, instead opting for the obvious target of Israel Folau.
The All Blacks leave Israel Folau unmarked on the blind with Ben Smith (14) opting to defend in the front line. The opportunity is there for Foley to hit this play, but he telegraphs the kick before kicking out on the full anyway.
With Ben Smith defending in the front line, Aaron Smith (21) is to perform a sweeping role. Foley is unable to disguise his hand, instead, putting all his cards on the table straight away.
Above you can see Smith (21) reads the kick and immediately drops back to cover it.
Despite the inability of Foley to offer any sort of deception, the play is still on as Folau vs. Smith in the air is still a mismatch, but Foley kicks out on the full despite having absolutely no pressure.
Bernard Foley has been an inconsistent 10 at all levels and has shown once again that ball-playing seems to come unnaturally for the flyhalf.
This simple chip kick could have hit Folau wide open if he offered a little more deception, a quick look to his outside, taking a few steps and baiting Aaron Smith before turning back and making the kick. A criticism of his play is he often telegraphs the play ahead of time to the defence and this time was no different.
The Beale experiment didn’t work but this has papered over the fact that Foley just isn’t the answer either, and a lack of healthy competition has given him the jersey by default.
If you review the tape from this match, these two plays, that were run almost back-to-back, offer the easiest summation of the match – one team can execute and the other can’t.
Comments on RugbyPass
NZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
22 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
22 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
22 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
22 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
9 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
9 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
28 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
22 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
28 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
22 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
90 Go to comments