Analysis: The borrowed tactics that Eddie Jones' England side will employ to fight their way back to the top of the rugby pyramid
“At all times we tried to think outside the square. If we were confronted with “that’s the way it is”, the first question would always be “why?” If it had been done before, “how could it be changed?” If it hadn’t been done before, “why couldn’t it be done?” There is always another way of doing things.” – Rod MacQueen
Just before the World Cup, Eddie Jones stated that the direction of rugby was continually evolving.
“The game keeps changing. I see this game now where it is basically a mixture of NFL and soccer. You’ve got the first three phases that are basically all power and precision. Then you have the kick-return game which then basically becomes football,” he explained.
We have to ask, why are the first three phases the most exploitable for an attack? Why is phase-play being reduced from the wonderful ten phases or more that we used to see to a glorified kick-chase game?
The reasoning is that defences are far better at countering opposition shapes. Pods, dummy runners and second-man plays, are by modern standards, easy to deal with.
This is thanks to the increased work rate of modern defences, as well as the extra analysis and practices that goes into preparing for a match. Whilst there may be minor differences from team to team, attacks are now all steeped in the same principles, and therefore only have a certain number of things to worry about.
When Joe Schmidt’s Ireland arrived, they introduced dynamics which were previously unused in the standard attacking practices of the game.
The above move flummoxed defences, as it presented unexpected pictures. It was a progression in the game and helped net Ireland their highest ranking in World Rugby.
By hiring Simon Amor, Neil Craig and Jason Ryles, England are now designing a game built around increased proficiency at unstructured attack, AFL kicking innovations and league style ruck defence.
This shows that in attack, England are gearing towards being able to thrive in unstructured scenarios, as well as having the best kicking game in the world while in defence, the side will be anticipating increased deception and funnel attacks.
Combine this with his fluid player positioning and we can see where Jones is looking to achieve his goal.
X-Run
X-runs are an old school Wallaby play originally developed by Rod MacQueen and his Wallabies.
They were incredibly effective, as they not only target defence on the individual level (as opposed to on a zonal level) but also make use of blockers to open the way for the strike runner.
Whilst they didn’t always come off, England have brought them back to target the hinge of the defensive line.
This hinge is an exploitable gap that can be targeted very intelligently with the X-run.
In the above scenario, George Ford has no slider or second man option to move the ball wide, instead, he has Tom Curry cutting in a standard scissors motion, with Jamie George on the inside running a hard line shown by the green arrow below.
This gap cannot be exploited with the inside pass but the X-run makes it possible. The blocking set of George Kruis and Courtney Lawes is designed to hold Jake Ball and Alun Wyn-Jones.
This brings up Rob Evans to put pressure on the first receiver, with Ross Moriarty rushing up with him, opening this gap.
This whole alignment was bait. The block is designed to extend this gap, we can see Lawes and Kruis looking back to see the effect.
Curry is meant to run the line, again holding Wyn-Jones and passing back to George, one of England’s more mobile carriers, running straight through the hole.
New Zealand shows the impact above, albeit with a slightly forward pass.
The X-run allows a player who was previously offside (George), to be put onside by the scissors option (Curry). The only way this could work otherwise is with a forward pass, as in New Zealand’s case.
Forax
Wallaby Prop Chris Handy referred to the game as a musical recital, with the forwards being piano lifters and the backs piano players.
Unfortunately, these traditions somewhat still exist today, with tight five forwards often being expected to do nothing other than scrum, jump, back pass and carry hard off the halfback.
MacQueen believed there was little difference between the role of each player outside of the set plays off scrums and lineouts. Each player now picked up the piano, carried it inside, wrote the music, and played it.
This led to “Forax” training in which the forwards and backs would combine together, with backs learning specialist skills like rucking, mauling and the “up the guts” role synonymous with the Brumbies under MacQueen.
By the 1999 World Cup final, MacQueen’s backs were fully comfortable with the high-pressure contact and rucking that the forwards traditionally had to execute in the Wallaby gameplan.
In contrast, forwards were instructed on the passing, kicking, playmaking and running required to attack the space created, offloading and passing to get the ball to Ben Tune.
The current pre-conception of forwards and backs stifles progress.
Limiting what the tight five can do limits your potential and overcoming this mindset accounted for the success the Wallabies made in these years.
This is why Jones feels the need for hybrid players is becoming more and more prevalent. We see Tom Curry acting as scrumhalf off scrum feeds.
Jack Nowell packing down at Flanker, Joe Cokanasinga at 8 allowing Billy Vunipola to strike the 10 channel – all of these positional changes are down to England’s goal to generate this breed of player and become more complete.
England forwards are also now kicking more than ever before.
This will appear as sacrilege to some coaches. Yet when no centre is available to kick and the option is on, having forwards who have the skill and the freedom to make this call, could prove invaluable.
England’s Kick Philosophy
Englands’ next major trump card, is directly related to the role of kicking within the modern game.
England’s kicking game is already highly developed. Off deep opposition restarts, number 8 Curry always fields and carries the ball into contact to gain momentum.
The ball needs to be recovered, which is why Curry is always supported by two front-rowers and two locks, to ensure quick and safe delivery of the ball.
The box kick follows shortly after, accompanied by two lines of chase to account for the counterattack and potential chip into space.
Against Wales, the exact same principle is followed.
Curry carries into contact, supported by two locks and two front-rowers. Only this time, the kick goes back for George Ford.
Ford clears it, with Farrell coming through as the chaser. This is to put his forwards onside and activate the chase.
It’s a very well-rehearsed and battle-proven strategy. However, all teams have restart strategies to exit their red zone.
The innovation that England may have launched and something from AFL, is the use of forward observers.
The FST
In the British Army, there is a role called the Fire Support Team (FST).
The role comprises of a small detachment of artillery specialists who are attached to an Infantry patrol, who will then coordinate indirect fire onto enemy positions should they be contacted by said rascals.
This proximity means they can bracket and fix the enemy with better accuracy.
If there’s a rugby take on this, it’s what England have been doing in winning their games of kick tennis. This philosophy may have been taken from their former attack coach, Scott Wisemantel.
Wisemantel’s theory detailed for the Sydney Morning Herald in 2009 is that the wingers and the fullback should play like three fullbacks and be the “eyes” of the backline.
He says one of their roles should be to communicate their reading of the game to the centres – the “ears” – who relay that information to the halfback and five-eighth to help them to make better decisions.
This chain system of communication could have been taken for England’s use to gain an advantage in their kicking game.
Colour-code calls
Going up the field, England colour code their kick-chase zones. If they follow the method employed by Eddie Jones’ Japan, this means the field is divided into three zones for their attacking kicks.
This is how the kicker is told where to kick to, what’s interesting, is how they are given the information to make the accurate choice for this.
England always provide a good chase or charge down option in the game of kick tennis, but the chaser’s job does not end with this.
The chaser can stay in the backfield for anywhere from 10-20 seconds, and this is for two main reasons:
1. To identify the best space into which the ball can be kicked.
2. To act as a support player should the counter attacker get through.
Here we see Maro Itoje fly up to pressure Romain Ntamack for the kick. This is not his only role as the chaser.
This information is passed back to the kicker and scanner set.
The scanner is a pre-requisite for the England kicking system. The kicker’s sole focus is fielding the kick, the scanner scans the backfield, looking for space and information passed back by the FST.
We see this with Ford directing George Furbank, the scanner provides valuable information to the kicker, who then acts upon the scanner’s instructions, making them more likely to win the kick battle.
This is an example of England’s contestable kick strategy.
Against Scotland, we see Ford (kicker) called by Elliot Daly (scanner). Ford kicks down K2, the best place due to the depth of the FST (Farrell) and the placement of England’s tall men.
This kick is then followed up by a good chase from the scanner, putting his tall men onside, and knocking the ball back into plenty of support.
Against Wales, we start to see the philosophy of feedback from the front coming in.
Dan Biggar makes the kick, and Daly comes back to inform Henry Slade K1 is the right option. This leads to Slade kicking into space.
Leigh Halfpenny has to scramble to regather, and Henry Slade follows up to ensure Halfpenny’s kick is made under pressure.
This means Slade takes the FST role, the kick is made back by Daly, who is informed of where space is by Ford, his scanner. This kick again finds space and puts England in a great field position to launch their attack upon the kick return.
Often, the kick goes up, and the chaser quickly follows, putting his players onside.
Should the kicker have baited the opposition, this means many of the England players will be upfield of a defence that has overextended itself.
We see May here, attempt to change his line and breakthrough, where if he had succeeded, he would have broken next to Charlie Ewels, putting him onside as a support option.
This shows steps that England are taking to advance their game. As a game, the structures of the union attack and what can be done, have stayed similar for too long. Sometimes a little unconventionality and outside the box thinking, is exactly what is needed.
In Englands’ case, it seems to be the priority.
Comments on RugbyPass
It was a pleasure to watch those guys playing with such confidence. That trio can all be infuriating for different reasons and I can see why Jones might have decided against them. No way to justify leaving Ikitau out though. Jorgensen and him were both scheduled to return at the same time. Only one of them plays for Randwick and has a dad who is great mates with the national coach though.
53 Go to commentsBrayden Iose and Peter Lakai are very exciting Super Rugby players but are too short and too light to ever be a Test 8 vs South Africa, France, Ireland, and England, Lakai could potentially be a Test player at 7 if he is allowed to focus on 7 for Hurricanes.
5 Go to commentsPencils “Thomas du Toit” into possible 2027 Bok squad.
1 Go to commentsDon’t see why Harrison makes the bench. Jones can play at 10 if needed, and there is a good case for starting her there to begin with if testing combinations. That would leave room for Sing on the bench
1 Go to commentsWhat a load of old bull!
1 Go to commentsOf the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.
29 Go to commentsIrish Rugby CEO be texting Andy Farrell “Andy, i found our next Kiwi Irishman”
5 Go to commentsI certainly don’t miss drinking beers at 8am in the morning watching rugby games being played in NZ.
1 Go to commentsThis looks like a damage limitation exercise for Wales, keeping back some of their more effective players for the last 20/25 minutes to try and counter England’s fresh legs so the Red Roses don’t rack up a big score.
1 Go to commentsVery unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
5 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to commentsArdie is a legend. Finished and klaar. Two things: “Yeah, yeah, I have had a few conversations with Razor just around feedback on my game and what I am doing well, what I need to improve on or work-ons. It’s kind of been minimal, mate, but it’s all that I need over here in terms of how to be better, how to get better and what I am doing well.” I hope he’s downplaying it - and that it’s not that “minimal”. The amount of communication and behind the scenes preparation the Bok coaches put into players - Rassie and co would be all over Ardie and being clear on what is expected of him. This stands out for me as something teams should really be looking at in terms of the boks success from a coaching point of view. And was surprised by the comment - “minimal”. In terms of the “debate” around Ireland and South Africa. Nice one Ardie. Indeed. There’s no debate.
2 Go to commentsThere’s a bit of depth there but realistically Australian players have a long way to go to now catch up. The game is moving on fast and Australia are falling behind. Australian sides still don’t priories the breakdown like they should, it’s a non-negotiable if you want to compete on the international stage. That goes for forwards and backs. The Australian team could have a back row that could make a difference but the problem is they don’t have a tight five that can do the business. Tupou is limited in defence, overweight and unfit and the locks are a long way from international standard. Frost is soft and Salakai-Loto is too small so that means they need a Valentini at 8 who has to do the hard graft so limits the effectiveness of the backrow. Schmidt really needs to get a hard working, tough tight 5 if he wants to get this team firing.
3 Go to commentsSorry Morgan you must have been the “go to for a quote” ex player this week. Its rnd 6 and there is plenty of time to cement a starting 15 and finishing 8 so I have no such concerns.
2 Go to commentsGreat read. I wish you had done this article on the ROAR.
2 Go to commentsThe current AB coaching team is basically the Crusaders so it smacks of wanting their familiar leaders around. This is not a good look for the future of the ABs or the younger players in Super working their way up the player ladder. Razor is touted as innovative, forward looking but his early moves look like insecurity and insular, provincial thinking. He is the AB's coach not the Golden Oldies.
10 Go to comments