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Analysis: How Toulon use their jumbo-sized midfielders Ma'a Nonu and Mathieu Bastareaud
Big spending Toulon’s arsenal of world-class backs gives them any number of potential combinations each week.
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However, in their European Champions Cup win against Bath, they fielded their biggest possible mid-field: the supersized combo of Ma’a Nonu and Mathieu Bastareaud, giving them two noted power runners to fuel their attack.
Toulon rely on the brutal running of Bastareaud, and compliment that with the full range of Nonu’s attacking game.
This is how they play them:
Bastareaud-ball
The Frenchman is the preferred carrier of the two, with Toulon using him as a workhorse on set-piece carries to build a platform and restart play. There are no subtleties about it, Bastareaud is fed the ball directly off the base of the scrum and let loose at the opposition 9-10 channel.
Toulon’s exit plan, if they are not camped on their own line, is Bastareaud. They will look for a strong carry out of their own 22 and keep the ball in hand – not clear with a kick.
At a whopping 128 kgs, he is more than a handful for inside backs. He gets across the gain line more often than not, taking out multiple defenders and giving Toulon front-foot ball.
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Their forwards usually take the second carry the same way, removing more back defenders (usually the 10 or 12) which sets up the backs for a third phase strike.
By the third phase, the opposition forward pack is under immense pressure to get up from the scrum and around the corner. Halfback Alby Matheson (9) is about to release his pass with Nonu (12), Ashton (15) and Tuisova (14) in play against a scrambling Bath defensive line.
Build and release
This pattern is typical of Toulon play – forward carries in pods moving the same way for a few phases and then a release to the backs.
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It’s worth noting that it is foreign for Nonu to play this way – the 2-4-2 and 1-3-3-1 structures used in New Zealand intersperse forwards throughout the backs, limiting the opportunities for a backline to work together during phases. The backs really only get a ‘clean’ line (no forwards) off a set piece scrum or full man lineout – but in Toulon’s structure, it is common to find this in general play.
The downside of this pattern is the backs will only touch the ball every three or four phases, but the benefit is they have time to prepare and run set plays during phase play.
One of Toulon’s go-to plays is a simple ‘ID’ screen pass, with Bastareaud running a short option and Nonu floating out behind. This gives Nonu a chance on the fringe to use his passing game. On this play, Ashton (15) slides in giving Nonu an inside option.
As the play unfolds, Bath centre Jonathan Joseph is sucked in to cover the Bastareaud line and Nonu will be presented with a two-on-one overlap on the edge, which frees Radradra down the touchline.
Running men
One notable feature of this structure is just how much running the midfielders Nonu and Bastareaud undertake during play. They are expected to play on both sides of the field, so when play moves to the far right, they need to reset the backline on the left. Often you will find Nonu at 13 and Bastareaud at 12, as the lighter Nonu can track back and forth faster.
Keep an eye on Nonu leading up to his try, he almost can’t keep up as Toulon go from around two or three forward carries to just one each time before releasing the backs.
Power-duo
Whilst Bastareaud is the primary power runner, Nonu on occasion will take a hit-up run or provide an option line. On these occasions, we see both the fleet footwork or bruising physicality of Nonu’s game. His ability to find space on carries is unrivalled for any 35-year-old centre, and many younger internationals still don’t compare.
What makes this combination work is Nonu is so versatile. He does everything: power carries, option line-running, first receiver duties and playmaking duties. If Toulon wants to bash you, they can use both runners. If they want to play expansive, they use Bastareaud to create a platform and let Nonu play off the back of it.
Despite having size, the pairing is far from one-dimensional.
Comments on RugbyPass
He was in such great form. Sad for him but only a short term injury and it will be great to see him back for the finals.
1 Go to commentsAfter their 5/0 start, I had the Crusaders to finish Top 4 only…they lost the plot in Perth but will reload and back themselves vs 4th placed Rebels…
3 Go to commentsBoth nations missed a great opportunity to book a game that would have had a lot of interest from around the world. I understand these games can’t be organised in 5 minutes but they should have found a way to make it happen. I don’t think Wales are ducking anyone but it’s a bad look haha.
3 Go to commentsIt will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
2 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
3 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
34 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
3 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
3 Go to comments