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Building the perfect rugby player: Full-back

By Alex Shaw
Damian McKenzie is as potent an attacking 15 as there is in the modern game. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

Fresh from looking over the wing position and what makes for the prototype player, our series attempting to build the perfect rugby player wraps up with an examination of the full-back position.

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There are a number of crossovers with the wing position and that shows up with how interchangeable the two positions have become for the more adept players in international rugby. That said, there are also a number of unique attributes, with certain things demanded of full-backs that are only seen as desirable in wings.

We have picked out the five most important skills below and attempted to identify a player currently playing who best exemplifies those qualities.

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Given the prevalence of the tactical kicking game in rugby now, whether that’s for territory or to contest and win back ball, a full-back needs to be adept in the air. They have to be consistent dealing with those deep kicks, as well as brave and technically proficient enough to own the space and time their jumps in order to give themselves the best chance of success with contested catches.

The skills of Wales’ Liam Williams are considerable and wide-ranging, and he is one of the best players in the air in rugby, regardless of position. He is explosive enough to meet the ball at his highest point, a point usually above his rivals, and brave enough to take the hard landings that frequently come with it. In defence and attack, his ability to win contested catches is excellent.

Once those catches have been won, there is often an opportunity for a full-back to launch a counter-attack. This can be through a swerving solo break or it can be by moving the ball swiftly to an area of the pitch where the chasing team are not ready or equipped to stop the break. This awareness of space on the pitch is vital in all but the most one-dimensional of defensive and territorial full-backs.

In this area, no one has yet surpassed New Zealand’s Damian McKenzie. The former fly-half is electric with the ball in his hand and his ability to pass and offload accurately at pace makes the players around him every bit as offensively potent as he himself is. If the chase has dog legs or lacks cohesion, McKenzie will undoubtedly punish the opposing team.

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In order to make the most of that counter-attacking ability, a full-back will need to have plenty of pace. If they can make an initial chaser miss, they could have space to exploit and they will need to do so quickly. In addition to offensive impact, the speed of a full-back in defence is also vital, as they tend to be the last line of defence and may need to cover other players’ errors.

For speed, not many can match Ireland’s Jordan Larmour, with both he and McKenzie largely interchangeable in the pace and counter-attacking categories. Larmour has added scintillating speed to the Irish back three and though there are other areas of his game that he needs to round out, he is rapidly making himself invaluable to Andy Farrell moving forward.

It can’t all be about mazy counter-attacks and open rugby, though, and tactical kicking forms an important part of any full-back’s game. The ability to relieve as much pressure as possible in challenging situations is key, as well as the ability to switch pressure onto the opposing side with a kick that eats up as much territory as possible. With the potential adoption of the 50:22 kicking law, this will be a skill that will only grow in importance at the position.

A relatively new name on the scene, France’s Anthony Bouthier showed during the Guinness Six Nations that he might have the best boot in the business at the position. His spiral kicks were a work of art during the tournament and his kicking game has been a big part of his rise from the lower leagues of French rugby to a starring role with Top 14 powerhouse Montpellier.

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Finally, we come to perhaps the least glamorous skill in a full-back’s repertoire, their ability to make one-on-one tackles. As mentioned before, full-backs are often the last line of defence, so when an attacking player makes a break, they are regularly on their own in the battle to stop them before the try line. This requires proficient reading of the game in defence, the savvy to take the right angle to the carrier, and then the power and technique to actually make the tackle.

He fell out of favour just prior to the recent Rugby World Cup, but England’s Mike Brown is still one of the very best in the game at getting to and bringing down an attacking player. Brown was so good in this area, as well as with his ability in the air, that he held off the challenges of arguably more potent attacking full-backs for a number of years and was one of the most consistent 15s in international rugby.

Aerial contest – Liam Williams

Counter-attacking – Damian McKenzie

Speed – Jordan Larmour

Kicking – Anthony Bouthier

Tackling – Mike Brown

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J
Jon 7 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 10 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

39 Go to comments
A
Adrian 12 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

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