There are seemingly two types of supporters out there in the world of rugby. Those who genuinely love it and those who love it so much that they’ve somehow gone full circle and have started to not like it so much.
Of those who love it so much, and therefore can’t stomach it anymore, the most unnerving have got to be the ‘poor defence’ brigade. Closely followed by the ‘that was forward’ brigade – who take great joy in ruining any good try shown on social media by immediately replying with ‘that (pass) was forward’.
The ‘poor defence’ brigade title may not be as clear as it could be. So, here’s an explanation. The ‘poor defence’ brigade are those who when faced with a brilliant piece of rugby, a fantastic try, or a high-scoring game, will immediately say that it’s ‘poor defence’ which has resulted in that moment of pure rugby joy – that moment of rugby happiness which temporarily releases us from the attrition of everyday life.
It’s like seeing a new-born baby and the first thing which comes to mind is telling the mother that the prophylactic used obviously didn’t provide significant cover.
What’s even weirder is that many of the ‘poor defence’ brigade also seem to be part of the ‘modern rugby is rubbish because it’s so defensively orientated’ brigade. Which means that modern rugby is at once worse because it is too defensive, whilst at the same time suffering from poor defence. Anyway, we digress.
Some of the recent rounds of European rugby were of course a gold mine for the ‘poor defence’ brigade. There were some massive scores in rounds three and four of both the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup.
The competition that once took precedence over all domestic leagues is now largely an after-thought in the opening rounds. Where we once saw Ferraris, we now see Volkswagen Polos.
Bulls v Bristol delivered well over 100 points, with stacks of other games reaching a combined points total of well over 70 points. But even in those games, very few teams had a defensive completion rate under 70% – the Bulls, Stormers and Sharks being rare exceptions. Whilst some of the games in the third and fourth round of European rugby were one-sided, it had little to do with pure defence, and more to do with the composition of that set of tournaments.
What was once Henri IV Dudognon Heritage Cognac Grande Champagne, has now had a rather large dash of SPAR cola added into the mix. Most teams are now able to heavily rotate their squads in away games and still get the required points for a home game in the last 16.
The competition that once took precedence over all domestic leagues is now largely watered down in the opening rounds. Where we once saw Ferraris, we now see Volkswagen Polos.
Aside from team selection, one of the other aspects that is often missed by the ‘poor defence’ brigade, when discussing high-scoring games, is that many tries in the modern game don’t actually come from defensive lapses.
Over the past five seasons, stacks of tries are now being scored from cross-kicks, kick-passes and five-metre lineout mauls – from which there is no defensive miss to speak off, not a tackle anyway.
Being able to challenge in the air is of course a huge part of the modern game, in build-up play and in scoring tries, but the inability to do so isn’t really regarded as defensive weakness and therefore not a valid criticism for high scoring games – the same goes for defending five-metre lineout mauls.
There is of course also an assumption from some older supporters that the game was always better in the past, not only in attacking play, but also defensively. The notion that the game was more violent (which it definitely was) tends to be mistaken for being better defensively.
Where some see a brilliant miss-three pass, others will choose to spot the slight defensive misread. Where some will marvel at a player scoring a hat-trick, others will focus on the clumsy defence that led to it.
But looking at data from the amateur era will tell you otherwise. In the 1987 Rugby World Cup for instance, there were just 48-ish tackles made per team per 80 minutes. What’s more, only 70% of those tackles were completed – and that’s at Test level, not club rugby.
By comparison, in the 2023 Rugby World Cup, there were an average of 165-ish tackles made in 80 minutes – with a completion rate of 89%. It means there are over three times as many tackles being executed in the modern day and at a 20%-ish higher completion rate. These stats alone would tell you that modern rugby doesn’t have a problem with weak defence, quite the opposite.
But European competition aside, the scourge of the ‘poor defence’ brigade still looms large over the whole of the rugby season. Where some see a brilliant miss-three pass, others will choose to spot the slight defensive misread. Where some will marvel at a player scoring a hat-trick, others will focus on the clumsy defence that led to it.
This calling out of the ‘poor defence’ brigade may seem a trivial point (and it probably is, given this columnist’s penchant for rugby’s inanities). But the debate is broader than the negativity aimed at defence.This negativity can spread into all aspects of rugby. It can lead to incredible players like Springboks star Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu not being lauded for the incredible talent that he is, but being dragged over the social media coals for his goal-kicking percentage.
It can lead to supporters not adoring Scotland wing Duhan van de Merwe, but instead mocking him because he can’t turn very quickly on the defensive transition.
Don’t for one moment think that rugby isn’t both defensively and offensively the best that is has ever been. It really is. Try to enjoy it.
But above all, the raison d’être of the ‘poor defence’ brigade sucks the joy out of the game in general. It’s a fantastic sport and one which is being played at the highest level that it ever has.
Yes, rugby has issues financially. And yes, the game is undergoing a huge structural upheaval all over the globe. But don’t for one moment think that rugby isn’t both defensively and offensively the best that is has ever been. It really is. Try to enjoy it.
PS. First one to comment that this column is a ‘poor defence’ of the argument wins a signed copy of my latest book.😊
Rugby’s best of the best, ranked by experts. Check out our list of the Top 100 Men's Rugby Players 2025 and let us know what you think!
Poor defence is a simplistic way to look at it and does detract from brilliant play. Yes technically most tries result from a moment of poor defence but Its much more nuanced. In the modern game pressure causes defensive lapses. Pressure is generated through accuracy of passing and movement, through quality kicking and phase play. It is generated by multiphase moves, dummies, hand offs, raw pace and power. In the end many defences are stress tested to the point of breaking. That missed tackle, that moment where an overlap occurs, a kick in the backfield is not covered or a misread happens or where a team falls for a trick play is mostly caused by pressure. Vary rarely is it a case of poor defence. So when a player misses a tackle or a defensive line is cut through consider the work on attack first and the brilliance of the move or the mounting pressure on the defensive system before you shout poor defence.
This column is a poor defence of the argument!
Actually, it was a good column which I enjoyed. There’s nothing worse than the social media negativity that follows some of the brightest players and best moments in rugby.