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'It just seems to be an absolute death knell' - the position you simply can't meddle with at a RWC

By Josh Raisey
(Photo by Ross Land/Getty Images)

Former Australia tighthead and co-founder of GAIN LINE analytics Ben Darwin joined the RugbyPass Aotearoa Rugby Pod this week to discuss the errors teams make at World Cups.

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Darwin shared with Ross Karl and James Parsons the mistakes that commonly lead to a team’s demise, which range from playing with inexperienced centres to playing in unfamiliar jerseys.

The New Zealand public do not have fond memories of the grey jersey worn by the All Blacks in the 2007 World Cup quarter final loss to France, but Darwin has suggested there is good reason for that.

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Likewise, Steve Hansen’s centre partnership in the All Blacks’ loss to England in the 2019 semi-final has since been an area of contention, and the Australian explains why toying with the midfield can have grave consequences.

“One of the things we find, that is basically suicide, is never introduce a centre in World Cups,” the 28-cap former Wallaby said.

“Because 10-12-13 is where the most level of understanding is required and you need people playing in position. That has a really positive impact on performance.

“It just seems to be an absolute death knell because there’s a law of diminishing returns.

“It’s the early stages where the problems lie. So whenever you get relationships in early stages is when you get things going catastrophically wrong, and we see that across so many different sports.

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“One of the things we do is we look at systems. So for example when a coach comes into a club, we’ve found the more experience they have, the more team tends to underperform- Gatland at the Chiefs for example. Because they change so much to suit the way they might want to do something that the team is unable to cope with that level of change even if they are cohesive. It’s almost as if the cohesion works against them.

“The second component is role. So if you get people playing out of position, even a lock at No4 or No5, you look at England in the World Cup final having a N04 playing at No5, a right-sided lock, that component. And then you’ve got the interplay between people.

“Another interesting one we’ve found out is jerseys. If you are using a jersey you haven’t used before or haven’t played in quite a bit, that the ability for the team to attack drops off dramatically. They defend at the same rate.

“I was looking at [the All Blacks’] ’07 World Cup quarters against France and one of the things was they completely lost the ability to offload. I think their offloads were at 30 percent accuracy in the second half.”

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Adrian 1 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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T
Trevor 4 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

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B
Bull Shark 8 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of 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.

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