Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
NZ NZ

The short kicking game versus rush defence

By Chips Blanch
Have the Northern Hemisphere teams overtaken the South? (Photos/Gettys Images)

The Six Nations has been absolutely cracking this year. If you cast your mind back 12 months ago you might recall that it was pretty bloody good then too, and if you go way back to the Six nations before that (I have the memory of a goldfish so won’t be much help there) you might also recall that it was pretty entertaining.

ADVERTISEMENT

So, in light of this and in the spirit of honesty, I’ll admit something distasteful…

The Six Nations is a better competition than the Rugby Championship.

As an Australian who grew up watching the Tri-Nations in the late ’90s and early ’00s, this is a very hard thing to admit, but I’ve arrived here for a number of reasons. South Africa’s inconsistency and the decline of the game in Australia have compounded things, but the big ticket item is that the home nations have become the innovators of the game.

It used to be the Southern Hemisphere that shaped the way the modern game is played, but after watching the last couple of games between England, Ireland, and Scotland, I think that has well and truly changed. Their defensive structures are now the gold standard and because they therefore spend the most time trying to unlock them, they have elevated their attack patterns.

Now the biggest concern for attack coaches at the moment is how to unlock good rush defences. Modern players are bigger, faster and fitter than ever so with the right personnel it is a pretty effective way to defend and force the opposition into making a mistake. So how do you get around it?

It’s nothing new to drop a short kick in behind the line when the opposition rushes up on you, but the frequency with which the home nations are doing it now is quite new. It’s not even about attempting to regather the ball anymore, it’s about forcing a mistake from the opposition or if they do maintain possession, it’s about using your own rush defence to force a mistake or turnover deep inside opposition territory. If you do regather the pill, hey, bonus!

ADVERTISEMENT

You’ll notice it’s not just fly-halves or inside centres dropping it short anymore either, the outside backs are regularly doing it on the fringes once the wingers have been pulled forward and the fullback is left isolated. Another plus is it makes the defence hesitate, which gives your attack more time and space to get over the advantage line or ideally, score a try.

This type of play was frowned upon for so many years because if not done properly (see Irae Simone on the weekend) you are gifting the opposition good field position and counter attack opportunities, but the skill level of guys like Jacob Stockdale and Huw Jones means more often than not it is paying dividends.

So with this in the back of my mind, I sat down to watch the first round of Super Rugby and see if any of the teams would follow suit and try to unlock their opposition through short or tactical kicking.

I won’t get into too much detail here as it was summed it up perfectly from an Aussie perspective already here (however feel free to have a listen to this week’s Pillar To Post Podcast, as it should be reasonably positive for once). What I will say is that on Friday night the Chiefs and Highlanders demonstrated a lot of poor kicking between them, and the game and fans suffered accordingly.

ADVERTISEMENT

The Rebels were able to pull away from the Brumbies in the second half by playing at the line and through good tactical kicking, which kept the Brumbies pinned in their own half. Quade must have a direct line with Owen Farrell, as his game was very reminiscent of the in-form English 10. Maybe they can talk defence next.

If any team is going to be an exception to the rule it is the Crusaders. They are that good at unlocking defences they rarely need to resort to tactical kicking, and can get away just keeping the ball in hand for the whole game. The game at Eden Park was my favourite of the weekend, and I think the Blues are going to trouble every other New Zealand franchise. Some better option-taking after initial good work may have seen them win that game.

The Waratahs recognised the need to get in behind a very fast Hurricanes defence but weren’t able to execute properly, and often had to take the three points on offer as they couldn’t get close enough to the Hurricanes line to mount a serious assault. Their first try came off the back of a good, contestable high ball and some quick hands which should have been a clue where to focus more energies. The Hurricanes themselves did not put in enough contestable kicks and when they attempted short attacking kicks they were rubbish and were easily dealt with or went dead. The game never really opened up as both teams struggled to come up with answers to the opposition defence.

Looking at the above I think you get the idea, and, unsurprisingly, so do most of the Southern Hemisphere teams. It’s clear that there’s a recognition of where the game is heading, and a need for players to upskill to execute tactical kicking effectively, particularly out wide. The teams that aren’t executing a good tactical kicking game all struggled on the weekend.

Our northern counterparts have stolen a march on us, however, and their level of proficiency in this department far outstrips our own. You combine this with the strength of the Six Nations, and I can’t help but wonder, are we looking at the first World Cup without a Southern Hemisphere team in the final?

You’d be a brave man to bet on the All Blacks not being there, but if there was ever a year, it’s this one.

Rugby World Cup city guide – Kumamoto:

Video Spacer
ADVERTISEMENT

Join free

Aotearoa Rugby Podcast | Episode 6

Sam Warburton | The Big Jim Show | Full Episode

Japan Rugby League One | Sungoliath v Eagles | Full Match Replay

Japan Rugby League One | Spears v Wild Knights | Full Match Replay

Boks Office | Episode 10 | Six Nations Final Round Review

Aotearoa Rugby Podcast | How can New Zealand rugby beat this Ireland team

Beyond 80 | Episode 5

Rugby Europe Men's Championship Final | Georgia v Portugal | Full Match Replay

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

J
Jon 8 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”?

35 Go to comments
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.

41 Go to comments
FEATURE
FEATURE Luke Cowan-Dickie: 'I didn’t feel right. I felt like I was going to pass out. Everything was going black in front of me' Luke Cowan-Dickie: 'I didn’t feel right. I felt like I was going to pass out. Everything was going black in front of me'
Search