Why the Wallabies won't be following the Springboks' rush defence under Schmidt
New Wallabies head coach Joe Schmidt has completed his coaching nucleus and with it comes a wealth of experience as well as some early indicators of how his Wallabies team will play.
The “Scrum Doctor” Mike Cron, lineout coach Geoff Parling, analyst Eoin Toolan and breakdown guru the “Lord” Laurie Fisher make up the vastly experienced team which is chalk and cheese compared to the team assembled by Eddie Jones at the start of 2023.
While an attack under Schmidt will be more intricate than seen in previous Wallabies teams the team’s defence and breakdown work will be crucial to improve their fortunes.
The adage goes ‘defence wins championships,’ and Fisher is likely to oversee defence and the contact zone as he did for Dave Rennie in 2022 as his defence coach.
Fisher will bring an attention to detail back to the Wallabies and his expectations will be clear.
His clarity also extends to how he sees the defensive side of the game, a view that has been endorsed by Schmidt.
“If you want narrow defence and balls-out line speed then I’m not your man,” Laurie Fisher told the 8-9 Podcast in early April about his conversations with Schmidt prior to signing with the Wallabies.
Fisher coaches a connected line speed defence, something which he introduced to the Brumbies and subsequently to Rennie’s Wallabies when he was parachuted in midway through their 2022 Rugby Championship.
Fisher knows system accounts for most of a defence’s success and he is forthright about his responsibility as the coach.
“The system belongs to the defence coach.”
“System looks after 80 per cent and your [the player’s] rugby nous, your talent, your work ethic, your ability to react looks after the other 20 per cent,” Fisher said on the 8-9 Podcast.
Fisher will enjoy a slightly better runway this time around than he did in 2022 but he won’t benefit from a Wallabies training camp before the Wales series in June.
The clarity of his communication will be vital to get the team on the same page heading into the July internationals.
By looking back at Fisher’s first four games as defence coach in 2022 one can get an idea of what a Wallabies defence could look like in 2024.
Fisher’s connected line speed system is on full display, with the Wallabies getting off the line quickly.
Once the Springboks play out the back of a forward pod the inner most Wallaby, who in this instance is Rob Valetini leads the line speed, readjusting for the new depth in attack accordingly.
Then Valetini, Hunter Paisami and Len Ikitau nominate and begin to backtrack, robbing the Springboks of space and their numbers advantage.
The key here is connection, the outside man never shoots and trusts the inside player will cover the distance, all the while shepherding the Boks closer to the sideline.
Here is another prime example of how line integrity and connection trumped the All Blacks’ overlap which then forced the All Blacks into making early contact.
Once again it is Valetini and Ikitau along with Marika Koroibete employing the connected line speed against Beauden Barrett, Jordie Barrett, Will Jordan and Rieko Ioane.
On paper that All Blacks backline with half a field of space carves up the three Wallabies, nine times out of ten, but the connection and their patience holds the attack at bay.
The drift and hold concedes almost 10 metres, but it’s a lot healthier than conceding a line break.
The Wallabies’ newly adopted system wasn’t implemented faultlessly, at times players were put in pressure situations which saw players break from the system, leading to grave consequences.
A series of errors here leads to the Springboks scoring in the righthand corner after just three phases in which they gained over 40m.
The first error occurs when Tom Wright jams in on Eben Etzebeth from his wing.
This creates a two-on-one overlap where a system hold-and-backpedal would have resulted in the Springboks running out of space as well as losing their overlap.
The second error comes when Jed Holloway sprints out of the line to push Makazole Mapimpi inside.
While initially it looks ok, the break in system means the Wallabies were unable to fold and hold the width which exposes them in the subsequent two phases.
Although the Wallabies concede points here, it is important to note that it was due to player error, and it highlights the success the system could have at the highest level.
This final clip on the defensive system illustrates its value.
The All Blacks win a turnover just outside the Wallabies 22m, the loss of possession leaves the Wallabies perilously low on defenders.
Only Lalakai Foketi and Valetini are left to defend six All Blacks with half a field to cover.
Brodie Retallick does the right thing by initially taking the space, but Foketi doesn’t take the bait and stays in system and backpedals.
This patience forces Retallick to pass giving other Wallaby players time to track across.
In the end Samisoni Takiaho scores but had just one of the three covering Wallabies made a chop tackle on him, the try would have been prevented.
The system is content to give up metres to allow for a secure tackle.
Should the runner take the outside shoulder then it allows for a dominant tackle away from the inside cleaner which in turn hampers ruck efficiency and thereby ruck speed giving the defence more time to set.
Fisher knows what he wants and has clear principles which he values within his structures, because for him defence is comprised of “many” things.
“Speed off the ground, speed to set, spacing and nomination, connected line speed, high hustle on the inside looks after the inside shoulder of the outside, double ups, get in front stay in front, next action,” Fisher told the 8-9 Podcast when speaking generically about his defensive systems.
Most of these principles are present in this next clip.
Most evident in this clip is the double ups, every tackle is a two-man tackle with the first man going low and arresting momentum.
The speed off the ground by the tacklers is also notable as is the hustle of the inside defender.
The Wallabies results in these first four games with Fisher as defence coach was mixed but it is clear to see that the defensive system served them well.
The system served them even better in the Autumn Internationals where they kept Ireland to just 13 points and almost beat France in Paris.
Fisher is comfortable with how he sees the game and won’t bow to the rush defence gods; he prefers his line to have integrity and trust instead of “balls out line speed” which requires impeccable scramble defence.
It’s unlikely a Wallabies squad will be announced before the end of the regular season of Super Rugby Pacific, but the coaching team alone has the Wallabies set for a higher ceiling than 2023.
Fisher is a key cog in this team and for the Wallabies to win the hearts and minds of Australians once again they’ll need a strong defence as well as a captivating attack.
Comments on RugbyPass
Proof. That if you lay dramatic instrumental hip hop music over a video of a skinny pale white kid running an unopposed zig zag on a training ground - it’ll seem next-level epic!
12 Go to commentsIf they win the challenge Cup then it will have all been worth it. If they don’t, then maybe he should go. Lots of ppl seem to think very highly of him as a coach, but maybe he would be better working under someone. Any top sides looking for forwards coaches rn?
1 Go to commentsJason Ryan knows his craft as forwards coach and I'm sure he’ll hold sway with Scott Robertson of who he feels worthy of selection…his credentials validated when he put a 7xcaps between them front row...Ethan, Samisoni and Lomax on Ellis Park…Go the AB's…
5 Go to commentsFascinating. I’m optimistic about a team coached by Schmiddy, Cron and Parling
13 Go to commentsI think if Blackadder is fit, he has to be in the team. If he isn’t, Finau would be good, and I always thought Akira deserved more of a crack at it. I think he looked better than ppl gave him credit.
5 Go to commentsThanks again Nick and interesting comments from Parling about his lineout preferences. Bearing in mind what Schmidt has said about prioritising Oz based players initially we may not see Skeleton until the EOY trip to Ireland and the UK. To me that suggests that Cale has to be ready by then. In the meantime we get 3 jumpers by having 2 jumping locks and a Wright/Swinton/Holloway/Leota type of guy at 6. I think that he (Parling) would do well to coach Valentini and Wilson to jump more. Surely they could learn more about this?
13 Go to commentsdo what the ABs normally do and cruise around the South Pacific to cherry-pick the contenders
5 Go to commentsGood read, GP comes across as a very knowledgeable guy and pretty decent human to boot! Genuinely leaves me wondering though, how Australia’s second city could be in with a serious possibility of being left without a pro team. Just how does that get to happen? Credit to the team though, they’re performing pretty well under some horrible circumstances and pressure on their livelihoods. Whoever made the call to boot out DR, his staff and the structure/connections/succession plans he had put in place in unbelievably short order needs strung up by their most sensitive body parts. Thought that at the time and of course, events unfolded even worse than feared!
13 Go to commentsCan’t see an appetite to pick Brad Shields for obvious reasons, but Devan Flanders has got to be in with a shout.
5 Go to commentsThe rise of Hunter Paisami! Good read Nick (as ever). Cheers.
13 Go to commentsAs a long term glos supporter saturday was the last straw. Terrible run of results in league since Jan 23. No excuses , there are 3 conclusions Players simply arent good enough. Coaching team not good enough. Or combination of the 2. Either way glos lost pride in what used to be a team others feared.
1 Go to commentsWhat an interesting article, Nick. Late here, so will comment tomorrow am. “In the UK, you might have three whole months when you train set-piece and it’s pissing down. Over here, we very rarely experience games severely affected by weather..” Did you see the Waratahs game on the weekend ? If not have a look at the weather for that struck that one. Drowning would have a been a worry for any player trapped at the bottomof a pile up. Suspect the water polo people might be looking with interest at some of those rugby players after that game😀
13 Go to commentsThis article overlooks how the 9 position has developed to be a playmaker, which these 2 are both excellent at. Defences are so good now there is not the luxury of going 9 -> 10 on every play. Playing “off 9” as they say, has become very commonplace these days, but 10+ years ago you hardly saw this. Boiling the great modern 9s down to box kicking doesn’t do justice to how good the great ones have become. Dupont would be the first choice 10 in most teams in the world, JGP pops up in places you would never expect a 9 to be.
22 Go to commentsThe banning of the croc roll will make carrying the ball into contact far more risky, leading to more kicking, and the change to the Dupont law will mean forwards have to do far more running than they do now. As a result I think there will be a rise of smaller, more mobile forwards who are strong defenders and strong over the ball like Kirifi.
3 Go to commentsWhat does the ownership of the club have to do with the poor performance of the team. It’s not as if he’s coaching them or in any way influencing the composition of the teams. I honestly don’t understand the comment.
1 Go to commentsHe knows his body is not up to the work load of international rugby. The fact that Cane only played only 27 of the 46 games the ABs played while he was officially captain is a telling statistic. And that excludes the time he had out with neck injury. He was never able to put a long enough body of work together to get back to his best without a new injury setting him back. He knows better than anyone that the problem will get worse, not better, given the same workload. Correct decision and good luck to him.
10 Go to commentsWith three clubs it's surely death by oligopoly!😂 I suspect that other french clubs like Montpellier rich enough to compete, they are just missing some vital ingredients. Do you think that keeping an eight player bench but only being allowed to use four would level the playing field a bit? The 12 changes rule sounds disastrous for running rugby.
124 Go to commentsNice article
32 Go to commentsSurely they aren’t that short of 10s in the northern hemisphere?
1 Go to commentsBest wishes to a true warrior who gave everything for his team and country. He was no McCaw but the closest we've had in recent years in terms putting his head into dark places, leading the defensive line and securing the attacking breakdown - the core roles of a modern open side. If only he could have played more tests under Foster and Plumtree with blindsides who fulfilled their core roles. 2027 was always going to be a long shot. Hopefully Papalii fulfils the promise of 2021 and late 2022 and/or Lakai turns out to be as good as he looks.
10 Go to comments