I show you how to identify your opponent’s defensive tactics from the position of their wingers, and the tactics you can use against them.
The top tactical coaches will spend the first 10 minutes of the game behind the posts. Why? So they can read the movements and alignment of the opposition back line, in defence and attack. They can then relay this information to their fly half to adjust the team’s tactics.
Where the wingers stand
The most obvious area to observe is the position of the other team’s wingers in relation to their defensive line outside their 22m. There are two positions where we might see the opposition openside winger:
In the defensive line.
Back from the normal defensive line, defending against the cross kick.
Your attacking options if the winger is in the line
Tactic 1: Use the cross kick
Your open side winger must stand very wide, almost in the tramlines between the 5m line and the touchline, waiting to run on to the ball. Even if your fly half is not pin point with the kick, your winger still has an excellent chance of receiving the ball in space.
Some sides even use a “dummy switch” or “dummy cut”, where the fly half fakes a pass to the inside centre (12) and then kicks the ball. Consequently the opposition winger is held in the defensive line for longer.
Tactic 2: Winger wide, full back in
Your winger stands wide to draw out his opponent, perhaps with the angle of his run, or just by making himself heard. This should allow your full back a little more space to run through the gap between the opposition outside centre and winger.
There is then an array of moves you can use to cut through the defensive line. Many of these can be found in my Rugby Attack! report, such as dummy switch miss (DSM), split miss and split hit.
I look first at the more common situation of their 14 hanging back in defence, and then at how to analyse the overall width and speed of their defence.
Your attacking option if the winger is standing back
There are three simple tactics to use when the defending winger stands 5 metres or more behind the centres in defence.
One-on-one: Your winger should always fancy his chances one-on-one with a defender. Use moves, such as miss passes, that get the ball wide quickly, so giving your winger the time to attack their opposite number without interference from other defenders.
Pressure wider: Hold the opposition midfield with dummy runners, ideally drawing their winger into the defensive line, before releasing a player wide out. Even if their winger isn’t drawn into the line, a well-chosen angle should be enough to wrong foot them. This is ideal if your own winger is not as speedy.
Cut the drift: Their defensive line is likely to want to drift out to cover the gap wide out. So you could use moves to play “against the grain”, for instance switches with the fly half and centres. The objective is either to exploit gaps as defenders drift too far, or keep the defence “honest” to reduce the drift, allowing more space wide out.
If you’re looking for inspiration for your attacking moves, my new Rugby Attack! manual is proving popular with rugby coaches of all levels. It goes beyond just showing you the move, by discussing when, why and what to look for when you use it with your players. Click on the picture below to order it, or go to http://www.rugby-coach.com/rugbyattack for more information about the manual.
Your attacking option depending on their width and speed
Width of the midfield defenders: Standing behind the posts at the start of the game, you should be able to see how the opposition midfield three stand in defence. In particular, whether they squeeze together or split apart as the ball is released from a set piece.
If they squeeze together, then attack inside their fly half (10) or beyond their outside centre (13). If they split apart, then attack the two gaps between the three players. You might even be able to identify the weaker gap between either 10 and 12, or 12 and 13.
Speed of the defence (offside cheats!): If you watch top-level matches, you will see that some international sides employ a rush defence, using the speed of the midfield players to cut down the space for the opposition back line. Without good discipline, this type of defence is hard to implement.
You could, nonetheless, find yourself up against opponents who come up on you quickly, particularly if they’re getting away with “stealing” metres over the offside line. You have two tactics to deal with these “fast-up” defences:
1. Stand deeper – Start your moves from deeper, giving your players more time to perform their set plays. Your flankers (6 and 7) in particular will need to learn how to adjust their supporting runs.
2. Chip over the top – A chip kick over the opposition inside centre (12) as he charges up is more risky, but may well wrong foot their entire back line.
cciscojr 