My recent opinions on loose-forward play has prompted me to dig a little deeper in sharing with you where South Africa and the Springboks need to improve their play at rucks to lead the way in world rugby.
Yesterday’s discussions on openside play centered quite a bit around the role of the fetcher, and the importance of this player in modern rugby.
Where there is no doubt is that fetching as a skill, given the amount of rucks, that is absolutely necessity – the only question remains is whether a coach would look to employ specialists do this, or upskill his whole team in this vital area of the game.
One of my main concerns in employing the deck game or fetcher game in South African rugby is that we are not adapt or have not successfully adopted the multi-phased playbook to successfully challenge the top sides in the world today.
This could be because for one thing I believe we do not have dominating flyhalf’s that can control a game from first receiver to successfully build phases – but that’s a theory for another time. For now, let’s concentrate on rucks.
The ruck or tackled area is arguably one of the most contentious areas of the modern game.
So much is left to interpretation by the referees but equally, players are their own worst enemies.
South African rugby in particular sucks on the hind-tit in this department in my view simply because we get it wrong technically. Our skills are not adopted to suit the modern game in the ruck situation, or to compete with the deck players in modern rugby.
This is not because we lack the necessary skills in my belief, but more to the fact that we do not appreciate the ruck for what it is intended for.
Rucks are the foundation of multiple phased play, and if done correctly will create space for opposition to attack. How effective, and importantly, quickly, we set up and clear these rucks will determine how successful you are.
Defence in rugby is arguably one of the areas of the game that has evolved the most. It is a lot more organised and even believed to win you games!
Logically that in itself is an absurd statement because I am yet to see a defence score you tries but let’s leave it at that other than to add one thing, and that is our defensive mindsets is what probably contributes most to our mindsets when it comes to rucks.
Technically I cannot define or explain rucks any simpler than to point out that it is supposed to be a ‘dynamic’ phase or area of the game. However, in South African rugby, rucks more often than not is a static phase of our game, where we lose momentum and let opposition teams into the game by giving their fetchers or deck players every opportunity in the world to spoil our ball.
The main reason for this is South African rugby players will rather tend to go to ground at a ruck situation, than stay on their feet. Once this happens the ball becomes static, hence the phase or area of the game becomes static.
This directly results in movement of play stopping and depending on the time it takes to clear the ruck, momentum has to be built up from scratch again because your defenders had time to re-align.
I therefore find it amusing how we put so much emphasis on the fact how teams go through 5 to 10 phases of play thinking they are actually in control and ‘building’. The fact remains, if you become static, no matter if you are in phase 1 or 10, you are not building on anything, you are starting from scratch.
This is also why the attacking team sometimes looks clueless after more than 3 phases. Simple fact is because they have becomes static, defenders have much more time to re-align and truth be told, it is easier to organise defences and defensive lines than it is to organise good attacking platforms – the time needed is much less.
The idea of a ruck as a dynamic phase or area should be to continually have your ball carrier with his support runners cross the advantage line and drive defenders back getting the opposition deck players or fetchers to retreat all the time – we all know, any fetcher, even the best going backwards all the time becomes useless. Then we require cleaning effectively from there and continue to do this through 3 or 4 phases.
But for that, the mindset and skills of the attacking side has to be to stay on their feet for as long as possible driving through tackles supported by his ‘drivers’ (players supporting the player to stay in his feet, protect the ball or eliminate potential poachers off the ball or ball carrier) who then become cleaners as soon as the ‘mini-maul’ goes down.
Legally defenders are constantly retreating and when the ball goes to ground and having ‘drivers’/cleaners already supporting the ball carrier, they can and must only enter through the ‘gate’ giving the ball carrier more time to protect and place the ball effectively.
In the South African game two things stop us from doing this.
Firstly as mentioned, our players simply go to ground too quickly and too easily and when doing so, struggles to place the ball correctly with opposition defenders hands and feet all over them.
Secondly, in multiple phased play the tendency for specifically backline players is not to engage in rucks but rather fall out and into the backline again waiting for the next play. These players are more often than not the closest support players to the ball carrier and should commit to supporting them first before anything else.
Smaller things include cleaners over extending in the ruck, meaning they clean too far off the ball (taking players out way beyond the ruck) and exposing the ball as well as player not presenting the ball correctly at the ruck.
But for rucks in our game to become dynamic and set up attacking platforms we will need to realise that we need to avoid becoming static too often and allowing defences to set and deck players being allowed to get their paws all over the ball. Your success rate on bridging and breaking defences is simply too low. And for that we need to realise that a ball on the ground is anyone’s ball, but a ball in the air is the possession of the team carrying it.
It has always been my opinion that the ball carrier in a ruck/maul situation needs at least 2 players to support him so that he can offload, and allow the new ball carrier to build momentum. Obviously when the oppostion is able to slow the momentum, then the forwards need to be there to pick it up again, and allow maul to continue. Quick recycled ball will always cause gaps in a defence that is going backwards.
helllllloooooooooooooooooooooooo!!
hey, nee hel, soe kan mens mosie die naweek begin nie, is julle ouens te nugter om te blog of wat?
2 comments in meer as 1 uur
is darem nou regtig nie wat mens van ñ vrydag voor ñ toets verwag nie
of
is julle almal nou trug by voldy?
Good article. I have some thoughts on it, but I’m not going to comment on it right now. Will try and make time later today for that.
GO BOKKE!!!
@KingPaul – Baie insiggewende kommentaar hehehe
hellllllooooooooooooooooo GRS
hoe’s dinge?
@Ashley – 6
Hoezit Ash
Wonder of dit die spanning is wat die mense so stil maak vandag?
7@SA Barbarians –
nee ek weet rerig nie nie, sab
anyway dink ek ons gaan daai game (sa vs ab) gemaklik wen
die kiwis spoel al heelweek hulle bekke uit,
sooooooo
tyd om dit vir hulle toe te stop!!
jou prediction?
ek
weier
om met myself te praat!
@Ashley – Ek sit juis nou met Superbru oop om picks te maak.
Ek het nie ‘n goeie gevoeltenis in my lyf oor die game nie..
Nat veld, koue weer, vyandige skare, gekneusde Bokke…… Eish daar’s ‘n moerse fight aan die gang tussen my hart en my kop (dis nou my hoof)
@SA Barbarians – 12
Elke keer as my hart ‘n left jab uitsteek, kom my kop met ‘n moerse upper cut – fokkit my hart bloei vreeslik man! 🙂
Ek voel soos Pietman oor die game, dink die bokke gaan op hulle moer kry. Hulle wil mos in Aus bly waar daar meer is om te doen. Is dit dan ‘n social toer? Hulle het net ‘n bed ‘n tv en ‘n rugby veld nodig.
Ok , en ‘n kleinhuisie………..
@Ashley – kan dalk net ‘n inteligente gesprek wees
Great stuff i couldn’t agree more,however i don’t think it is SA players in general that make the mistakes or two reasons that you mentioned in rucking.Personally i think it is our loose trio,Guys like schalk, Juan and spies, they are all great players, but i feel that maybe they have been in the setup so long that they have forgotten what there jobs are.how often do you see the AB and AUS(best in the world at rucking and fast ball) flankers running first channel off there half back??? It doesn’t happen because they are in there doing there job making sure its a secure and fast service to their backline.i feel that a massive problem to our quick service and rucking is that we have half our forwards running first channel, when they should be in there digging and bleeding to secure that ball.. In MY OPINION this is why Brussow was noticed as quickly as he was, because he played such a different game and searched for the ball instead of waiting for it to come to him.
@Snoek – 14
Toe manne nog manne was, het ons Bokke sommer in die kleedkamer geslaap die aand voor die game.
En toe hule op die veld kom, is daar 20 000 duisend Kiwis wat hulle wil moer, plus ‘n dive bomber, plus Clive Norling….
@Sasquatch – 16
Yes, I agree with some of what you say. Too many of our forwards stand off the ruck, and we are outnumbered and muscled off the ball as a consequence
manne wees gerus
ons gaan die kiwis
op hul moer gee!
19@Ashley –
o,
en daai gedig se naam is
“die dag voor die game”
😀
praat ek alweer met myself?
yes, ashley, hoesit? lanklaas gesien?
22@Ashley –
nee ashley, kla nie jong
bietjie besig gewees
maar
nou’s ek trug!!
@Ashley – klomp treurige b(l)oggers hier vandag 😯
23@Ashley –
nee ashley jong
daais ma die lieeeewe
mens moet insit
vir dit wat jy wil uitkry!!
hehehe
24@K9-MonsterLeeu –
ek stem
@Ashley –
jaa,
soe werkit maar!!
hehehe
@Sasquatch –
You make a very good point and I agree with you.
I got the Boks down for a 21-17 loss tomorrow.
@K9-MonsterLeeu – 24
More K9
Hoop die Bokke was gister aangelog op RT
Jy en Ed het ‘n meesterlike demonstrasie gegee van cleaning the ruck! 🙂
@Morn̩ Рpretty much the same as me i reckon 25-19, and i only say that cause i know how crucial that BP is, the AB are going to go hard to prevent that happening, but hopefully the guys can suprise us and pull it off away from home..
@SA Barbarians – hahaha ja……cleaning RT of bloggers.
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