The coaching manual tells us (or certainly it should) that there are two types of defence – organised and disorganised. An attacking team needs to disorganise a defence to then penetrate. Some players look outstanding against a broken defence and yet are seemingly becalmed by an organised defence. Carlos Spencer (the former New Zealand fly half, 10) and Brian O’Driscoll (the Ireland outside centre, 13) are two such examples.
Of course, I’m not saying that Spencer and O’Driscoll are poor players. Players at all levels find it difficult to play against a strong defensive line. The reason is that they have little opportunity to find even the little space they need to weave their magic.
And herein lies the problem. Let’s say you have a player who can be a great game breaker. Do you give them the ball and expect them to achieve the break every time they receive it?
More realistically, teams need to disorganise a defence before they can expect to use the game breakers to the best effect. This means using tactics to probe defences with big runners, or stretching defences by playing the ball wide. However, the best tip is to keep your backs, and more essentially the game breakers, “on their feet”.
That is, don’t let them go into rucks and mauls or take up crash balls. Instead, let team-mates work off them until the chances appear.
If you’re looking for more ways to make the most of your game breakers, then my Rugby Attack! manual could be the answer. Containing 27 pre-prepared plays, Rugby Attack! will help you produce co-ordinated attacks that suit your team’s strengths and target weaknesses in the opposition.
Understand how to create then take advantage of 3 v 2s by isolating and splitting the two defenders. The chaotic starts mean more options and decisions for all the players involved. MORE
Create attacking shape, where forwards understand where they are supposed to run to support the next phase of play. The groups of forwards are called pods and need to work together. MORE
Should an attack be successful at a 2 v 1 every time? At the top level, most of the time you would have thought, yet you would be surprised how often they fail.
Add in another attacker and defender, or even two attackers and one defender, and that ratio of success drops very quickly.
But it is still a golden opportunity to make ground and even score. So, you need to increase the success rate, and you do this by creating as many scenarios as you can. MORE
Get your players in place quickly to attack at pace from the next ruck in this simple realignment activity.
Creating and keeping depth in an attacking line running onto the ball at pace and still have space and time to pass. MORE
Set up this problem for your players to solve and the solution might turn into a play. The extra attacker arrives from behind the front line and looks to attack different gaps.
The hidden third attacker can create space for the ball carrier and front line support player as the defenders might be drawn to potential threats. MORE
