More tactical rugby coaches will often 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 in defence

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.

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 the backs moves on the site, such as dummy switch miss (DSM), split miss and split hit.

Click here to look at your attacking options when the opposition winger is standing back from the defence.