Slice with 12 and 13

Balanced centre partnerships often feature one good distributor and another powerful ball-carrier at 12 and 13.

There is a simple and productive pattern to get the most out of your resources with this arrangement, commonly called the ‘slice’.

As the ball is delivered from the set piece (typically a lineout) your 12 and 13 ‘slice’ across each other’s running lines. 

The distributing 12 shifts from their inside position towards the far corner flag, and the powerful 13 cuts back from out-to-in on a line towards the set piece.

See two almost identical examples below: one in a Scotland v Wales Six Nations game in 2005, and England’s Autumn 2012 match against New Zealand.

There are some key points here:

• Outside back support: Both examples feature an outside back running in support, as the 13 receives the ball on their ‘unders’ line (running towards the pass).In the Wales game, Kevin Morgan (15) starts well outside Tom Shanklin (13) and bends his run back in to get on his outside shoulder. In the England example, Chris Ashton (14) starts inside Manu Tuilagi (13), before moving out into the same support position, as Tuilagi makes contact with the first defender.
• Timing the slice: When the ball reaches the 10, both 12 and 13 are in line and can run opposite lines (see top illustration).
• The wide option: If the defence tightens in the 10 channel, your distributing centre can work the wide channel. In this case, 13 would be used as a decoy, with the pass from 10 to 12 going either in front of, or behind, the decoy (see middle illustration).
• Targeting the 10 channel: If the defence opens up, put your strongest ball carrier (13) against their weakest defender, who is normally defending in the 10 channel. The 10 feeds 13, with 12 acting as a decoy runner (see bottom illustration).