If you’ve not bookmarked Rugby Dump, click the link and do so now! It’s a great site which features highlights from around the rugby world every few days, and I’m glad to see one sub-set – on the history of rugby – finally be completed recently. In particular, I wanted to post the last two segments which feature England under Clive Woodward (coach from 1997-2004). I’ll write about him later, as I’ve just started his autobiography, but having witnessed his rough early days to the wonderfully constructed World Cup winning team of 2003, it was hard not to support them as they were so clinical. If you didn’t get a chance to see them, there are some great clips below.
It’s been a while since I watched England footage from this era, and especially when I compare it to lacklustre England teams of late, I’d forgotten how exciting they can be! The stereotype was that they traditionally trampled the ball forward a few metres at a time via the forwards and relied heavily on the boot of ace kicker Jonny Wilkinson. I think, however, these highlights will show some things they were also wonderful at what legendary Loughborough coach Jim Greenwood called ‘Total Rugby’. [His two books a MUST for any coach, and someone that Woodward credits for opening his eyes to a better, more dynamic style of rugby.]
Things to watch for in these clips:
1. Forwards carrying powerfully, with support. Ball being moved away from the tackle contest (ruck / maul) QUICKLY, before defenders have time to re-align. Forwards also getting involved in the back line, effectively passing rather than ‘dying’ with the ball in contact when there’s space and men to spare.
2. Balls being passed just before or from contact – to someone who’s almost definitely calling for it (not thrown away in hopes someone will be there), maintaining the continuity which NEVER ALLOWS the defence to get organised. These runners are also taking the offloads very close to the line and running through spaces at pace.
3. Passes being put IN FRONT of runners so they do not have to adjust their speed. Wilkinson’s famous for his boot, but he has a lovely long pass, as does Greenwood, Catt and Healey. EARLY / DEEP PASSES allow the speedsters time and space to take any line they choose and LATE / FLAT put people through the gaps.
4. Support runners hitting the line at pace, with PERFECT TIMING. Support runners also ALTER ANGLE OF RUNNING to take advantage of defenders out of position or not focused on what’s going on around them. (This one isn’t as obvious to someone who’s never considered how running angles work before, so have a look at any of their tries which seems to come from a change of angle, rewind and assess: a) Which defender should have picked up that player? and b) Where were their eyes and hips facing? It’s often that they’re looking inward, at where the ball came from, and not forward, in alignment and in communication with their team mates, focused on the threats in front of them and trusting their team mates close to the ball.) These are great opportunities to take advantage of Unders / Overs lines and tell the ball carrier you’re doing so, thus making his/her job of distribution easier!
Jonny’s still a great fly half, but that team benefited from having quite a few intelligent, tactically minded players around him who made the entire team smarter and more aware. If you didn’t get to see them the first time around, I hope you enjoy watching them as much as I did – and do again!
