Coaching opportunities in the Super Rugby Final [NO SPOILERS!]

Good morning everyone! It’s 9 AM here in South Africa, and the country has been buzzing all week about the Super Rugby final. Everyone expects SBW to make some incredible offloads, Bismarck du Plessis and his brother Jannie to do hard work at the breakdown, and for Aaron Cruden and Freddy Michalak to be their usual mercurial selves.

Because I have the luxury of watching the game live at a reasonable hour, though, we at GrowRugby had an interesting idea. Rather than blogging about the match as a whole, I will be trying to do the GrowRugby project justice and note 4-5 potential teaching moments that players and coaches might keep in mind as they watch the game at a later time. Later on, we will do our best to track down and embed video clips into this post so that coaches can show these moments to their players on demand.

ONE NOTE BEFORE WE BEGIN: There will be absolutely NO SPOILERS in the points that follow. Having watched my share of delayed finals (France/NZ in 2011 comes to mind immediately), I know how frustrating rugby spoilers can be. I won’t note the score, just the minute in the match that the moment occurred. I won’t note if the action led to a try, and I won’t even identify the part of the field on which the action happened unless it is absolutely necessary to do so (e.g. Kerr-Barlow executes a perfect box kick under intense pressure on his own 5 meter line). I’ll also do my best to keep the observations on an even keel so that it is as difficult as possible to tell which team is playing better.

It’s almost time for kickoff now, so here we go!

1) Even in the first 10 minutes, keep your eye on two facets of the Sharks’ defensive game. The first: they tackle in pairs whenever possible. This allows them to control the point of attack more effectively, and take front foot ball away from the Chiefs. There’s a great example of this in an early tackle on SBW. The second: see how often the Sharks counter the Chiefs’ ruck. They only do it when 1) they get there very early and feel confident they can steal the ball, or 2) if the Chiefs are playing especially slowly and there is ample time for the backline to get organized. The reason that they counterruck to such a limited extent is that doing so minimizes the loss of the second defender in the tackle, conserves energy, and allows for more support players on the defensive line.

2) Excellent example of an efficient and effective ruck clean out by Brodie Retallick of the Chiefs at about 17:30. Because he wrapped up his man and drove him well back, he gave Kerr-Barlow (his scrumhalf) quick and clean ball, and put his backs on the front foot.

3) One of the notable features of the NZ Super Rugby teams is that they don’t just demand that their wings “look for work,” they demand it of their props as well. Near the end of the first half, the Chiefs’ prop Taumalolo had two good carries out on the wing (where he was able to put pressure on the outside backs of the Sharks). Though one might want to argue that he found himself out there by chance, it is more likely that the organization and quality of Super Rugby structures allowed him to be creative and out on the wing in the first place. Props know their responsibilities; they are drilled into their heads at every available opportunity. Contrast his play, for example, with that of Tendai Mtawarira of the Sharks, whose takes of the ball fit with a conventional South African mode of prop play.

4) Watch the Chief’s Craig Clarke at about the 43rd minute as he shows the value of taking a ball and compromising meters for possession. In what was almost certainly a called move, Clarke fell to the ground almost a meter behind his gain line (and before he met contact). Doing so allowed his supporting ruckers to quickly clear out the prospective tackler and made it possible for Clarke to present the ball smoothly and simply. Some teams run similar plays off of tap penalties, and Clarke demonstrates its utility in open play as well.

5) Pay attention to Charl McLeod (scrumhalf of the Sharks) when he is defending a Chief’s scrum. There are two times in the second half, right around 56 minutes and again at 76, when he single-handedly disrupts Kane Thompson’s pick off them back of the scrum. Point out McLeod’s aggressive play could serve as a good lesson to young scrumhalves about not leaving it to the loose forwards to take on the 8-man. Not only does McLeod have access to the ball before Thompson can fully control it, he also has the luxury of making contact with Thompson before he is able to build up  full head of steam.

What did you see that young players might learn from the game? Please share your thoughts, sans spoilers!

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