Fast footwork and dynamism
England have changed their playing style and will be a huge threat at the World Cup, writes Stuart Barnes.
ENGLAND have not only exploded back into contention for the Six Nations Grand Slam and the Rugby World Cup, they may be in the process of blowing away one of professional rugby’s ugliest inventions: the pod.
No, we are not talking about the invasion of the airways by the podcast, but those three-man units who stand just off a breakdown, take the ball statically and burrow, centimetre by tedious centimetre, towards the opposing tryline as the ball-carrier’s mates flop over his body (rarely penalised) and the halfback awaits the next three-man pod. Support players ‘‘latch’’ on to the carrier, defenders accumulate gigantic tackle counts simply by guarding a fringe that is not so much smashed into as slowly smothered. New words, big numbers, it must be good.
Effective too. Exeter Chiefs win games if not beauty prizes, Ireland picked and drove their podding way to a Grand Slam last year. Of course, there is much more to the games of the aforementioned sides, but from close range, sometimes it seems as though the sport is suffering paralysis by the new age of pod.
Then England – revived, resurgent and rampant – take their fans on a journey to the past. The second try against France was a great example. No five-minute spell of battling towards the tryline in 30 phases here. Manu Tuilagi takes a crash ball off the top of a lineout. England are hurtling forwards, France are in retreat.
George Kruis, a second row of many parts but not a ball-carrier of note, comes clattering from the previous contact, running from deep, flat out, not flat-footed. The flanker Tom Curry is next. France are struggling to stop the English momentum. Inevitably, Billy Vunipola has a crack. Standing a few metres back from the scrum half, the No 8 takes the ball on the gainline and uses some fancy footwork and dynamism to draw a few more French defenders.
Ben Youngs, the halfback, throws a pass to first-five Owen Farrell, who has switched direction and Jonny May bamboozles Damian Penaud, one against one on the wing, for the try. All in the blink of an eye. It’s direct, dynamic, it’s how the best teams played the game in the amateur era.
In the distant days, it was a given that forwards would sprint from deep on to the ball, to utilise their size. A hefty forward taking a pod pass on his heels is easier to stop than an lightweight prop at full tilt. However, the game has evolved and the point of the pod is to guarantee ‘‘secure’’ ball. The static carrier, the support latched on to his shoulder, when it’s done well, a la Ireland and Exeter, it’s hard to nullify. Phase after phase after phase after — you get the idea. For a neutral, it is deadly dull. The mobility and mass of England’s carrying, though, is not only galvanising for the neutral, it is fundamentally more threatening for the opposition. England are not looking for secure ball; they desire quick ball. There is plenty of talk about the disorganisation of the French back three, but when the priority is speed not security, there is less time to reorganise.
The essence of England’s reinvention this season has been the decision to focus on fast ball rather than secure ball. That is not to say that the pod has disappeared — but it is not the priority. The key game for England watchers was against New Zealand in November. The first 25 minutes were a masterclass of hard running by the forwards. The All Blacks were battered, sucked into the midfield areas England pummelled, and space was found for Chris Ashton out wide.
That momentum was maintained against Australia and has been carried through to the Six Nations, where England fans have seen a continuation of this athletic antidote to the pod. Coach Eddie Jones has his forwards coming from deep. It seems obvious that ball-carriers with momentum are more of a menace, but the trend of the three-man incremental attack changed the mindset of many a coach, not to mention player.
Until you understand that secure ball is rated more important than speed of ball, the flatfooted nature of forward play is one of rugby’s great mysteries. Jones hasn’t done anything new. He has merely reverted to an old style that suits England and their host of hard men. Opposing teams – the very best – find England a difficult proposition to check. They have size and footwork. Again, nothing new.
In the early 1990s, Dave Alred, a former fullback turned elite performance coach, helped us amateurs at Bath. He had spent time in the NFL and paid attention to drills that worked on the speed of foot for the game’s Goliaths. I recall our forwards, stood on the goal-line, doing little tippy-toe drills until Alred gave the order to run. Primitive, but in place a quarter of a century ago.
Running hard, making space, it seemed obvious to us, but we didn’t conceive the pod. Why slow the game down? Of course, an amateur team didn’t have the time to master the multi-phases of a sophisticated Exeter team. However, the logic of the amateur still, I think, rings true. The fewer phases needed to score, the less risk of a defender doing something to stop it.
THE TIMES, LONDON