What I learnt from watching rugby league

As time has gone on, I have looked at other sports like rugby league and the detail involved in what allows attacks to create momentum.

I worked with NRL great Andrew Johns in Melbourne and met Sean Long while he was at Salford and I was at Sale Sharks. A five-minute phone call with Sean will teach you so much. He has an unbelievable brain.

Precision is essential in rugby union. If you are a couple of steps out, you are late to a ruck and the ball is getting turned over. In the same way, if I am at the line and one of my runners is slightly off with their timing, they are not a viable option any more. That then puts the guy out the back in trouble.

Wherever the play is, everyone has a role and it becomes about committing to that role as best you can. Everyone has a value. There is no such thing as a decoy line. A lot of coaches still use that terminology but everyone has to be a genuine option.

You have to understand everybody’s value within a play. Take an example, when someone is on the ball, a team-mate is running a short option and someone else is out the back. If one of those players does not quite execute their role, someone else is going to pay.

That is not always physically difficult. The challenge is staying in tune mentally, staying connected and involved rather than thinking a few plays ahead. Because if you execute that play well and you get momentum, the picture changes. You are on the front foot and the defence has to react. It is crucial to understand that.

Someone might run a short ball 10 times and get the ball twice. But those two times, if they have committed properly, they are in a gap.