How those dark alleys can help Premiership teams see the light

Hpost-lockdown games have shown the best way to break opponents down is by heading up the short side

Based on the games we have seen so far in this Covid-affected season, dark side alleys and tight blindsides are back in vogue across the rugby world.

We have seen lung-busting passages of play, but it is going to take time for match fitness in our leagues to catch up with the early rounds of Super Rugby Aotearoa. When Super Rugby Australia kicked off a few weeks after the Kiwis, it felt like we were watching some pub teams compared to those across the Tasman.

The English teams will not hit the ground running, either. March was a long time ago, bodies have had plenty of time with no contact, training has been very different and weight will have been an issue – maintaining it for some in terms of muscle mass; keeping it off for others in terms of body fat.

Referees are also set to play a key role, not least in how they have been applying the long-standing ruck laws in the southern hemisphere. They have been very diligent. Any player arriving at the ruck off their feet, coming in from the side or anywhere near an offside line, was pinged off the park early on in New Zealand and this set the tone.

After a round of adjustment, the net result was a breakdown you could only dream of pre-lockdown. The pace of the game has increased, as has the time the ball has spent in play. Referees do not want pile-ups and are quick to call “tackle” if a ball-carrier’s knee gets within the same postcode as the ground, forcing tacklers to release and allowing the ball to be recycled quickly.

Again, the net effect is that “ball in play” time is up. One of the trade-offs to all this quick ball is that defences have smartened up their act at the breakdown and understood that they must be patient for the jackal or turnover attempt. The benefit of the doubt is to the attacking team, so we are seeing a drop in the number of players committing to breakdowns, on both sides.

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The upside is fast ball and a precisely refereed breakdown. The downside is that there are huge numbers of players on their feet and in defensive lines.

To mitigate this, referees have been super harsh on the offside line. Even so, the defensive organisation is so good that when the ball is in the wide channels and on the flanks, players are

proving to be insanely fast at shutting down the outside channels and breaks, even when they are outnumbered.

Which brings me to my point about blindsides and dark alleys. Faced with this aggressive defence and with quick ball, the best chance you have of breaking down a team’s organisation is by heading up the short side. But why?