Fisher tears up Gloucester play-list to introduce a new attacking vibe
GLOUCESTER have made “dramatic changes” to their attacking style, with head coach Laurie Fisher admitting a lack of potency with ball in hand was his side’s “Achilles heel” last season.
Fisher and director of rugby David Humphreys made overhauling the attack their summer priority after a poor return last term.
Gloucester scored 36 tries in 22 league matches last season – the same number as relegated London Irish and just two more than the side that scored the fewest, Newcastle Falcons.
Backs and attack coach Nick Walshe left the club in May, with former Gloucester fly-half Tim Taylor promoted from the academy to be firstteam backs boss.
The West Country side kick off their campaign on Friday when they welcome Leicester, and Fisher says his backline will be aiming to be a different proposition.
“We want to be more attack-minded this year,” Fisher, right, told TRP. “If the space is there to run out of our own end, we want to be able to see that space and back our skills to do it. We’ve made some fairly dramatic changes to our attacking game, which was probably our Achilles heel last year.
“We want to be able to challenge sides with ball in hand rather than giving them ball and having to defend our way into a game. It’s definitely quite a change of emphasis for us.
“I think we were a bit conservative last season. There were reasons for that – the Kingsholm pitch deteriorated quite quickly so it was difficult to be too expansive, and we had a lot of wet and windy nights.
“But I don’t think we had it in our game anyway so we’ve rejigged and decided we’ll take our attack down a different route this year.
“Gloucester’s traditionally a side that has a strong forward focus and we’re not losing that, but I think we’ve got talent we need to spread across the park.”
To help the Gloucester backline fulfil its potential, Taylor, who has held a number of coaching roles at Kingsholm since a knee injury forced him to retire in 2014, has focused on finetuning basic skills and on-field decisionmaking.
“I’ve tried to get the boys to see what needs fixing and to fix it themselves,” said the former fly-half. “A big focus has been top-end skill work – catch-and-pass, high ball catch, and kicking. If we can get those right then we can build our attack philosophy.
“I’d love the boys to attack to their full potential and not hold anything back. But to do that they’ve got to know their roles in detail.”
With international speedsters Jonny May and Charlie Sharples out wide, Gloucester do not lack zip or proven try-scorers. But Fisher says Gloucester need more variety to complement improved core skills.
“We’re trying to have more options, to fill the field a bit better so we are challenging defences more to defend the whole pitch,” said the Australian, in his third season at Gloucester.
“You’ve got to get your skills right. Raw pace is great but it’s all those rugby skills you need – the lines, the timing, the ability to hold your feet, to catch and pass. Speed itself will give you nothing. “We’re a work in progress there but we understand where we need
to get better.”