It’s the good life now for the family Yapp
On a sheep farm in Shropshire, NEALE HARVEY talks to Tony Yapp and his sister Jo about their careers in men’s and women’s rugby
“I like 50:22 because it will create space and opportunities to run”
Renowned kicking guru Tony Yapp is fully behind controversial plans to introduce new 50:22 kicking laws – believing they will revolutionise rugby and create a better spectacle.
World Rugby officials are next month due to discuss extending the trials of the new laws which see a side throw into a lineout if they bounce the ball into touch beyond the opposition 22 from behind halfway, or beyond halfway from behind their own 22.
Born out of a player welfare imperative to reduce the risk of concussion by reducing the number of tackle events, 50:22 laws have already been trialled in Australia’s National Rugby Championship, with World Rugby describing early indications as “very positive”.
While sceptics fear a glut of kicking may ruin the game, former Exeter fly-half Yapp, who works with legendary kick specialist Dave Alred, told The
Rugby Paper: “I like the idea because it will give you more kicking options and create more opportunities to attack.
“People will naturally think it will just lead to more kicking, but, actually, it’s going to create more space and more opportunities to run because teams will have to leave more players in backfield to cover both touchlines, which will give more opportunities ball in hand.
“If people defend with more players in the line it leaves them vulnerable behind, not just for teams to kick, but for them to kick with real intent knowing they can get the ball back.”
Yapp added: “I see that as a real positive and something has to change just to keep defence coaches guessing and create more opportunities. For attacking coaches, it will allow you opportunities to exploit this new space and make the most of talented players.
“It will create running opportunities, which will make the game more exciting. If the opposition have three players back and their forwards are tied up, you’ll see more teams running from deep and more broken field running, which is what people want to see.”
Yapp wears many hats as he contemplates life in lockdown while assisting his parents and sister Jo with lambing several hundred ewes on their Shropshire farm.
As well as his work with the School of Kicking, Yapp coaches at Exeter University and Blundell’s School in Tiverton and was recently able to celebrate his tenth year as director of rugby at Taunton Titans by steering them into National One – their highest ever level.
“We’re very pleased with that,” says Yapp. “Some people say it’s been a long time coming but if you break it down from where we started, when the club was in a bit of a mess, we’ve been keen to put solid foundations in place and work through slowly.
“It’s been a case of creating the right squad, but also putting the club on the right footing and making the off-field business successful as well.
“In some respects, we’ve been victims of our own success a bit because we’ve brought through players like Sam Skinner, Jake Woolmore, Dan Frost, Dan Lee and Will Carrick-Smith and seen them move to a higher level – we’re a bit of a shop window in that respect – but we’re proud of the facilities and club we’ve created here and will build on that.”
As for his relationship with Jonny Wilkinson’s great kicking mentor Alred, Yapp, who notched over 1,800 points for Exeter in 173 appearances, helping pave the way for their eventual promotion to the Premiership, explains: “I’ve known Dave for 12 years and myself and his son, Stuart, used to do a lot of kicking practice together when he was at Exeter Uni.
“We founded the School of Kicking because it’s an area of the game that’s so important, but I think is under-coached from grassroots right the way through. The opportunity to link up with Dave was great because he’s got a wealth of knowledge from working with the best kickers – and still is with the likes of George Ford and Johnny Sexton under his wing.
“I work with Munster’s JJ Hanrahan and the England Women’s U20s side as well as other clients, so it’s very satisfying to help all those players progress.”
As for life on the farm, Yapp, 42, adds: “My sister Jo and I grew up on the farm as kids and then went off playing rugby, but it’s always nice coming back and with it being a busy time of year with all the lambing, it’s actually been good to help out.”