Six appeal
McGeechan on return of wow factor
Refereeing
No game can survive unsympathetic refereeing unscathed, and the glut of good games is a sign that this year it is the referees’ positive approach and determination to allow the game to flow. If players have been more accurate than ever, there has been far less unnecessary whistling, with a corresponding increase in the game’s continuity and entertainment value.
There are two really obvious examples of where referees have used their common sense and resisted the impulse to wet their whistles. The first is at the scrum, where they have allowed – indeed, often urged – scrumhalves to use the ball when it is at the No 8’s feet and readily available, even if the front rows have gone down.
Similarly, last year many referees would abide by the letter of the law and ping the tackler at the breakdown if he was unable to escape and was in the vicinity of the ball when the opposing scrum-half was trying to pass from the base of the ruck.
Often the opposing player would not move because one of the attacking players would hold him in place; it is a transparent but very effective ploy to get a penalty, and thankfully referees this year have tended to ignore the offence unless the player is deliberately trying to impede quick release of the ball.
There has also been a greater consistency of interpretation, while the level of communication from referees has increased exponentially. When players are warned they are about to be pinged for offside or killing the ball, fewer offences occur and the ball spends much more time in play and there are far more phases of play, leading to more tries. There have been some real standout performances, such as Jaco Peyper for Scotland’s visit to Paris, and Romain Poite when Ireland visited Murrayfield but, for me, the best was France’s Jérôme Garcès, whose handling of the England v Wales pressure-cooker game was so adroit that it was 23 minutes before the first scrum. That says it all.
Speed of ball at breakdown
The fetishisation of quick ball above all else has revolutionised this year’s championship. The average yardage of each carry may have gone down slightly, with players now going to ground as soon as they hit that brick wall rather than trying to power through, but that has allowed players to look after the ball better, be closer to their support and to produce more quick ball than ever. Quick ball often means close defences are out of alignment and, if there are gaps, people have gone for them. But if not, they have concentrated on producing more quick ball by picking and going as quickly as possible, hoping that eventually there will be a mismatch where a big forward will find himself running at a back, or a back such as Finn Russell – who made two tries against France by finding himself one-onone with a prop and stepping round them – will find himself faced by one of the heavy brigade.
The accuracy of players and more sympathetic approach of referees are two reasons for the quick ball and enormous 20-phase passages of play, but there have also been important technical changes. The main one is that the first two attacking players to arrive at the tackle are now targeting the defenders as they arrive, clearing away the first defenders into the ruck and leaving the third attacker in to secure the ball. This is why the jackal has almost disappeared. It also creates far quicker and cleaner ball.
Accuracy of passing
Quick ball is the father of creativity, as this championship has amply proved. There have been so many instances in which the forwards have found their way barred by well-organised and disciplined fringe defences that can withstand even the fastest recycling, and often that is the point at which the ball is moved wide and tries have been scored. Quick ball puts the attacking side on the front foot and, if combined with accuracy of passing, it allows the ball to be moved into the wide channels so much more quickly than the back rows can cover across that we are now seeing more one-on-one match-ups out wide than ever. Those pure confrontations are wonderful to watch and increase the quality of the spectacle so much.
This accuracy of passing is great for the best players in our game, and it is no surprise that Stuart Hogg has scored three tries, or that fast, creative players such as Elliot Daly and Liam Williams have been able to make a real impact. Indeed, two of Hogg’s tries have come from pinpoint passes that have come within a hair’s breadth of being intercepted.
There are two other points I would like to make about how the quality of passing is having a positive impact on games. The first is that many forwards – whisper it, even props – now have the skills to whip the ball out from the base of a ruck if the scrum-half is wrapped up, and we have seen that happen time and again.
Also, the distributive skills of what the Kiwis would call our five-eighths – the flyhalf and inside centre – are excellent and they are being encouraged by their coaches to move the ball. If you have got an inside centre such as Owen Farrell, who provides great options further out, the ball tends to go through his hands, whereas if you have got a big banger at inside centre then the miss-pass from the standoff is the quickest way to open up the wide options, which is what we have seen with the partnership between Scotland’s Russell and his outside centre Huw Jones, who has lovely distribution off both hands and has been a key reason for Scotland’s high try count.
Variety of carriers
New Zealand are always three years ahead of anyone else and, when they were beaten by Ireland, a key explanation was that they missed the carries and go-forward provided by their second-row pairing of Sam Whitlock and Brodie Retallick so badly. One of the reasons that this Six Nations has been so impressive is that we have seen this and are catching up.
The quality of ball carrying by the back rows, in general, but the second rows, in particular, has been absolutely outstanding, with the front rows also lending a hand. It is now so common for forwards to carry that the few who do not in the Six Nations – such as England’s Dan Cole – are conspicuous because of it. In the way that the All Blacks select guys such as Ben Franks and Dane Coles despite their scrummaging rather than because of it, ball-carrying is now often the single biggest factor in selection for second rows in particular.
All of a sudden we have a remarkable generation of locks who are fantastic ball-carriers. England have four of them, with Joe Launchbury the pick so far; Scotland have two outstanding exponents in the Gray brothers; Wales have Alun Wyn Jones and Jake Ball; France’s two monsters put in incredible shifts against England and Scotland; I like Ireland’s Iain Henderson, who has been playing back row for Ulster all season, and even Devin Toner – who is hardly a natural ball-carrier – has proved very effective.
This explosion in the number of possible ball-carriers means that when quick ball is won from a ruck it is immediately taken on, while the locks are also appearing in midfield, too.
At last we have got a wealth of options because we have got five packs where most, if not all, of the players can carry and pass (sadly, Italy have been left behind in almost all regards this season). Sides are no longer basing their tight forwards around the scrum; as long as they have parity at the scrum, the mobility and handling that make for good ball-carriers are now
the main selection criteria.
Defence, attack positioning
One of the secrets to the success of the All Blacks is the way they get back into position more quickly than anyone else when defending and attacking. In defence this means they keep their shape better than anyone else, and in attack this means that they are more likely to have a man on their shoulder for the offload that the opposition. The teams in this Six Nations have begun to approach those standards on a regular basis. This brings a greater accuracy to proceedings and means that you get a lot more one-on-ones out wide, which is why the top players are beginning to shine through. Along with the quicker recycling of ball, it also means that there are greater phases as players wait for mismatches to occur. In their game against Scotland, France’s first try came after 18 phases, which the French teams of old would never have done: the Scots did not miss a tackle but France got back into their attacking positions really quickly, waited for gaps to appear and finally scored without Scotland actually having missed a tackle.
Many forwards – whisper it, even props – now have the skills to whip the ball out from base of a ruck