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Beating the Drift

It was like a breath of fresh air watching Malakai Fekitoa step in to the second five eighth spot for the All Blacks against Argentine and immediately add a new dimension to their attacking play. In fact the skills displayed by Fekitoa would suggest that this is his position in future test matches.

The big plus was his ability to straighten the attack and cause the defence to hold on him, thus creating greater opportunity for those around him. Of course he had the speed and strength to test their 1 v 1 tackling as well.feki.jpg

The best way to understand what it takes to do this is to watch the game footage and isolate the important aspects. Some of the key factors to look for include: receiving the ball out in front; carrying the ball in two hands; scanning the opposition prior to receiving the ball;  immediately looking forward after receiving the pass; stepping on his outside leg to straighten towards the tackler coming in to his channel; accelerating quickly to hold the tackler; carry the ball in two hands; releasing the pass as the defenders hesitate.

Whatever you pick up make a note of it, devise a drill that will help develop the skill, and start practicing.

Using the game clock, there is an instance at 24 minutes where Fekitoa is the first receiver from a midfield ruck. He looks up, straightens and accelerates, and times his pass well. Fortunately Conrad Smith ran straight as well (which he inevitably does) and had an inside passing option (Israel Dagg) and an outside option (Ben Smith) . With Ben Smith receiving and running a line at the defenders inside shoulder it created space on the outside which Dagg used on the wrap and scored the try.

It was fortunate that each of the four players all did the right thing for the situation which thus ended up in a try. It would be an idea to create a drill that sets up this sort of situation with a 4 v 3 and practice it often enough so that the attackers score more often than not.

Around the 28 minute mark you will spot two more instances of Fekitoa straightening the attack.

At the 33 minute mark Fekitoa receives from Beauden Barrett, holds the defence by straightening and speeding up; he then chip kicks and recovers, with two more rucks following before Barrett grubber kicks through only for Julian Savea to be called back for being in front of the ball.

The main aspect here is that against a flat line defence two kicks which were both recovered did the trick. If you develop your drill to say 5 v 4 then kicking could be introduced. Get your wide runners running in on an angle to gather the ball.

A Richie McCaw fend would also be a handy tool for your appropriate players. You can view this at 42 minutes. Study the technique and include it in your drill.

There were several other patterns in the game devised to beat the drift and they could be worth a look.

At 11 minutes as 10 received 12 started a wide drift; 11 and 13 ran straight lines which held defenders, the pass went across 11 & 13 to 12 (Fekitoa again); 12 stopped his sideways run, straightened, accelerated forward ( which held the defence) and passed to 15 who had space and 14 on his outside. This left only one defender who was obviously under a great deal of pressure.

Of course everyone had to get their timing right so that the defence was held up, but once again Fekitoa was the key. The All Blacks did this again at the 20 minute mark but the blindside winger was not in the line (he was back a few metres) and so Fekitoa got tackled.

The Argentinians came up with a good play which they used a couple of times and it proved to be effective. In fact they really should have scored at the 30 minute point.

At a lineout the back two dropped off with the ball thrown to the front. 9 then passed to the closest of the two forwards with the second forward looking to receive from his mate and drifting out slightly to create space between the two and pull the defender across. At the crucial time as the ball carrier made his pass the blindside winger, who was running behind the ball carrier and obviously obscured to the defence, popped in to the hole and received a short pass on the burst. This created a huge space in behind the All Blacks, but which they were able to scramble out of.

When you look at this you could work out who should have been in support so that the Argentinians could score.

If you get the chance to watch Fekitoa then analyse what he is doing so that you can have more and more players in your team using these skills. Make up the necessary drills, teach the main points and practice hard. Your coaching phrase could be: “ Run at your opponent first-then decide”.