Decisions on the Run

A couple of articles back (Making Off Ball Decisions) outlined the processes each player needed to go through so that he could make good decisions after his immediate involvement or if he was not immediately taking part in the play.  Of course the game is not as simple as all that and there are many more aspects that need to be tied together.

The start of the second All Black versus England test match in Dunedin threw together three long sequences of play where the attacking side was unable to score due to the fact that the defences were very aggressive and still fresh at this time, but there were also a number of factors that as a coach you could look at and make a plan on how to improve things next time.

The first real opportunity for the English side was when they charged down an All Black clearing kick by Aaron Smith and regathered the ball. Two well-timed passes were made infield as the All Blacks scrambled back before England forced a ruck on the tryline.  Quick ball was retained.

Unfortunately Danny Care passed to the short side where there was only one attacking player up against several defenders. This highlighted one of the most difficult aspects to coach, which is scanning (looking around) before arriving at the ruck so that the best choice can be made.

As the coach you could make up some simple drills for your halfback in particular, but also the other players so that they are forced to look around before arriving at the ball or whilst they are waiting for the ball. TUB'ing is the key as mentioned in the previous article. (Them-Us-Ball)

Slowish ball was retained and a deep pass was made to Owen Farrell at first receiver. Because of his depth and by passing straight away Farrell was not a threat to the defence and they were able to quickly drift out and concentrate on the remaining attackers.

So what could have Farrell done better?  If you think about every player having to be a threat Farrell needed to be wider and flatter so that even if he passed the ball straight away he would had committed a tackler in his channel. Also, you could ask the question of whether Care at halfback needed to run a few paces to draw in a defender, before passing back to Farrell.

Farrell's long pass then went deepish to Billy Twelvetrees who also threw a similar pass to Luther Burrell, so by this stage no back had threatened the defence and held them up in any way. Burrell took the ball in to contact where both Conrad Smith and Ma'a Nonu were able to put a tackle in.

If both Twelvetrees and Burrell could have been lining up squarer on their opponents and waiting momentarily before running on to the ball and with some closer support then this phase would have been a lot more threatening.

When you arrive at this point it is worth analysing what has happened and then devising a plan on how to improve the whole structure and thinking processes, so that there is a greater possibility of scoring from this phase.

Go back to the ruck initiated on the All Black tryline. Who was in this?  Where did they go from the ruck? Could any of these forwards have sat in behind Farrell for the next phase?  If a player was there he could have acted as a shoulder runner on Farrell and definitely held the defender in close as the ball was passed wide.

Was there a player from this ruck who could have headed to midfield and sat in behind Burrell? If he was there and Burrell had been wider and squarer on to the opposition whilst waiting before he ran on to the ball to receive with good vision, enough space and on a more direct angle to once again hold the defenders, then this player could have chosen an inside or outside shoulder to burst on to either as a decoy or a penetrative runner.

Fortunately for England Burrell was strong enough to get a pass away in the tackle so that Yarde was able to go forward a little further, draw in more defenders to the area, and win a ruck on the 5 metre line in from touch.

With the All Blacks having to scramble so hard, as the ball was passed from Care to Farrell once again, going back in the opposite direction, there were ten English players from the 15 metre line across the field up against seven All Blacks.

The decision making and accurate execution at this next phase now becomes absolutely crucial if you want your team to score. Set up these scenarios at training and run through them time after time so that you can make a plan, practice the techniques and get used to making decisions on the run. Start with a game of 10 v 7.

The attackers needed to threaten the close defender/s and get the ball to a group that had at least 8 against 6 or preferably five. Unfortunately three players ran forward of the ball all in one group as the ball was passed behind them.

This action only held one defender but used up three Englishmen. Maybe two players running through and not too close together so that one defender could not cover them both would have been the answer, or a flat pass to the first runner with another supporting player on his shoulder, who then passes back to the initial passing player who is wrapping around, would have been a more threatening option.

The third player who ran through would have then been available to carry out this action in the next passing and running phase, or he may have been used as a close runner on the shoulder of the ball carrier.

However, at this stage England still had a numerical advantage, but with the defence drifting backwards waiting for the inside defenders to arrive.  The back still in the line needed to straighten, accelerate and threaten a gap to hold at least one more tackler and allow his remaining players the room to work.

The last three attackers in the line were three tight forwards who had been waiting their turn after attending the ruck near that sideline and unfortunately for them after receiving an early pass they did not have a speedster or explosive player able to make best use of this situation and so a tackle was taken where the All Blacks counter rucked and turned the ball over.

Their job at this stage would have been to keep the ball so the team could stretch the opposition to the far side once again. It was not to be. In fact it must have been hugely disappointing that a great opportunity was lost.

So how do you coach these important phases in the game? Firstly you need a clear picture in your mind, so there needs to be video footage from end on. If a video is not available then a few photos need to be taken so that the positioning on the field is recorded. Go through these pictures with your players and discuss the opportunities that could be created and make a plan on how you are going to do this.

Look at each individual separately. Where are you now? What is your role? Could you take up a better position?  Where would that be? Why would you do this? What are you going to do and where are you heading to after this involvement? How are you going to be a threat? Are you too deep? Are you too close? Did you run too soon? There are 101 questions that can head you in to making a good plan and execution.

Making one simple plan so that your team carry out that play at phase with everyone knowing exactly where to go and what to do should be the kick off point. Use your imagination. Once it is in place and everyone is comfortable then fine tune the actions and increase the variation of options.

Did your decoy run go too early or too late? Were you running in the best channel to create problems? As the ball carrier did you create a threat before the pass by stepping and running inwards, catching the defenders eye, goose-stepping and going, changing pace, carrying the ball in two hands?

The ideas are endless and the team will have a lot of fun devising what they think they should do.