Pendulum swings to running game
Pendulum swings to running game
COULD there possibly be a greater leap of optimism than to entrust our hopes for a thrilling and successful Super 14 season to those professional nitpickers who make up the SANZAR panel of referees?
Referees, to be fair, are merely the executioners, not the framers of the laws that have introduced the death penalty to rugby. Still, many of them go about their grisly work with altogether too much zeal.
But now, faced with the very real danger their unseemly enthusiasm might kill off the game in the southern hemisphere, SANZAR has ordered its referees to undergo a mind-shift that is the rugby equivalent of what Samoan motorists went through last September, when overnight they swapped from driving on the right-hand side of the road to the left.
Last year, the prevailing mindset in Super rugby was that virtually all the rights lay with the defending side. Any attacking player isolated in the tackle, even for a moment, could expect to be penalised. Possession came to be seen as a liability and the safest option was to hoof the ball downtown where it became the opposition's problem.
Now, in a moment of supposed enlightenment, all those rights have become wrong. Initially, the shift in mindset was a subtle one: the tackler would be required to roll away and resume his feet without interfering with the tackled player, who is to be given far more leniency in playing the ball.
But over the past week, following the release of a "letter of clarification" from referees to coaches, the shift has taken on seismic proportions.
It is not just the tackler on the ground who is required to unhand his prey. The same now applies to defenders who remain on their feet. They must actually let go of the ball-carrier before re-engaging with him.
According to Australian referee coach Andrew Cole, SANZAR is only enforcing an existing law but even he cannot ever recall any tackler who remained on his feet being penalised for not releasing the man with the ball.
"Referees have been cautioned to ensure that the breakdown can still be contested," said Cole. "All that we are doing is restoring the balance."
Yet the very same argument was used when rugby swung back in favour of the defence seven or eight years ago, that the balance was being redressed. Once the pendulum is nudged in one direction, it's hellishly difficult to pull it up at precisely the midway point of the arc.
If this new philosophy is applied consistently across the three SANZAR countries, the ramifications for southern hemisphere rugby will go way beyond significant. They will be nothing short of game-changing.
Let's not forget how appalling the game could be when played under the "Defence Rules" mindset that still prevails in the northern hemisphere. Here, as a reminder, is the opening paragraph of The Times match report on the weekend's Ireland-Italy Test:
"This had all the ingredients for a yawnathon - Ireland, perennial slow starters to the Six Nations, facing opponents whose one virtue is their ability to make life awkward, and a pompous, fussy, interfering referee. And how we yawned, especially during a second half that must rate as one of the worst periods of 40 minutes in championship history."
That's precisely the sort of review SANZAR bosses are attempting to avoid this season but it remains to be seen whether they have pressed the right buttons.
Predictions of a Brave New World of attacking rugby might all turn out to be nothing more than a massive over-reading of what is, after all, not even a law change but rather a mere change in emphasis.
That's not how the coaches are seeing it, however.
They're scrambling to get their own heads around where all this is leading so that they can then re-wire their players.
There is danger in this new direction, as the Reds discovered in Perth on Friday when they were hit by a string of penalties against the second man in the tackle. But there is also great opportunity, most especially for Australian sides.
Let's not forget that Australian rugby reached its zenith during what was virtually the unlimited tackle era. The only times two Australian teams have qualified for the Super rugby play-offs came during this period, in 2001 - when the Brumbies won - and 2002, while the Wallabies' 1999 World Cup triumph coincided with the height of the attacking boom.
The Brumbies again are well-equipped to exploit the expected resurgence in running rugby, especially as they have devastatingly effective ball-carriers in key positions - Ben Alexander at loosehead, Rocky Elsom at blindside flanker, Matt Giteau at five-eighth and Adam Ashley-Cooper at fullback. But it may well be the shift in refereeing emphasis also produces a shift in favouritism.
As complete as the Brumbies look across the park, the Waratahs may be even better placed to rule a game in which possession is king.
Thanks to Michael Foley, the NSW scrum and line-out will be, if not the best in the competition, at least on a par with anything the Bulls or the Crusaders can throw against them.
Primary possession is about to become paramount.
Sides will now feel comfortable recycling the ball through phase after phase, secure in the knowledge that if anyone concedes a penalty it almost certainly will be the defending team.
But before they can recycle it, they first must win it at the set piece. Think back to Christchurch, 1998 where the Wallabies scored arguably their greatest ensemble try.
After winning a lineout 30m from their line, they then rumbled through 17 rucks and one maul over the next three minutes and 10 seconds before finally Matt Burke sped over for an astonishing try.
Of course, if referees take the contest out of the breakdown, defending teams will quickly realise it is pointless to commit players there and will fan out across the field - ultimately forcing the attacking side to kick. Even so, kicking is about to become the last option, not the first.
What also makes the Waratahs so suited to this style of rugby is that their defence last season was the second-best in the league behind the Crusaders.
After all, unlimited rugby means unlimited tackling and teams that can't hold their line for multiple phases will suffer.
That's the biggest question mark over the Reds, who had the second-worst defensive record last season. Still, there's cause for hope.
New coach Ewen McKenzie has worked tirelessly to improve Queensland's tackling, knowing he has enough strike players in Digby Ioane, Will Genia, Peter Hynes, Quade Cooper and James Horwill to exploit whatever attacking opportunities arise.
As for the Force, it may well be there is a silver lining to Andre Pretorius's season-ending hamstring injury. That's not meant unkindly.
But Pretorius was recruited from South Africa precisely because it looked a year ago that 2010 would be a mere extension of 2009 and the Force figured it needed to play more a field position game.
That's all changed now and while Pretorious probably could have adapted to the new demands of the competition, the Force might be better served by having instinctive attackers like James O'Connor or Mark Bartholomeuz in the playmaking position.
Under a lesser coach, the Force might have struggled to cope with the loss of both Pretorius and Giteau. But every side John Mitchell controls is always well-coached, and while other teams waste the early stages of this season struggling to define themselves, the Force will hit the ground - Members Equity Stadium, to be precise - running.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news...-1225827634377
