Halves working in slow motion

Halves working in slow motion

Bret Harris, Analysis | September 15, 2007

THE French are concerned other teams will imitate Argentina.

They will try to slow down the ball in an effort to emulate the stunning upset win in the opening game of the World Cup.

The Pumas played classic 10-man rugby and successfully spoiled France's possession, particularly at the breakdown.

Playing with slow ball from the ruck and maul, the French could not get into a rhythm and their attacking game stalled.

While other teams might take notice of Argentina's kicking game, there is no doubt every side in the tournament is already practising how to slow down opposition ball.

Every team will do all it can to slow down the ball, as long as the referee lets them get away with it.

There is nothing new about this. The important thing is how you deal with it.

Obviously, the goal of every attacking team is to gain quick, recycled ball to take advantage of disorganised defence. This is the ideal situation, but in the real world the game does not always unfold this way.

As a result, teams such as the All Blacks have placed a greater emphasis on off-loading the ball in the tackle rather than going to ground with it.

While there was criticism of referee Tony Spreadbury's control of the France-Argentina game, the bottom line is Les Bleus did not cope with the slow ball they received.

France had more possession than Argentina but could not do anything with it as it was held tryless in a 17-12 defeat.

There is a misconception that a team can attack only off quick ball. With the breakdown contested so fiercely, teams must be prepared to attack with whatever ball they get -- fast or slow.

While starter plays have replaced the sequence plays of the Rod Macqueen era, teams still try to plan several moves ahead.

When the ball comes out slowly and defensive lines re-align, the attacking movement can come unstuck, which was what happened to France.

The key to playing with slow ball is being prepared to play what is in front of you rather than slavishly following a pre-programmed sequence.

There is no reason why attack cannot be launched off slow ball from the breakdown. After all, scrums and lineouts are static set-pieces and they are used as platforms for attack.

Much depends on how many defenders are committed to the breakdown and the tactical nous of the attacking team.

When the ball is slow, the attacking team has to be able to read the defence and change the point of attack.

A good example was the Wallabies' first try to winger Digby Ioane in the 31-0 win against Wales in Brisbane in June.

The Wallabies led 9-0 after Stirling Mortlock kicked his third penalty goal a couple of minutes into the second half.

Wales five-eighth James Hook's kick-off was fielded by Wallabies second-rower Nathan Sharpe, who took it up to the 10-metre mark. Halfback George Gregan passed left to five-eighth Stephen Larkham, who linked with inside centre Matt Giteau out wide.

Giteau was tackled and Gregan worked the blindside with hooker Adam Freier, who ran back across the ruck and fired a pass infield to blindside flanker Rocky Elsom, who was tackled by two Welsh forwards back on the 10-metre mark.

The Wallabies had gone nowhere and the ball was painfully slow coming out of the ruck. Gregan looked up, did a quick head count and saw the Wallabies had a seven on four advantage to the right.

The Welsh had an eternity to realign, but for whatever reason they did not move, preferring to guard the edges of the ruck than the threat out wide.

Gregan passed to number eight Wycliff Palu on his right and he charged upfield, drawing two Welsh defenders before off-loading to Sharpe, who found fullback Julian Huxley to put Ioane away down the right hand flank.

The ball from the ruck where Elsom was tackled was slow, but it was still workable.

The teams with the best halves combinations are best placed to use slow ball because of their ability to read the game.

This is where the Wallabies have an advantage with the world's most capped halves partnership of Gregan and Larkham, whose experience and guile will find a way through a spoiling defence slowly, but surely.