Super 14 final: the birth of the generic ELV rugby style
Roar Pro
By Ian From NZ, 2 Jun 2008 The Crowd is a Roar Pro
Yes, I can honestly say the Super 14 final was one of the better ELV rugby games this season. But what did Robbie Deans work out at the beginning of the season that the other Super 14 coaches did not?
1) ELV rugby laws allow play to be very loose (non structured): Using free kicks solely for tap and go (add to this short lineouts) allows a game to have very little traditional rugby union structure. I believe Deans knew that having scrums and long lineouts (with the odd maul) allowed a better platform for attacking rugby.
The final had more than average scrums, long lineouts and mauls. This is why the final was a better representation of rugby union that earlier Super 14 games. Also Deans doesn’t need to be a rocket scientist to realise that the field wide defensive line is removed while executing a scrum or full lineout.
2) The kick and chase game is now critical to acquire territory: Kicking to find a defensive player out of position, up and unders landing outside the defenders 22, kicks that find middle ground and bounce causing defenders to take time to respond. The game of force back is more prevalent under the ELV rugby.
To have a smart kicking game you need smart kickers, this means all players numbered 9 to 15 must have an eye for the tactical kick. Just having a smart kicker at first five or fullback is not enough. The aim is to execute running rugby in the opposition half, the Waratahs on occasion broke this rule.
3) Player type selection: Selecting a tight five for solely tight forward duties is over. Brad Thorn is the new tight forward mold, he must be loose and tight when the circumstance requires it. (Yes you guessed it, the ARU can now go shopping for forwards in the NRL)
I guess while scrums still require pushing the only true tight forward is the tight head prop. Mobile, tall and very athletic tight forwards are the prescription. A game for all shapes and sizes, not any more!
3) Fast ball beats defense: This is not just true for ELV rugby, but the execution of fast and accurate passing finally allowed the Crusaders’ wings to get some space (on one occasion it led to the try of the game) to run around their opposition.
4) Fitness: Yes, having the puff and pace to go the distance, this was very evident in the last 20 minutes of Super 14 final. The side that lacks fitness is slower to set up an attacking back line, slower to run onto the ball, slower to cover the field in defense and more likely to drop a tackle. The Waratahs were dead in the water in the second half.
Why should I be worried about the state of rugby union when the Super 14 final was confirmed by all as such a good game?
Firstly, there was only 13 out of 23 ELVs applied in the 2008 Super 14 season. Yet to be used laws around the maul and lineout allow for more traditional rugby union structure to be removed from the game.
Secondly, answer this question: Is the above style likely to be adopted in every ELV rugby game? Yes, if you want to win!
Rugby union may be entering one style of play … the Crusaders way.
I am afraid whenever I watch NRL or AFL all I see is the same generic game every week. If the players wore the same colours each week, I wouldn’t know if different teams were playing.
The rugby union styles of England, France and South Africa may be morphed into the Crusaders ELV rugby style and the winning of the game will just come down to who executes this style better than the other.
This will lead rugby union to be boring and indifferent!
Ian McGeehcan has a point when he said: “My concern is that we will end up playing one type of game; that the variety and depth of options which the game has always had will be taken away.”
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Peter K said | June 2nd 2008 @ 5:35pm | Report comment
I could not disagree more re ‘we will end up playing one type of game’.
More than ever with the current laws we are all playing the one style, especially when the pressure is on i.e. World Cup.
It is a forward based territory game. When in you own half kick it to the other end. ONLY Fiji was successful in running the ball from anywhere. All the current styles are predicated on forwards achieving parity and gaining the advantage line.
The most important requirement with the current laws are forwards that dominate and a good kicking game.
The ELV’s as used in the S14 do allow backs to win games with forwards being outclassed as demonstrated by ACT and WA. But vica versa is true also Teams with backs being outclassed still win like BULLS over NSW, ACT.
If you use pick and drive and flood the breakdown at rucks and have a useful maul i.e. a forward dominated game the defence has to commit players i.e. the forwards from the defensive line they cannot be fanned out.
The set of ELV’s used in the S14 almost have it correct. I would only remove the one re the offside line is created at a tackle, this gives the attack too much advantage over defence.
With the full set of ELV’s I really disagree with pulling down the maul. As shown in the APC the maul becomes useless, it is very easy to pull one down. I also disagree with allowing hands in the ruck.
BTW Deans copied the puma’s world cup tactic of constant mid field bombing under pressure. Deans did not originate it, just saw it as something useful to incorporate.
Spiro Zavos said | June 2nd 2008 @ 6:21pm | Report comment
Ian ffrom NZ
I don’t know what final you watched but it wasn’t,it seems to me, to be the Super 14 final. The ball is in play a lot more with the ELVs. But this shouldn’t be the reason why they are damned. The ELVs allow for more rugby. There are enough scrums to gladden the heart of any old scrummager. But there is more movement of the ball, too. The Crusaders scrum proved to be one of their dominant weapons. Their lineout beat the Waratahs lineout, as well. There were only 6 penalties. If you allow 40 seconds a penalty, the 10 or so missing penalties amount to 400 seconds, over 6 minutes of play. When this final is compared with the Heineken Cup final, it’s obvious which final provided the real rugby. It was a disgrace to the game that Munster started their slow flow routine with 20 minutes of play left.
The Tri Nations are going to be played with the current ELVs plus pulling down of the maul and any numbers in the lineout. This will force cleverer options from coaches and players. It will truly be survival of the fittest, rather than the fattest.
Garth Hamilton said | June 2nd 2008 @ 7:48pm | Report comment
Ian,
I’m just happy to see the inevitable, and in hindsight oh-so-obvious, coming together of rugby union and Iggy Pop right here on the Roar.
I’d like to think Iggy would have been a flanker in the Jean Pierre Rives mould.
matta said | June 2nd 2008 @ 8:23pm | Report comment
Perhaps the biggest load of crap ever written on this forum….
sheek said | June 2nd 2008 @ 8:26pm | Report comment
Ian,
Tough critics here…..don’t be discouraged…..keep contributing!
matta said | June 2nd 2008 @ 8:59pm | Report comment
Yeah sorry Ian, I should clarify.
“Selecting a tight five for solely tight forward duties is over. Brad Thorn is the new tight forward mold, he must be loose and tight when the circumstance requires it. (Yes you guessed it, ARU can now go shopping for forwards in the NRL.) I guess while scrums still require pushing the only true tight forward is the tight head prop. Mobile, tall and very athletic tight forwards are the prescription. A game for all shapes and sizes, not any more!”
is what I mean by stupid…
One, yes one RL forward plays one, yes one good season of Super 14 and all of a sudden the ARU should be looking at the NRL for forwards…?
Mate, I rate Brad highly but the guy is on his 2nd time round at Pro Rugby and he, unlike most League forwards, played union until his late teens. He also hasnt even played a decent test yet…..
bob said | June 3rd 2008 @ 12:40am | Report comment
Ian, you have my support in your assertions and my respect… don’t worry about the “we want all rugby players to be skinny and quick” brigade… mostly they are just jealous of anyone who can scrummage, maul, lift, tackle, pass and did I say scrummage? The game is for all shapes and sizes, but the likes of Spiro call large, “fat”… They’ve never been the in the front row, and couldn’t lift a half pounder with salad and beetroot!!
Keep the posts coming mate… there’s plenty of us who understand and agree!
And by next year the ELV’s will be gone gone gone, quicker than celery in a ELV lovers cafe, because in teh NH we will say no!
Ian from NZ said | June 3rd 2008 @ 6:10am | Report comment
First I never said I didnt like the ELVS, I just think they need amendments, see my other post on the roar called “My ELV amendments”. Second, if you read my post again next year or after the ELV test matches, you will see tactics that all look like crusaders rugby style, soon this will be boring, Ian McGeecan has got a very serious point.
Ian from NZ said | June 3rd 2008 @ 6:22am | Report comment
SPIRO SAID : ..”The Tri Nations are going to be played with the current ELVs plus pulling down of the maul and any numbers in the lineout. This will force cleverer options from coaches and players. It will truly be survival of the fittest, rather than the fattest.”…
What wrong with being fat and slow, see you confirm one STYLE OF PLAY and a game not for all shapes and sizes, what wrong with England 10 man rugby, Gorgia used in the 2007 RWC to beat Ireland. Sure you and I liked the Super 14 final, but you are looking at the game with one eye, how many styles can you count under ELV rugby, I tell you, ONE, soon all coaches will mimick the Crusaders style, and there is your AFL and NRL generic style established. OPEN MIND SPIRO, please !
Ian from NZ said | June 3rd 2008 @ 6:24am | Report comment
sheek said ..is what I mean by stupid…
One, yes one RL forward plays one, yes one good season of Super 14 and all of a sudden the ARU should be looking at the NRL for forwards…?
Mate, I rate Brad highly but the guy is on his 2nd time round at Pro Rugby and he, unlike most League forwards, played union until his late teens. He also hasnt even played a decent test yet…..”..
ME: Ok maybe your correct, still a win for you on a minor point, well done !