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The Western Force have been the form side in Super Rugby over the past month, knocking off the defending champions and three of their Australian conference rivals. This is all the more startling for the fact that the Force were atrocious in their opening two matches of the season.
So what triggered this turnaround?
The Force opened the season in disappointing fashion against the Waratahs, losing 43-21 to a sloppy Waratahs outfit that turned the ball over 22 times and conceded a whopping 15 penalties.
One notable omission from the starting line-up, and a somewhat surprising one, was Sias Ebersohn. The 25-year-old South African five-eighth has led the Force to some outstanding wins in recent years, but Force coach Michael Foley selected Perth youngster Zack Holmes to play his first game for the Force after being recruited from the Brumbies.
Unfortunately for the Force, Holmes was simply not ready to be thrust into the five-eighth position. His kicking game is not good enough – he often found the fullbacks and wingers on the full with kicks that should have been kicked 10 rows deep into the stands.
There’s no point kicking for distance if you’re going to kick the ball straight down Israel Folau’s throat and allow him to run it straight back at you. You’re better off kicking it out and eliminating the counter-attacking threat.
Additionally, Holmes struggled to lead his team around the field. He was not direct enough, while his first step was almost always across the field instead of straight upfield when he touched the ball. This allowed defenders to slide across the field with him, drawing more defenders into less space and making it difficult to penetrate the defensive line.
While Holmes was not the answer for the Force at five-eighth, he was not the reason his team was comprehensively beaten in their opening two matches.
The Force struggled because they didn’t do the little things right. Holmes’ kicking was not the best, but the kick chase was even worse. They were very rarely in one line and there were holes everywhere. Again, when you have Israel Folau returning kicks this is simply not good enough and the Force paid the price on multiple occasions.
One area in which Holmes couldn’t take any blame was his team’s defence. Admittedly it wasn’t that bad – they missed an unacceptable 26 tackles against the Waratahs, but they only missed 13 against the Brumbies who missed 27 tackles themselves.
Where the Force’s defence let them down was their alignment. It was deplorable. There were times against the Waratahs in which they were facing a seven-on-two, which should never happen in top-flight rugby.
The first issue with the Force’s defensive alignment was that they were far too bunched. When the opposition had their attack lined out all across the field, the Force had their widest man inside the 15-metre line. All it took was some straight running and quick hands and both the Waratahs and Brumbies found themselves on the outside of the Force’s defence.
The Force’s alignment issues weren’t just contained to being too bunched – they also struggled to match themselves up in defence against the opposition attack. This was especially notable when the Waratahs and Brumbies were attacking around the corner, going the same way for multiple phases.
The hope is that by attacking the same way, eventually the defence will run out of players and an overlap will arise. But the defence should send enough players around the corner to match the attackers, while some defenders should hold in the position they started to prevent the risk of the attack going back the other way.
This is known as the ‘Hold and Fold’ – some players must fold around the breakdown, others must hold in their position.
The Force failed to send enough players around the corner – not because players were choosing to hold in case of the attack returning, but it was primarily out of laziness. Players who should have been putting in the effort to get across the field were instead walking towards the ruck, which put them in no man’s land – no help where the threat was and no help if the attack came back in their direction.
Part of this was laziness, but it was also terrible awareness. It was obvious at times that the attack was going one way, especially when almost the whole team is running in the same direction. But the Force players simply did not look at where the opposition attackers were heading – they just jogged to a position where they thought was right.
It was not. Six of the nine tries they conceded in their first two matches came as a direct result of an inability to get enough numbers folding. It is sometimes possible to get enough players around late if you can get the attacking team on the back foot and slow down the breakdown – slow ball gives the defence time to get set – but the Force were unable to do this against the Waratahs and Brumbies.
The Force’s attack was also disappointing. It was not threatening and they didn’t look like scoring.
For one, the vast majority of their forwards play was too stationary. Instead of running onto the ball, the Force forwards were waiting for halfback Alby Mathewson to pass it to them. This made them cannon fodder for the opposition – especially the Waratahs, whose defensive line speed was outstanding in their first clash of the season.
This meant that the Force were constantly playing off their back foot and the backs were rarely in a position to attack. The one time the forwards ran onto the ball with some vigour against New South Wales they looked good. Holmes got some front-foot ball and the ‘Honey Badger’ eventually crashed over for a try.
What happened the week after the Brumbies match was very surprising. Firstly, coach Michael Foley made a not-so-surprising change by replacing Holmes with Ebersohn, just one of six changes. Then new Rebels coach Tony McGahan made wholesale changes to a team which enjoyed a convincing 35-14 victory over the Cheetahs in their season opener.
This included the dropping of fly-half Bryce Hegarty – excellent against the Cheetahs – for fellow youngster Angus Roberts and switching out both props. I still can’t figure out why McGahan would make five changes to the starting line-up, but it certainly did not work for him.
The Rebels were absolutely blown off the park, going down 32-7. All of the Force’s 32 points came in the opening 26 minutes. They were absolutely outstanding.
The most significant difference between the Force that opened the season and the Force that demolished the Rebels was that the forwards ran onto the football.
When combined with the fact that the Rebels’ line speed wasn’t anywhere near as good as the Waratahs and Brumbies, the Force forwards were able to repeatedly get over the advantage line, making Ebersohn’s job so much easier. He was able to play off the front foot against a retreating defence and the results were evident – four tries in the first half.
Alby Mathewson has also begun directing his team around the field, lifting his play so much so that he is one of the form halfbacks in the competition. His decision-making has improved and he’s now threatening opposition defences.
Over the past month he has run the ball from the base of the ruck, catching out lazy forward defenders and creating holes for his forwards. This was evident on Saturday night when he took advantage of some terrible ruck defence from the Waratahs and put Nick Cummins over for the second of his three tries.
He has also benefited from the go-forward the forwards have generated. It is much easier to play halfback when your team is going forward – there is much less pressure from the defence when getting the ball out of the ruck and passes are much easier when you’re not reeling backwards escaping a scrappy ruck.
The Force have also improved their kicking game and kick chase. Ebersohn and fullback Jayden Hayward, who moved into the starting side against the Rebels, have managed to find the grass regularly if they have not been able to kick the ball out on the full. This gives the defensive line time to set and allows the kick chasers to defend in one line, limiting any opportunities for a counter attack.
Whereas Folau saw a scattered defensive line and a chance to run back kicks in their first meeting, Ben Smith or Ben Lucas saw one straight line and had no option but to kick the ball back. Additionally, Mathewson has been much more selective in his kicking tactics, only choosing to box kick when it was the right option (unlike Will Genia). And these box kicks have been superbly placed.
While the Force have made significant improvements to their attacking game, they have made minor, but vital, adjustments to their defence.
In a match dominated by the Waratahs on Saturday, it was the Force’s defence that won them the match. Apart from the Highlanders match in which their defence was very disappointing, their alignment has been much improved over the past month. The Force have been much better at folding players around the corner and holding players where the ball had come from, a few lapses aside.
It helped on Saturday night that they knew exactly what the Waratahs were going to throw at them. The Waratahs love to keep playing the same way and when the defence eventually runs out of players to fold, they pounce. There was really only one time wherethe Force had no more defenders to fold, and Nick Cummins scored a 100-metre intercept try off it.
What has allowed the Force to get themselves set in defence during their winning streak has been their line speed. By getting up off the line quickly and hitting the attackers behind the advantage line, the Force can flood the breakdown and, at worst, slow the ball down, giving the defensive line time to get set.
When this happens, the opposition attackers are basically sitting ducks. It is obvious that forward runners will get the ball and more often than not they catch the ball standing still, which is not very hard to defend. The Waratahs did this to the Force in Round 2 and now the Force have returned the favour – not only to the Waratahs, but also to the Rebels, Reds and Chiefs.
The Western Force are a good rugby team and always have been. They started the season very poorly because they didn’t do the little things right: the effort plays, the line speed, the kick chase, running hard and straight.
In the past five games they have turned up with a much improved attitude, and by making minor adjustments have won five games in a row.
They now find themselves in a position to make a push for the playoffs. If they keep playing the way they are and keep doing the little things right, a finals berth will likely be theirs.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.