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Spiro Zavos has been annoying me since January 19, when he wrote “Australian Rugby needs some of ‘that spatial shit’“.
I mean really Spiro – how can you get cross correlations between drama and rugby. Isn’t that drawing a very long bow?
Most people I’m sure have forgotten all about the article. However, as a rugby coach, a teacher with an interest in creativity, and having a drama background, I began to think about how theatresports could influence rugby tactics and coaching.
If you don’t know about theatresports, think of the TV series Thank God You’re Here. It’s all about a star coming in and making people laugh in an improvised scene. The star has status among the rest of the cast and is offered opportunities to deliver the killer lines or jokes by his support.
At first I was drawn to the creative star of the show, the deliverer of the killer line – in rugby terms, the playmaker. The guy who throws the great passes to his teammates and most often fills a jersey with 9, 10 or sometimes 12 on his back.
However, you can’t have the creative star in either theatresports or rugby without those around him giving some form of offer.
In theatresports that means offering the star performer a line from which they can make something funny. On the rugby field that means someone offering to run at the hole where the ball is about to be thrown. Essentially you don’t have the creativity without the offer.
Recently in Australian rugby there have been two double acts of creativity and offer that stand out to me. Both of these have had two stars and one person who has primarily given the offer. They are the Will Genia and Quade Cooper (stars), and Digby Ione (offer) of the Reds in 2011, and Bernard Foley and Kurtley Beale (stars), and Israel Folau (offer) of the Waratahs 2014-15.
Unfortunately I am relying upon memory of that Super Rugby-winning Reds team. I still had the Waratahs games against the Brumbies and Blues on tape from which to analyse the offers that Folau gave his teammates. Does he do anything different to other fullbacks in his offer of support? Does he get his hands on the ball more often, or is it that we notice him more because of his superstar status in the game?
I analysed five games and looked at the amount of times the fullback received the ball in phase play i.e. from a ruck or maul. I disregarded any time they got the ball from a set piece, because these are usually moves created by a coach. I also disregarded any time the fullback received the ball in a kick-return situation, because this usually relies on individual creativity to create attacking opportunities.
Other than Folau in the two games mentioned I also chose to follow Robbie Coleman (Brumbies versus Cheetahs), Jack Debreczeni (Rebels versus Reds) and Lachie Turner (Reds versus Rebels). I know that Debreczeni wore the number 10 jersey but he did play most of his game in the fullback position, as each of the others did.
Each player was assessed on the criteria in the table below:
| Player | Opposition | Offers | Received | Line Breaks | Try Assists | Try | Turn Over | Team possession % |
| Israel Folau | Brumbies | 13 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 52% |
| Israel Folau | Blues | 23 | 15 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 58% |
| Robbie Coleman | Cheetahs | 12 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 61% |
| Jack Debrezceni | Reds | 22 | 16 (9 as 1st receiver / flyhalf) | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 68% |
| Lachie Turner | Rebels | 14 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 32% |
| Totals | 84 | 55 | 17 | 6 | 1 | 7 |
In the columns marked ‘line break’, ‘try assist’ and ‘turn over’, the player mentioned might not have actually been the player who did that – these events occurred because of the offer made by the player.
For example I have credited Debrezceni with a try assist in both Rebels tries from phase play. In the Tom English try he was in a position to receive the ball from one of the front line of players as they attacked the line and he threw the pass to Sefanaia Naivalu to set up his line break for Nic Stirzaker’s try.
Likewise Robbie Coleman was on Christian Leileiafano’s outside shoulder as a receiving option when he scored against the Cheetahs.
These statistics make interesting reading, with 84 offers of support for 55 times received. Based on these statistics the 17 line breaks that resulted from 84 support offers is a ratio of one line break for every five offers. It is a ratio of one try or try assist for every 12 offers of support in phase play. However, the Rebels versus Reds game may have slightly skewed the data because of the sending off in the 20th minute.
Based on the data that I have gathered over the five games you can begin to draw some conclusions about the role of offer from a fullback in the team.
While each of the Super Rugby teams in Australia seem to have slightly different roles for their fullback, Israel Folau gets himself into a position to make more offers in phase play than other fullbacks. At the same time, does this allow more opportunities for creative attacking opportunities for Foley and Beale?
The fullback position allows a player to see the game open up and allows for more opportunity of offer in running the hole in phase play because of they can often see more from their position of depth. Does this mean that the more the fullback, and all members of the back three, involves themselves the more opportunities there are for the ball players to create?
I’m not quite sure of the answers yet but it has made me think more about the role of each member of the back three and how we coach them to get involved in phase play.
I’m now going to analyse more games, especially those from New Zealand, to see if the amount of offer they give differs to those in Australia.
All in all though I’m worried the creative offer of the fullback in rugby is the beginning a long drama for me. Thanks Spiro.
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.