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The concept of the sweeping fullback is not new; indeed, it remains the preeminent way to play the position, with the Waratahs and the Wallabies the glaring exception.
In short this entails the fullback being in perpetual motion, defending alone behind his own line but positioning himself to follow the oppositions movement of the ball across the full width of the field.
To play the position in this fashion there are a few prerequisites:
A great example of this was Ben Smith in the 2015 Super Rugby final againt the Hurricanes. There’s nothing like doing the good stuff on a big stage.
In the following video you will note Smith beginning to sweep to his left as the Canes ball is moved from the ruck. He sweeps back to make the required head-on tackle on forward Blade Thompson, gets to his feet quickly to recover the ball and presents it for clearance.
But the critical factor here is after the Canes take a quick lineout and goes the full width of the field – when the ball is taken into touch on the opposite touchline, there is Smith having made the required 50 metres to be behind his winger as the defensive cover.
A sweeping fullback provides the following benefits to the team:
In this section I will use the SANZAAR video highlighting a specific 90 seconds of a 2016 Bledisloe match that sums these up.
View this video three times to view each of the above aspects in isolation. It ends in an excellent score, but watching the ball here is not the objective.
1. Presenting a 14 man defensive line
We have all seen Nicholas Bishop’s excellent work on the Nathan Grey’s defensive structure, which presents a 13-man defensive line to the opposition. I will stand on the shoulders of his work and proffer that in the Wallabies case this presents a 12-man defensive line due to the depth Genia at halfback is forced to defend at by this split backfield structure.
On first viewing look for the following: because Ben Smith is playing the sweeping defensive role and TKB is defending right behind the ruck (which is important for item three to come) and as close to the ball as possible, the ABs present a solid 14-man line with little shuffling of defenders.
It’s all quite simple and effective, but it’s simplicity born by the function of the sweeping fullback. Look for Smith’s positioning right of screen.
2. Minimise the moving parts of the defensive system.
There is no easy way to do this next bit, and young children should not view the following without a responsible adult attending.
Just watch the movement of Israel Folau. Don’t watch anything else, just the movement of the fullback, especially the position he looks to take up after the missed tackle on Smith. Just keep looking at the top of the frame to watch where he goes.
It’s not easy to watch. I have no idea what he was thinking, but it sure wasn’t, “Where is the danger and how to I contribute to stopping it?”.
Sadly he was the only guy in the stadium who didn’t see a really nice try as he jogged the 50 metres to the other side of the field with his back to play wondering why 45,000 Kiwis had started shouting, no doubt thinking this is acceptable as it fits ‘the structure’.
And before the fan club jump in claiming a one-off, this was the second time in just this match alone, and there are others.
So has Nathan Grey developed a defensive system he genuinely believes is best for competition at the top level or one that tries to cover for the deficiencies of his players?
Whatever the answer, and I think it’s the latter, this current system has too many flaws to be retained for any longer, has way too many moving parts, especially on transition to defence, and by default allows the abdication of responsibility by individuals.
3. Why the Wallabies can’t attack from turnover ball
The current split backfield defensive system has another significant and often unseen downside.
During the past rugby championship Will Genia was defending five to ten-metre behind the ruck, almost like a safety position. While he made several key tackles in the position, it meant that when Australia did turn over the ball, he was too far away from the ruck to be effective quickly.
Add to this the Australian 10 and 15 are usually miles away defending deep on the outside corners and it makes it almost impossible to counter-attack at any pace.
Of course with Genia not defending tight to the ruck and with the split backfield, Australia present a 12-man defensive line at best. The likes of Barrett and Smith will be quick enough to find the gaps as they did with ease last season, and maybe even a flat playing Finn Russell in the June test, we shall see.
During Bledisloe 1 last year David Pocock won four turnovers either side of halftime. The half back recipients of his good work were, in order, Hooper, Aaron Smith (NZ scored), Kepu and Moore. Due to the position Genia has to take up when Australia don’t have the ball, he simply can’t get to the ruck quick enough when the ball is turned over.
What is the point of having the best turnover merchant on the planet in your side when his work is not only not a positive but can on occasions be a big negative? Pocock’s first turnover of that match was poorly cleared by Giteau, which led to Crotty scoring the first try too, but that wasn’t entirely structural – although he was closer to the ball than Foley.
Watch the video again, and this time follow TKB at halfback for NZ defending at the ruck, and how when the turnover comes, Ben Smith who is sweeping the ball position when the Wallabies have it, is not only in position to step immediately in the line to counter, but he has had the best view of the field of anyone for the prior 30 seconds and knows exactly where to attack.
Ben Smith does this over and over for both the Highlanders and New Zealand, and it is the reward for being able to do all the hard defensive work covering miles and miles of turf every game – often not seen on TV – and being behind the ball at all times, yet still having the fitness to still be able to explode forward when the opportunities present.
It’s simple.
So do the Wallabies have anyone that can fit the criteria of the fully functioning fullback so that the number of patchwork solutions being overlaid on the side currently can be eliminated?
For mine there are two options right now: Karmichael Hunt and Dane Haylett Petty. One day, when he puts on four to five kilograms, Andrew Kellaway seems to have all the right instincts but still a little short in the skill set.
With one simple change Australia can present a fuller defensive line, have less moving parts on transition to defence and maybe counterattack and play some of that running rugby the fans want to see.
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.