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The first weekend of the 2011 Rugby World Cup gave us some fine displays of open side flanker work.
David Pocock turned over a lot of ball in the first half of Australia’s match against Italy, and did a great deal to prevent the Azzurri building pressure through phases. Josh Kronfeld tipped him as the world’s best No.7, and he did a lot to justify the billing.
The Welsh game with the Boks pitted Sam Warburton against Heinrich Brüssow, and it proved to be a tasty confrontation. The Welsh captain claimed the man-of-the-match award, even though he ended up on the losing side.
And yet the role of the fetcher was being questioned in some parts during the run-up to the tournament.
This focused on how the referees would see the breakdown. The IRB said they wanted to see the tackler roll away from the ball, and any assisting tackler would need to put daylight between himself and the tackled player before getting to his feet to contest the ball.
When Brüssow put in some dominant work at the breakdown during the British and Irish Lions tour in 2009, there was no apparent need for daylight. The Bok star tackled, got to his feet and contested the ball in one fluid movement.
The Lions complained they weren’t being given a chance to place the ball after the tackle but referees ruled that players on their feet had rights to the ball.
This seemed to give an edge to teams with top class fetchers and players like Pocock thrived on the opportunity.
The IRB instructions, however, seemed to imply that opensides might be better off not tackling a player, or assisting, but instead being first in at the breakdown.
This would mean sacrificing a little of the advantage of speed. More importantly, an openside holding back even a split second might be vulnerable to a big opposition lump driving him off the ball.
When squad selections were announced, it was noticeable that a number of teams had elected to name only one specialist openside in the back row.
In the case of England, captain Lewis Moody is first choice No.7 but he’s not really a true fetcher. The rest of the back row choices are happier at No.8 and blindside.
However, Warburton and Pocock thrived like it was 2009 again. Indeed, the Boks management said after their game that they wanted more clarity at the breakdown. They think referee Barnes didn’t enforce the daylight rule and allowed Warburton to out-Brüssow Brüssow.
It’s a difficult balance to strike. The IRB wants a fast, attacking game and a world class openside at the top of his game is the ideal player to produce that result. He can recycle his own side’s ball faster than anyone else on the pitch but can also engineer turnovers. Teams with attacking mindsets love turnover ball because it lets them run at a defence before it has had time to adjust.
On the other hand, you want to favour the attacking side at the breakdown for a flowing game. A fetcher making a pest of himself slowing down opposition ball threatens that ambition and it seemed the IRB wanted to rein in that aspect of play.
And yet that’s not what we saw at the weekend. South Africa should have realised how Barnes was handling the match and put Brüssow front and centre. After all, the Springbok player had a fine game against the All Blacks during the TriNations in just that role.
Perhaps they did but Warburton was just better on the day.
So on the evidence of the weekend, it looks like the fetcher might be back in the spotlight, in spite of the squad selections.
Or perhaps it’s just that the referees are inclined to give more licence to the world class opensides they recognize while penalizing other players who do the same but don’t have the reputation.
That’s not good news for England but surely it’s fantastic for Richie “Hands Away Seven” McCaw. The All Black captain remains a crucial figure for his team but had a quiet game against Tonga.
Marc Hinton in New Zealand, voicing the views of many home supporters, has openly wondered whether the great man has lost his mojo.
If open sides are going to be making their mark in this tournament. New Zealand will need him back to his best to counter the threats offered by other major challengers for the title.
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.