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Tries conceded is the best measure of how a team’s defence is performing. Unsurprisingly, the Wallabies don’t fare well.
They’ve conceded 16 tries so far in The Rugby Championship, compared to the Pumas with 18, the Springboks eight and just six for the All Blacks.
Line breaks conceded is the next best measure – the Wallabies have conceded 28, the Pumas 24, the Springboks and All Blacks 14 apiece.
The Wallabies are averaging 19 missed tackles per match, the Pumas 25, the Springboks and All Blacks 16 each.
Three missed tackles per match more than the Springboks and All Blacks isn’t much, but it’s the consequences of the missed tackles that are hurting the Wallabies as shown in the number of tries conceded.
The Wallabies forwards in particular are slow to realign in phase play. They too often get their numbers wrong either side of the breakdown and are defending very narrow, which keeps resulting in overlaps further out that the opposition are punishing.
Their line speed has also been poor, exacerbated by their lack of urgency getting back into position and their lack of width.
As the opposition go through their phases in attack there are often Wallabies struggling to join the defensive line, so some players are moving forward while others are several metres behind or not moving forward at all.
Defending on your try-line you need to move forward as far as you can, as quickly as you can.
There is no margin for error if the opposition build up some momentum and make metres, but in the open field maintaining one solid line is the key – better to concede some extra metres than give up a line break.
You still want line speed but it’s better to sacrifice some line speed to maintain the line. The Wallabies don’t seem to understand this and their defensive line is often broken by one player rushing forward.
Due to their lack of width, the Wallabies’ defensive line starts to move forward – then, as the ball is moved by the opposition, the Wallabies have to start moving across field trying to catch up.
This results in players running directly across field rather than moving forward, resulting in very passive defence.
Not only does that sort of defence give the opposition ball carriers space to generate momentum, but often the Wallabies aren’t able to cover the overlap anyway.
Teams use different defensive structures in different circumstances – there’s the ‘blitz’, the ‘umbrella’, the ‘drift’, the ‘up and in’, the ‘jockey’ and a number of others.
If the Wallabies poor defence structure was by design you could call it the ‘Catch Up… or Not’ structure!
The solution to these problems starts with a simple requirement – there has to be more urgency to get off the ground and get into the defensive line, then recognise where the defensive line is short and realign quickly.
With more numbers in the line and on the right side of the breakdown, players won’t be playing catch up and the line speed and maintenance of the line will follow.
It’s only then can you create a wall in defence.