The art of tackling according to Pieter Labuschagne

Pieter ‘Lappies’ Labuschagne is a tackling maniac. In 2013, he made 248 Super Rugby tackles.

So far, in 2015, he has completed 36 tackles in two games for the Bulls. He has only missed one this year.

To put that in perspective, the Crusaders have missed 32 tackles this year, already. The entire Lions team made 45 tackles in Round 2.

Lappies has made 17 more tackles than the best tackler in history, Richie McCaw, and missed three fewer than McCaw.

This is not to denigrate McCaw – the best tackler in history, I repeat – it is to establish the credentials of Lappies, before you read on.

When he played for the Cheetahs, Labuschagne had to tackle a lot because nobody else did. Willie le Roux, Cornal Hendricks, and Sarel Pretorius are exciting attacking players, but you wouldn’t pick them to make a tackle if the tackle was one on one and it was for your life.

You might pick Lappies.

Because anyone that makes 36 tackles in two games or 248 tackles in one tournament really likes to tackle and knows how to do it.

How does he do it? How does a rugby player make 36 tackles in 37 attempts in two consecutive weekends?

Lappies is one of the players I watch in isolation. I like watching him play a game.

I think he is one of the unluckier loose forwards in South Africa. Born and playing in a time in a glut of tough, skilled competitors and perhaps one of the victims of quotas, targets, goals, and other transformative euphemisms. He has made a Springbok squad, but not on to the field, yet.

Watch Lappies play and you will know how to tackle. This is not to say you can do it. It takes courage, desire, discipline, a durable frame, an absence of congenital defects and a tremendous amount of fitness.

But you can see the actual art of tackling when you watch him.

Lappies takes away the ballcarrier’s space and time. He does not allow runners to step, because he has quick feet and he keeps them moving.

Feet are the most important thing in tackling, because you have to be there, and you need to be close. Tracking the ballcarrier you want to tackle is not easy if you are making big lunging movements, or freezing in your tracks.

Think of tennis. The great returners or defensive players in tennis (think Lleyton Hewitt, for you Aussies, or Andy Murray, or Bjorn Borg from yesteryear) use quick, shuffling feet to get in position, but also keep getting in better and better position.

They cheat to the spot. They slide and inch and keep moving. And they are therefore always ready for the next shot.

You won’t make 248 tackles in a season if you lie on the ground for ten seconds after your first tackle. You have to be ready for the next one.

Lappies has active feet. He hunts the ballcarrier. He does not wait for him to arrive. Lappies arrives at the ballcarrier, before they are dancing together.

If he is confronted by a really great stepper, like Ben Smith or Malakai Fekitoa, Lappies makes sure there really is only one direction to step. Then, he uses quick feet to close the distance.

In other words, Lappies steps the stepper.

Most missed tackles (or obviously, missed opportunities to even miss a tackle) occur because the tackler is too far away from the ballcarrier.

This can happen because the tackler gets in position and then “sticks” to the turf, relying on a last minute dive or flail to tackle. Jannie du Plessis comes to mind.

This could be due to chronic lactic acid build-up, exhaustion, over-confidence in upper body strength, or just laziness. But Kurtley Beale does the same thing – so it could also be distaste for blunt force trauma.

Lappies does not find a position and stick. He keeps dancing toward the carrier, after he has positioned his prey with only one real path, and with his face up and eyes open, Lappies runs nimbly in the right direction, closing down space.

His arms and hands are close to his body, in running position; not waving wide. He never stands too tall, but does not dive too soon.

Then, when he has tracked down the ballcarrier, he has his head inside, he is still moving forward with agile feet, and drives his legs while he punches his arms through the carrier. His arms operate as if he is delivering a right hook and a left hook at the same time, and his cheek is usually directly flush with the ballcarrier’s hip.

His feet stay alive through the tackle, and he accelerates through the tackle, instead of falling backwards.

Lappies went to Grey College in Bloemfontein, one of the elite rugby schools in the world. So did other decent tacklers, like Heinrich Brussow, Bismarck du Plessis, Ruben Kruger (who tackled anything and everything), and Frans Steyn (who used to be a devastating tackler, when he moved his feet, but now is a flailer).

Lappies is big enough – 1.89 m and 107 kg with a long wingspan – to tackle anyone, but it’s not his size and long arms that makes him an elite tackler.

He has great, active feet, a huge ticker and impeccable technique.

This is a beautiful thing, and it happens a lot, so anytime you have the chance to see Lappies pull off a tackle, you really shouldn’t miss it.