Australian Rugby has become obsessed with the so called ‘Australian Way’ which is supposed to be about running rugby. It is foolhardy, especially in the modern game. You have to have specific players coming through the systems at good rates to be able to carry out that philosophy over a significant period of time.
The best way to approach coaching a rugby team is to utilise the players’ abilities, strengths and physique, rather than committing to coaching them in a pre-determined way.
You are putting yourself under pressure before you have begun and it may not even suit the players that you have inherited if you choose this method.
I have seen youth teams suffer as they have committed to a playing style that doesn’t enhance their skills and get every player involved. That type of approach develops a limited player that doesn’t know how to adapt to various situations.
Too many coaches at the elite level are going about it that way, and they don’t have much else up their sleeves when ‘their way’ isn’t working on the pitch or key components pick up injuries. That way may also not suit the match referee’s interpretations.
There is so much analysis these days, and plenty of tools available to the interested observer. There are games available to look at even for the volunteer coach, and you have to be able to adapt to survive the long game as a coach no matter what the level.
Your team has to evolve and progress. Tactics have to vary for different opponents and the conditions.
France are a good example of a team that has no coaching direction and match tactics, bar a strong scrum and running over players. They appear to be a team that is thrown together with no real combinations by a mad man and told to work it out for themselves on the pitch.
They boot the ball away aimlessly after a couple of phases so there is no continuity and evidence of any tactics to target opposition weaknesses. A lot of side-to-side attack in to touch as well. When the game is fractured they are deadly, but it doesn’t often occur, particularly in the Six Nations and in big cup matches.
This year certain players – Camille Lopez in particular – have come back from the Test side utterly confused and shot of confidence. Running around like headless chooks for their clubs.
That completely zaps a player’s confidence. Berrick Barnes had it at the Tahs and you could see how miserable he was on the pitch and appeared to not know what to do with the ball.
Bakkies
Guest
Pretty much what the Highlanders did to win the title.
QldFan
Guest
I agree with Sheek - basics, basics, basics. The players need to be able to 1. play a game plan AND 2. improvise when the chance/need arises. That is, if the game plan isn't working, to have enough intelligence (?) to modify it on the run.
Bakkies
Guest
and survive scrums. Often the best method of defence is attack. That's how teams up her counter England and France's scrums. France have struggled against the Welsh scrum. Wallabies have become a lot better at defending mauls. It's absolutely doable provided you attack it at source so you work towards the ball before it goes to the back. As soon as it goes back you have to counter the drive. It's best to wheel it towards the touch line
Harry Jones
Expert
The current Aussie game plan ag NZ/SA appears to be Survive set pieces Forage at breakdown Tackle ever-manfully Hold on; keep calm Try to steal it at the end Against 6N, run it from everywhere; be fit/fast
Bakkies
Guest
A lot of kiwi coaches talk about game sense which obviously comes not just organised matches but training as well. You can't just coach drills out of a manual
AndyS
Guest
I think there are two main problems the Wallabies have lapsed into. The first is that people confuse effects with causes, thinking that the Australian "running rugby" was an end in itself. It wasn't, it was simply attacking rugby. Under the conditions and laws of the time, and particularly with amateur players, that bias to attack meant holding the ball and running it gave best reward. You can't play running rugby with a defensive mindset, and in the modern game played by professionals simply running the ball will not necessarily be winning rugby. Consistency requires an understanding and ability to execute several game plans as appropriate, with the ability to recognise when each of them should be used. The one constant is that the intent should be to attack, not just deny the other team. The second related issue is exactly as noted by Sheek. That understanding and ability doesn't come from reading it on the team board, it comes from time on the field at as high a standard as possible and a real command of the basic skills of the game. You can't be thinking of the bigger strategy and tactics if you are using all your concentration just to remember where to be or how to catch the ball. Nor can you implement those game elements if every tenth pass is going to ground or behind the target.
Akari
Roar Rookie
Perhaps, coaches should be selecting players that have the skill set required for the type of rugby that they want to adopt and advance. I am not sure whether Cheika has done this with his WBs selections. I am assuming that they will largely be playing Cheikaball, a style of play that the Highlanders nullified seemingly so soon as the whistle for the start of the game was blown. Also, of the 5 franchises, each played their own game with the Brumbies being the only other team with game plans.
sheek
Roar Guru
I think this is a mistake of Australian rugby, putting the philosophy ahead of the practices. I don't know about NZ, but looking at their senior players, you cannot but feel envy for the tremendous skill levels of their players. These skills have been honed, one suspects, since they were about 6-7 years old. They don't worry about philosophy, that's the domain of whoever will be the coach in the future. What the coach at each junior level is worried about, is developing the basic skills so that when those players become adults, they will have the skill set to adapt to whatever philosophy their coach has at that time. Running, passing, catching, kicking, tackling, scrummaging, lineouts, rucks, mauls. Basics, basics, basics. Master the basics & you'll win many more games than you lose.