- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
The 2015 Rugby World Cup taught us a lot of things about the growing evolution of the sport.
Apart from the southern hemisphere’s continued dominance on the field, for the first time at a major tournament the sport’s commercial interests, marketability and financial promise were fully realised.
Millions tuned in as New Zealand became the first side to successfully defend the William Webb Ellis Cup, and while the All Blacks were deserving winners of what has been described by many as “the best tournament to date”, their triumph signalled a shift in how rugby is perceived and how many feel it should be played.
In essence, the 2015 Rugby World Cup thought us that skill is just as, if not more important than brawn. That the ability to pass, offload and support may be more important than the tried and tested crash ‘n’ bash style of rugby.
Sides like Argentina showed us that ball in hand and an ability to attack from seemingly anywhere may be the key in how rugby is played in the future. That’s not to say we should abandon the typical methods in which international rugby Tests are won.
Winning the set-piece is just as important as ever, and gaining and maintaining territory is vital in creating scoring opportunities whether it be through phase play or from the kicking tee. Teams have to make the right decisions when they do win penalties and have to be conscious enough not to give them away cheaply.
Right or wrong, the tournament has sparked debate in the northern hemisphere as to whether or not young players should be coached differently. That maybe youth development should see a complete overhaul and that there should be an increased emphasis and focus on core skills – passing, offloading and support play in particular.
The World Cup showed us that there is a clear gap between the two hemispheres with regards to skills that are seemingly taken for granted. The notion of questioning professional rugby players ability to perform in ways that they have been thought from an early age seems a bit over the top, but the gulf in class with regards to which some of the southern hemisphere teams moved the ball, ran support lines and offloaded was very apparent throughout the tournament.
There is no doubt that if the northern hemisphere teams wish to compete with their southern counterparts on a consistent basis at major tournaments, then this gulf needs to be narrowed. Much of the focus seems to be on the coaching with the idea being that this revamped style of play with an increased focus on core skills can be drilled into players from an early age. If done right, over time the northern hemisphere sides will be on a level playing field with the likes of Australia, New Zealand and Argentina.
The logic is clear to see but the implementation is much more complex. The fact is, the southern hemisphere’s superiority has as much to do with culture as it does coaching.
In New Zealand and the rugby states in Australia, rugby is what the kids play. It’s what they play before school, it’s what they play after school, it’s what they play during lunch breaks and it’s what they play just about whenever the sun is out and someone has a ball.
The same cannot be said in the northern hemisphere. Kids in the northern hemisphere are much more likely to grab two jumpers and a football than play a game of touch rugby. Kids who play rugby in the northern hemisphere largely attend private schools. Not that this isn’t the case in Australia, South Africa and New Zealand because it is most certainly the same, but even families that don’t have the means to fund their child through private schooling are no strangers to rugby.
In certain parts of countries in the northern hemisphere, rugby is played largely depending on wealth and this is a trait that cannot be ignored no matter how much some may beg to differ. While those barriers seem to be less rigorous than what they may have been in the past, they have stifled the development of rugby in the northern hemisphere as elements of classism can often be seen to deter some from playing.
I’ve seen this first hand. I’ve been to schools from both hemispheres and seen the difference in attitudes towards rugby. The fact is in schools in the southern hemisphere rugby is the alpha male in the room.
Whether it’s rugby league or rugby union, it’s the sport that kids want to play and whether that be on the playground or on the paddock. Not to say that that same sentiment doesn’t exist in northern hemisphere nations, but in my opinion, it’s not to the same extent.
Nehe Milner-Skudder’s ability to step and Sonny Bill Williams ability to offload in contact at an astonishingly effective rate is not a product of coaching, it’s a product of culture. It’s being involved in rugby union and/or rugby league from a very early age and playing and practicing as often as possible.
Make no mistake, coaching has a tremendous impact on how teams play and on how players are developed, but there are some traits that are instinctive and can’t be coached. It’s why Brazil is Brazil in football, the players are largely a representation of their environment and the environment they developed playing in.
This article is not meant to reshape rugby or over-simplify the differing styles between both hemispheres, but to simply highlight that free-flowing rugby cannot always be coached, but it has to be developed in more ways than on the training pitch.
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.