George Smith still rates among world rugby's best

Today we will be studying maths. First question: what do these numbers have in common: 164, 142, 110, 105. Just to give another clue, here’s one more set: 117, 111, 32, 67.

Still scratching your head? The first set represents the total number of Super Rugby caps that will be returning to the Reds this season, in the shape of four individuals – in order, Stephen Moore, George Smith, Scott Higginbotham and Quade Cooper.

The second set represents the number of Test caps for Australia those same four players have won.

That’s 521 Super Rugby caps and 327 Wallaby appearances combined. With such a wealth of experience on board, it’s hard to see how the Reds can fail to be significantly more successful this term than they were last.

The real value of experience lies in the potential increase of leadership values. Moore is the captain of the national side and both he and Smith have captained the Brumbies at Super Rugby level. As for Higginbotham, he was skipper of the Melbourne Rebels, while Cooper has shown a notably more mature attitude since his return from Toulon.

When you have that leadership core in place, you can start to move the team away from what Graham Henry calls ‘directive coaching’, based on telling the players what to do, towards ‘consensus coaching’, whereby the playing group are equally responsible for planning in the build-up for the game and the review after it – as well as the execution on the day.

Consensus coaching invites the players to take responsibility for what takes place out on the field in all phases of the preparation, game-play and review. As Graham Henry says, “there is no ‘you and me’, there’s only ‘us’” in this model.

It’s more difficult and takes far more time and patience to coax this co-operative environment into being than the very immediate, black-and-white situation created by the prescriptive method, but modern coaching is steadily flowing in this direction.

And this is precisely the kind of opportunity that has been presented to new head coach Nick Stiles with those four veteran players returning to the Reds.

Maybe Stiles already senses the nature of the opportunity when he said this week: “Reds teams have made the mistake in the past of talking about culture and leadership without first showing how hard they were really prepared to work for each other and what they stand for.”

The quartet of returnees will all know (on occasion, from their own infractions of the group ethic!) just how important a positive background culture is to on-field success. The firm establishment of a strong culture will be the biggest priority for the Reds this season.

In 2016, there was little evidence of on-field leadership in any area of the game – when the ship started to sink, no-one looked capable of finding an adjustment which could change the flow of events. The players just repeated what they were doing until the inevitable happened, and an ‘L’ appeared on the scoresheet at the end of the game.

Three of the four musketeers will be natural decision-makers in the spine of the team anyway: Moore at hooker, Higginbotham at No.8 and Cooper at outside-half. The presence of the fourth, Smith, gives the Reds a shot at matching their New Zealand rivals in another position which is considered crucial to adaptation, and tweaks in the tactical approach in the course of a game: openside flanker.

At the ripe old age of 36, Smith is still one of the most mentally and physically flexible 7s in world rugby, and both his intelligence and economic use of energy sometimes have to be seen to be believed.

There are some question marks about his ability to last the pace of a Super Rugby game, with the closest match in the Northern Hemisphere, in terms of speed and ball-in-play time, being the European Champions Cup.

But the following highlight reel, from last year’s tournament for Wasps against Leinster, gives a good idea of what Smith can still achieve in an elite playing environment:

Work-rate and ‘reloading’ on attack and defence
Smith already has in spades the quality Stiles mentioned – the desire to work for his mates, and the ability to work with maximum intensity over short but critical time-frames within the game.

In the opening sequence from a Wasps’ driving lineout, Smith is attached at the back as the ‘driver’ of the maul, emerging from the base to bring Frank Halai on to the ball right on the advantage line at 10:43.

But this is only the beginning of the story. After Halai falls forward through the tackle, he is momentarily exposed to the jackal by Smith’s opposite number, Jordi Murphy – and it is Smith who is first up to author a perfect rolling, peel-away cleanout on the Ireland flank at 10:47.

Smith is then back on his feet to play scrum-half at 10:52 (and form part of the cleanout at the next ruck after that!).

That’s four pieces of accurate decision-making and execution in the space of just over ten seconds, and Wasps scored a try shortly afterwards.

The sequence beginning at 47:36 illustrates the quality of Smith’s reloads and multiple defensive involvements. He makes the first tackle on the Leinster No.10, Cathal Marsh, and is then back on his feet in time to become a defender on the very next play, coming down the same defensive channel at 47:41. In this case he holds up Sean Cronin with the assistance of James Haskell, and between them they win the turnover.

Intelligent force at the defensive breakdown
Smith first forged his international reputation as a relentless jackal at defensive breakdowns, and on occasion he would (like David Pocock) attract the referee’s displeasure. Now he applies what could be called ‘intelligent force’ in these situations.

At 18:55 he is over the tackle ball, but there are two Leinster cleaners in the vicinity. With a strict tackle area ‘policeman’ in the form of Matthieu Raynal, Smith gets his timing of the release exactly right – long enough to force a slow-down (the ruck lasts five seconds and Leinster are turned over on the next play) but short enough not to draw the penalty.

At 25:42, Smith is again first to the ball but the ball-carrier is not clearly isolated from his support – and once more he strikes the perfect balance between contesting to the limit and causing disruption, but without drawing penalty. In the second part of the sequence, two phases later at 25:57, Smith rides Cronin down before side-stepping the onrushing two-man cleanout.

As the shot widens at 25:59, we see that he is first of the four players to rise to his feet off the ground, a small but significant advantage to the defence.

This a 7 working for his team with no thought of personal reward – and that’s exactly why the reward comes around in its own time, with Cronin penalised for leaving his feet under threat by Smith at 27:01.

Intelligence on attack – driver of the lineout
Smith also played the important role of lineout driver for Wasps, deciding when to hold the ball in and when to come out and broaden the attack. Smith’s sense of timing, and his ability to read the referee is uncanny.

At 16:35, the maul has advanced far enough for the Leinster No.4, Devin Toner, to be warned for side entry. As soon as Smith hears the warning and feels Toner’s grip relax, he breaks away down the short side, holding off the Leinster halfback just long enough to release the offload and create a try for Joe Launchbury.

At 53:18 he can feel the pressure of Leinster No.5 Rhys Ruddock on the outside corner of the maul, so folds inside and stays behind his blockers to win the penalty try. This is subtle decision-making of the highest order.

Intelligent attack and defence – acting halfback, first and second receiver
Smith plays like a typical New Zealand 7 on defence, leading the line out at 21:40 and forcing the play back inside for a turnover on the next play. The job would normally be handled by a centre but Smith’s experience and smarts allow him to fill in more than adequately in the same role.

On attack, he can play at scrum-half or at first receiver. At 51:25 he milks the penalty out of Raynal perfectly with a Leinster body trapped on the wrong side of the tackle. He does not (as so many halfbacks are prone to do) pull at the ball theatrically – a big no-no, which can irritate the official – he simply keeps it in until the reward is forthcoming, and then he’s doing the scrum-half’s job, tapping and going and offloading.

In the final example, at 60:48, Smith is plugged in at first receiver close to the Leinster goal-line. He checks inside and out to ensure everyone is one the same page, before pulling a beautiful ball back for Elliott Daly to release Halai on the outside.

Summary
While Wallaby incumbent Pocock is arguably the best of today’s men at No.7, it is yesterday’s version, Smith, who has learned a more complete set of skills over the span of his illustrious, 18-year professional career.

Where Pocock tends to be the ‘engine’ or body of the driving lineout (see my very first article for The Roar, here), Smith is the ‘driver’ thinking through the options. Maybe that is what comes with experience.

It is George Smith’s experience, alongside that of Stephen Moore, Quade Cooper and Scott Higginbotham, which Nick Stiles should be looking towards – not only for on-field leadership, but also to establish consensus coaching at the Reds in 2017.

It will take time but, if he succeeds, the Queensland franchise is likely to be returning to the top of the Australian conference sooner rather than later.