In last week’s G&GR podcast, Drew Mitchell was happy to openly state his dislike for a transfer of the Reds defensive structure (where Quade drops back to fullback) across to the Wallabies.
“My personal opinion is that if you’re picked in the back 3 you should be given the right to counter attack” he said.
I decided to have a close look at how this structure would play out in the Wallabies; who would play what roles and the effects of utilising such a defensive structure on counter-attacking possibilities. Following is a blow-by-blow recount of Wallabies play where one or more of the back three is defending out of position, along with some explanation of positives and negatives of some of the plays.
2:24
First set play from the South Africans, Digby has come over to the 10 channel and Quade moves to the left wing. Steyn puts up a bomb, O’Connor takes it, Digby not utilised. Ball recycled and Quade interplays with KB and 2 Dads to make it out of the 22 and up over the 50 before the ball goes into touch on the full as Quade tries kicking ahead.
Although in the second half of this Quade ends up on the wing, he actually makes it back into five-eighth before the ball is recycled and although Digby isn’t used in defence the question remains as to whether or not Steyn goes for the bomb if he has Quade to run at.
3:03
Springboks lineout. KB is on left wing, Digby in 10 channel and Quade at fullback – Ruan Pienaar box kick, KB goes in soft when trying to catch the ball and it falls into Digby’s hands. Ball is recycled, Horwill tries a hit-up and despite a whole heap of forwards in the area the Boks try to counter-ruck and put Sanchez under pressure, ball shoots out from Genia’s legs, Moore picks it up and passes short to Digby (still in the 10 channel) who knocks it on.
Although the play fell apart at the breakdown and if Digby catches it the ball will be recycled, we see the first instance of a Digby error when playing out of position (even though he can roam) and we miss out on an opportunity of Quade getting his hands on the ball and weaving some magic.
4:19
Springboks scrum, KB on left wing, Digby in 10 channel, Quade most likely at 15 although cannot tell on TV coverage. Pienaar passes from the back of the scrum to Steyn who shuffles it along to Olivier who runs at McCabe – testing the new boy. McCabe tackles well low and Digby ineffective in trying to assist the tackle over the top – more just falling onto the wrong side of the ruck and slowing the ball down (although not much).
4:36
Ball recycled and Rossouw has a hit-up running at Pocock, both AAC and Digby come into to have a close look and then fall away to let Bam Bam complete the tackle. Digby looks up and realises he’s only 10 metres from the right wing and heads back over to the left wing. Quade still tweeting at fullback.
5:16
A few more South African phases before McCabe and 2 Dads combine to put such a good hit on Juan De Jongh that he knocks it on and then gets up and runs to right wing on the other side of the field, probably thinking that JO’C can’t hit that hard. McCalman picks up the loose ball and throws a low pass to Quade circling round from fullback towards the left wing who shows good hands to catch and pass to Digby in a bit of space. Digby has a little run up the wing before getting tackled with aplomb by Aplon. Ball recycled, McCalman tries a hit-up and although he goes nowhere he sucks in three defenders. Ball is recycled, quick pass from Genia to Cooper who tries a cross-field kick to JO’C. The kick isn’t hit sweetly and drops a bit short of O’Connor, De Jongh gets a hand on it and knocks it on.
Even though we win the ball here and put on a little counter, I’d like to point out a few things. The Springboks go through 7 phases before the knock-on but Digby is only defending in the 10 channel for the first two before heading back to his wing. This means that for five phases KB is defending in the line just inside of Digby – not the best position for one of our best counter-attackers – although he only actually enters one ruck he also misses out on an opportunity to counter-attack by being in front of the ball when it is knocked on.
6:28
Wallabies give away a short arm penalty for going early on their own scrum feed. Ashley Johnson taps and has a run before passing to Rossouw who runs straight at Quade who hasn’t had time to move out of the 10 channel. Quade tries hugging him front on and up high, saved by Pocock who does the real work around the legs. Ball is recycled quickly and Quade runs back to fullback, KB on left wing inside of Digby. Pienaar sends it to John ‘No longer any good – it rhymes with my last name’ Smit who is tackled by Simmons and has the ball stolen by McCalman coming over the top.
6:44
As soon as the turnover occurs KB starts tracking back towards the centre of the field circling around behind the ruck. Horwill injects himself with another hit-up before Genia sends a cutout pass to Cooper who steps Ruan Pienaar as he fails at a charge-down attempt but succeeds in winning the competition of who can fit the most amount of vowels into their name. Cooper hits the jets and makes some ground before sending the ball back inside to KB who tries to send one over the top and is picked up well by JO’C.
What this play highlights is two things. First, Beale shows great awareness and positional play to get himself in a position to support Quade on counter-attack. The second thing to note is that if it weren’t for Horwill’s hit up there is no way that KB would have been is such a position. If the ball came to Quade before that hit-up he would have had fewer options after the initial break. It is interesting to note that McCabe also switches back to Cooper’s side and is in a better position initially to support Quade, but is completely left for dead, ending up 20 metres behind by the time KB throws his pass to Bieber. That said, McCabe does well to move into first receiver when the ball needed spreading wide and distributes accordingly – ending up with the Sloth going home with a meat pie in the corner.
9:29
Steyn kicks off, Horwill catches. Ball recycled, Genia has a dart down the blindside splitting John Shit and Werner Kruger and puts Digby away who steps Aplon’s turnstile tackle attempt, and fends Morne Steyn as he heads over the line, try time. Good to see Ben Alexander backing up also.
I thought I’d highlight this play as the defensive structure is normal (2010 set-up) at the kick-off and it shows why you need to have your players in their best positions. If this was a counter-attack situation (the initial set-up is quite close with the two front-rowers caught out of position on the wing) would Genia have had Digby available for the counter-attack? Probably not, but he most likely would have KB there instead. Just a thought.
12:00
Steyn kick-off. Horwill gathers, Genia box kick, Digby chases. Pienaar catches and passes to Aplon infield who tries stepping and is brought down by McCalman and Pocock. Digby ends up right next to the ruck and ready to defend, Pocock ensures the ball is slow before Pienaar attempts a box kick of his own for ABBA Basson. The ball goes out on the full but the only person anywhere near it is Genia who obviously spotted the open space.
Although we got away with this one it did show that this mixing and matching positions in defence can get confusing. Here we see Digby in the frontline of defence but KB isn’t on his wing, cannot tell from the TV coverage where KB got to as he isn’t in the front line of defence, I’m guessing he’s instinctively moved in fullback with Quade (who also isn’t up in the frontline). I wish I could get a better angle on this to confirm – if anyone can please let us know.
14:03
Springbok scrum. Digby at 10, KB on left wing, Coops at fullback. Exact same rubbish set move as the scrum at 4:19. This time McCabe tackles well, Digby not involved. Second phase Rossouw has another hit-up (anyone seeing patterns here?), Digby shuffles back out towards his wing but stays up in the line, KB still defending back a bit from Digby on the left wing – protecting the kick. Wallabies forwards counter-ruck after an unseen knock-on and win the ball. Genia picks up the ball and passes it to Pocock on the blindside with only JO’C in support and Moore trudging (not running) a line on Genia’s inside shoulder close to the ruck.
What Genia does is very intelligent here: while not being able to catch the South Africans significantly out of position by opting for the short side what he does is give Quade enough time to move in from fullback, for KB to move to fullback and for Digby to drop back to a regular left wing position.
18:42
Boks get a penalty at the lineout that Channel Nine! (and I mean that in German) thought wouldn’t need to be shown. Instead showing me a Lexus commercial – who are joining the Wallabies in ‘The Pursuit of Perfection’, something that Nine! clearly isn’t.
19:15
Springbok lineout. Ball is thrown over the top and collected by Ashley ‘my parent’s named me after a girl and a phallus’ Johnson who runs at the 10 channel and is tackled by Genia around the legs and Ioane over the top. Nearly 20 minutes into the Test before we see Digby’s defence used as intended. The next phase Digby uses his pace to put a bit of ineffective pressure on Pienaar who likes to take a few steps from the back of the ruck before passing.
19:38
Five phases now from the Springboks, using their forwards well to get over the gain-line. Digby makes another tackle on Ashley Johnson close to the ruck who spotted a missing pillar and attempted a pick and go. Not much chance of Quade making that one. After the tackle Digby heads back to his wing and KB moves one place in the line.
19:53
7th phase for the South Africans. A wide shot shows Quade now in the line on the right wing, JO’C inside him and Genia at fullback with KB and Digby eating Nando’s on the left wing. Although this sounds a bit strange it is because Aplon has run in from fullback to inject himself in the attack, drawing JO’C off the wing and Coops has moved up to the line to keep an eye on Lwazi ‘Iced’ Mvovo. Genia has spotted this and moved to fullback as KB is too far away to get there.
I think this is a good example of where moving your players’ defensive positions can lead to confusion. I’d dare say it that Dingo doesn’t want Genia at fullback too often but would be happy with the vision shown by Sanchez to realise the hole and plug it – something all good scrum-halves do.
20:00
Genia moves in from fullback to help block some holes on the short side. Wallabies go through two South African phases with not a single player behind the frontline of defence. A bit of a worry here; however, Steyn takes the wrong option and throws an inside ball to Rossouw who loses it after a good hit from Kepu.
22:30
Pienaar box kick after Wallabies counter-attack involving KB and Digby. Quade has moved back to the left wing with Genia at fullback. Quade catches the ball on the full 10 metres into Australian territory, jogs back and attempts another cross-field kick to JO’C. Poor option, JO’C nowhere near the ball and Iced Mvovo gets back with time to spare and a favourable bounce, sends it to Aplon who kicks for touch.
This is a different set of circumstances from when Genia went to fullback at 20:00. Before KB was not being used in anyway other than another man in the defensive line, this time KB is at the bottom of the ruck. Nothing wrong with this, good positional play from Coops and Sanchez.
23:16
Ioane knock-on during set move. First error playing in actual position. The knock-on forces Beale to rush up to defend and Quade makes an effective tackle on Olivier after he shrugs off KB. Genia darts back to cover fullback as Quade gets back to his feet and slowly heads to a back right wing position as JO’C moves in to cover ABBA Basson.
23:25
KB tells Quade to go back to the fullback position as currently he, Digby and Bieber are in the front line. Rocky Elsom has spotted the defensive hole and spends the next four phases covering back on the left wing, protecting the kick.
23:41
Digby combines with Horwill in the middle of the park to put a hit on John Smit.
24:00
Digby doesn’t so much tackle as lets an advancing Ashley Johnson run downwards into the ground. Still suspect he may have kept trying to run had Quade been in front of him.
24:06
McCabe rushes out of the line and puts what I’d call a try saving tackle on Olivier (resulting in a KB turnover) who had ABBA with space to move on his outside and only Rocky left to defend the wing. Also, KB is inside McCabe at this point and Digby was still defending in the middle of the park; had Basson got his hands on the ball there would have been little chance of a covering tackle, we all know the only thing that is faster than Basson is his album sales after the 1974 Eurovision.
26:33
Penalty for holding on. Pienaar quick tap (a mile in front of the mark BTW – and the ref pulls Genia up later for the same thing) and spreads it through the hands to Iced Mvovo on the left wing. JO’C manhandles him back infield and although you can see Quade initially goes to drop back to the right wing to cover he is brought back into the frontline through quick ball as the Springboks test the short side again. This time O’Conner takes Alistair Hargreaves around the bootlaces and Quade goes over the top, more focusing on shutting down the offload than actually stopping the player – the right option in this situation.
27:00
After four phases of not doing much Steyn opts for the boot and hoofs it down field. This is the bit where Genia ‘supermans’ over the sideline trying to ensure it goes on on the full. The back three at this point consisting of Genia on the right wing, KB at fullback and Digby on the left wing.
I’ve got no problem with this given the quick tap from a turnover resulting in the need for both QC and JO’C to push up and make some tackles. I thought the Wallabies did well to get back into this structure and it once again highlights Will Genia’s excellent positional awareness.
27:43
Springbok lineout. Digby at 10, Quade at 15, Kurtley at 11. Set move sees KB rush up to shut down Aplon who had ABBA yet again in space on the outside with only Quade to beat.
That’s another potential try-saver if you ask me; also should note that Digby cleans out and slows the ball down well.
29:59
Springboks go for a clearing kick after the kick off. At this point in time Digby is in the 10 channel although hasn’t been needed to make a tackle and yet when Steyn goes to kick it the only person who is putting pressure on him is Pocock. The kick is taken by Genia who is now on the right wing with QC at fullback and Gilbert outside him on the left wing.
I thought I’d highlight this as it seems to me that one of the advantages of having a winger in the midfield is the pace they lend to charge-down attempts/putting pressure on the kicker. I would suggest Digby does some work with Pocock and Drew Mitchell on this during the next two weeks as I see it as one of the potential benefits of the Reds’ (can we still call it that?) defensive structure that isn’t being utilised. Again I thought the positional play by the Wallabies backs was good, ensuring all positions covered.
30:58
Pienaar box kick (again). Taken well by KB on the left wing, Quade at fullback, Digby in the midfield defending.
31:14
Two phases on and some quick hands sees Rocky in space on the wing who has a little run before popping inside to Moore who knocks it on as he is tackled from behind.
At this stage Digby is still lurking around the ruck. I can’t help but feel the Wallabies may have been away here or at least made more ground had Digby been in his regular position.
32:42
Aplon picks up the ball from the ruck and sends it left to Olivier who dummies twice before Horwill decides to turn him into a plaything (and people were giving McCabe shit about not passing). Quade has come up from fullback to plug a gap on the right wing and Genia drops back to fullback with KB defending inside Ioane on the left wing.
36:53
Springbok lineout. Digby at 10, comes out of the line to hit Ashley Johnson but he heads back towards the lineout on the angle and is stopped my McCalman and Pocock. The next phase sees the ball spread back towards the Australian left wing where Elsom is defending with Moore and then Kepu inside. The Boks are in a good position here with 6 on 3 until KB rushes up to tackle Mvovo.
I thought there was some good defensive sliding here to close down the space the South Africa had on the blind side. That said, we did end up with 3 forwards defending 6 Boks including ABBA, Pienaar, Steyn, Mvovo and Aplon (I think the other 2 were Smit and Rossouw). Not ideal when you’ve got some of your slowest guys defending the opposition’s fastest.
37:52
Beale down in back-play after Aplon showed him is back at speed. 3rd phase for the Boks, ruck in midfield. Pienaar sends it to Steyn who passes wide to Ryan Kankowski, he draws a defender in Digby who is out on his wing before popping a short ball to ABBA. Basson heads down the wing with Aplon and Iced Mvovo in support. Beale gets up as Quade rushes in from fullback, ABBA panics and throws a forward pass (before coping a shoulder charge from Coops that he was lucky to get away with) to Aplon who knocks it on. Beale scoops the loose ball and passes to O’Conner who is getting bored over on his own wing. A good counter attack follows.
It’s a bit hard to take too much from this situation. If KB wasn’t down in back play he most likely would have been on Ioane’s wing and this little play by the South Africans wouldn’t have got so far. That said, he is lucky this time to be behind the ball from a knock-on and combines superbly with O’Connor to set off a counter attack that deserved a try before a loose pass resulted in a Horwill knock-on. I think if we compare this with the counter from the knock-on at 5:16 we can see how much more effective KB is on the counter attack when he is coming onto the ball, and not running back to get into a supporting position for Quade and the like.
39:00
Wallabies get penalised for the first time ever for ‘too much pressure”\’ at the scrum. Historic Moment in Refereeing Madness. #4824.
42:36
James O’Connor further pushes for a starting spot in the Australian Cricket Team as a specialist first slip. Try!
47:04
Stephen Moore channels his skinny doppelganger Mortlock. Try!
48:12
Genia has a snipe down the short side, smokes John Smit again and shrugs a would-be-tackle from ABBA, then chips down the wing and regathers from the bounce before throwing a ball inside for Ioane who knocks it on after having a look at Steyn.
3rd mistake from Ioane, the 2nd in his preferred position although Genia would have been away if he dummied as Aplon was in 2 minds.
53:21
O’Connor steals the ball from Dean Greyling. The ball makes it ways to Cooper running in from fullback for the counter attack, he kicks across field for Digby that’s eventually gathered by Basson. ABBA is then tackled well and low by McCabe with Cooper over the top.
When the counter is launched KB is caught outside of O’Connor on the right wing and is not in a position to help Quade’s counter attack. Kearnsey hits the nail on the head: ‘Needed a man inside him then did Cooper.’
53:40
Pienaar to Kankowski. Kankowski runs back to the blind side and passes a short ball to De Jongh who is tackled by Digby on the left wing. Both KB and Cooper are back covering the kick, everyone else in the defensive line.
54:22
Cooper shows how to set up a try by slapping a ball in mid air. Beautiful to watch. Try to 2 Dads, proving that he cannot cross the try line without diving. AAC celebrates by slapping the ground, his form not yet permitting the full closed fist slam down we’re used to seeing.
56:00
Rocky Elsom leaves the field and costs me and I’m guessing a lot more people a fantasy rugby point for not making it 60 minutes. Pocock assumes the captaincy and I smile secretly in delight as I’m offered a glimpse of the future.
57:08
Springbok lineout. Digby in 10 channel makes another tackle although it is McCabe who is really doing the damage. Digby then heads back towards his wing.
57:22
After a quick crash ball hit up from Chillydog Ralepelle, Pienaar sends it blindside to Mintsaucewith Lambie. He passes quickly to Kankowski who draws JO’C and puts Aplon into space with Iced Mvovo tracking outside. The first real defensive test for Quade at fullback who comes up to make the tackle on Aplon and falls apart like a leper in an earthquake, in the end only managing to throw an arm out at head hight, that does nothing to Aplon. Poor body position more than commitment in this instance. Luckily for Quade, Genia is yet again showing his superior reading of the game and gets back to tackle acqua de Gio Aplon.
60:09
I was treated to a Bieber fever Swisse commercial instead of the restart. Instead only seeing Aplon boot the ball out. Nine!
60:18
Saia Fainga’a replaces Moore. Everyone laughs at his black eye and a few wife beater jokes are thrown around at his expense before someone proclaims ‘Violence against women, Australia says no’ to much applause.
62:09
Penalty to South Africa. Pienaar kicks for touch but doesn’t make it. KB catches it on the full on the left wing with Digby inside him and launches a counter – for the previous couple of phases before the penalty KB was defending on the left wing with Digby inside him and Quade at fullback. KB runs and puts a bomb, well chased by the Wallabies with KB, 2 Dads and Digby all putting pressure on the Boks as Smit takes it and Aplon flips over and lands on his back.
Once again highlighting the counter attacking skills of KB when given the opportunity
65:54
Simmons steals the lineout. Hodgson picks up the ball and passes it to KB who has come in from the left wing to first receiver. He cuts out Ioane and Anthony Fainga’a and sends it to McCabe. McCabe passes to Quade who is running up from fullback. Quade gets outside Adrian Jacobs, draws in Iced Mvovo and flicks out the back to put O’Connor in space. Mvovo hunts JO’C down who sends a loose pass back infield and straight into the awaiting hands of De Jongh who is hit hard by Digby.
66:32
Mint Sauce sends a punt down field, still playing for territory for some bizarre reason and KB takes it with ease on the left wing. Quade at fullback, Phipps assuming the Genia role has also dropped back, finding himself between KB and Quade. The ball shifts through the hands to Cooper who slows down and jogs a bit as Digby gets back onside on his right before choosing to chip and chase, Rossouw gets back in cover with ease.
67:10
Aplon attempts a clearing kick into the arms of Quade at fullback, KB on left wing and Digby on the right. One of the few times that Digby has been back in his regular position for a counter attack. Quade passes infield to Beale who nearly breaks the line before pushing the pass back towards McCabe but it goes straight into Chillydog’s bread basket.
Another good line-break that was stuffed by people pushing that final pass, Dingo will have a few words to say to the boys about this.
67:40
Digby spends 3 phases defending side by side with JO’C on the right wing. Obviously becoming more comfortable with KB covering his wing he now seems happy to perpetually roam in both defence and attack.
69:17
Pienaar quick tap after penalty at a Springbok scrum. It goes through the hands to ABBA on the right wing. KB shows Basson too much space and he burns KB down the side line before trying to chip it over Cooper. Quade charges down the kick and nearly catches the ball but knocks it on.
Poor defence from KB here, not trusting McCabe to take his man although McCabe does it easily.
70:50
KB comes off for Pek Cowan, Higginbotham goes to the wing, Kepu moves to blind side flanker and I decide that trying to analyse defensive patterns from now on will only add confusion.
NB: There were several other instances where players were out of there regular defensive positions however in these circumstances the out-of-regular-position players made no impact on the outcome of the play besides being a face in the defensive line.
Verdict:
I can’t help but agree with the Rooster on this one.
Yes, Quade is a good counter-attacker, but in the Wallabies (not Queensland) so are KB, Diggers and James O’Connor. There is also the odd occasion where the counter almost has to wait as QC rushes up from fullback to first receiver.
Also, defensively we ended up with a few sections of the match with less than ideal structures (Rocky on the wing etc.) and although we managed to get away with these situations I cannot help but think that someone like Dan Carter would have seized the opportunity where Steyn and Lambie didn’t.
