farva
Vay Wilson (31)
Its something we have all seen. Australia are in attack, Giteau has the ball in his hands and he starts running at right angles to the way you want him to go, until he finds the sidelines. And then like me, you probably hurl abuse at the television, telling Giteau to sort himself out.
I guess the question of why he does it is quite straight forward. He is hunting for a gap in the defensive line, and when he finds it, he can break through. In Super rugby, he often finds those gaps. Id have gone so far to say that in 2009, when playing for the Force he was the form flyhalf in the competition, such was his ability to make line breaks. He could run around 2 or 3 players and suddenly break through. But in the test arena, against teams like the All Blacks and Springboks, he cant do it. The defensive line is just too solid. Giteau ends up, along with his outside centre and wing, cramped within 5m of the sideline which is easily defended. And then as a view, I get a tad grumpy. This might also be the reason for the idea that many share that Giteau cant perform against the top teams.
So we know that Matt Giteau will play like this, regardless of him being centre or flyhalf. Its part of his psyche. He is the type of player that hunts for gaps, and wants to make the line break. Its why he is such an exciting player, he is always looking to attack. So I guess the question is how can we benefit from this, and why has it only really become an issue in the last few years?
Watching the video series of Australian backlines over the years, I noted that Giteau has been doing his sideways running for quite some time now. However, back in 2005 / 06 we generally thought of Giteau as a serious contender for best inside centre going around. Some of that might have to do with him having Bernie Larkham inside of him and Stirling Mortlock outside of him - surely even I could look good with that either side of me - but I dont think it is the only reason.
By running sideways, Giteau was dragging the defence across with him. They had to follow, if they didnt then a gap would open up through which either Giteau could dart through, or he could put a wing or his OC through. But what that would also mean is that if the defence is following him across, then space is opening up inside of him. Watching the clips from 2005 / 06, many of the line breaks I noticed were because Mortlock or Tuqiri came off the wing a little and ran a line that took them back in to the centre of the field, right into the space that Giteau's crabbing had opened up. Giteau, after making the pass ended up facing the stands, but we had backs running hard down the middle of the field and slicing through opposition lines. And the outside backs playing with Giteau then were the sort of players who ran good hard straight lines - Tuqiri, Mortlock, Roff, etc. They were big and strong.
Today, the Wallaby backs are smaller and quicker. The wings tend to stick to their wing (think Mitchell and Turner) and Adam Ashley-Cooper, when playing outside centre, seems to like staying outside Giteau. JOC (James O'Connor) is teh exception as he will often be found in the centres channel. But he is hardly a big hard running back who would benefit from the space that Giteau is creating in the centres. All that means is that when Giteau crabs, we have three Wallaby backs within 5m of the sideline, and opposition defenders there to cover.
Therefore, I think it quite important to have someone like Digby Ioane playing as one of the outside backs when we select Giteau. Ioane is the type of player who can run hard through the centres. Adam Ashley-Cooper is another player that should benefit. He runs some amazing lines. I will never forget that try he scored against the All Blacks in Sydney last year (where he famously hugged the crowd afterwards) where he cut back in on a line that tore the All Blacks defence to shreds. Id like to see Ashley-Cooper coming back inside off of Giteau more often instead of trying to keep outside of him all the time.
Anyway, there is some of my thoughts. Id appreciate any ideas on that.
I guess the question of why he does it is quite straight forward. He is hunting for a gap in the defensive line, and when he finds it, he can break through. In Super rugby, he often finds those gaps. Id have gone so far to say that in 2009, when playing for the Force he was the form flyhalf in the competition, such was his ability to make line breaks. He could run around 2 or 3 players and suddenly break through. But in the test arena, against teams like the All Blacks and Springboks, he cant do it. The defensive line is just too solid. Giteau ends up, along with his outside centre and wing, cramped within 5m of the sideline which is easily defended. And then as a view, I get a tad grumpy. This might also be the reason for the idea that many share that Giteau cant perform against the top teams.
So we know that Matt Giteau will play like this, regardless of him being centre or flyhalf. Its part of his psyche. He is the type of player that hunts for gaps, and wants to make the line break. Its why he is such an exciting player, he is always looking to attack. So I guess the question is how can we benefit from this, and why has it only really become an issue in the last few years?
Watching the video series of Australian backlines over the years, I noted that Giteau has been doing his sideways running for quite some time now. However, back in 2005 / 06 we generally thought of Giteau as a serious contender for best inside centre going around. Some of that might have to do with him having Bernie Larkham inside of him and Stirling Mortlock outside of him - surely even I could look good with that either side of me - but I dont think it is the only reason.
By running sideways, Giteau was dragging the defence across with him. They had to follow, if they didnt then a gap would open up through which either Giteau could dart through, or he could put a wing or his OC through. But what that would also mean is that if the defence is following him across, then space is opening up inside of him. Watching the clips from 2005 / 06, many of the line breaks I noticed were because Mortlock or Tuqiri came off the wing a little and ran a line that took them back in to the centre of the field, right into the space that Giteau's crabbing had opened up. Giteau, after making the pass ended up facing the stands, but we had backs running hard down the middle of the field and slicing through opposition lines. And the outside backs playing with Giteau then were the sort of players who ran good hard straight lines - Tuqiri, Mortlock, Roff, etc. They were big and strong.
Today, the Wallaby backs are smaller and quicker. The wings tend to stick to their wing (think Mitchell and Turner) and Adam Ashley-Cooper, when playing outside centre, seems to like staying outside Giteau. JOC (James O'Connor) is teh exception as he will often be found in the centres channel. But he is hardly a big hard running back who would benefit from the space that Giteau is creating in the centres. All that means is that when Giteau crabs, we have three Wallaby backs within 5m of the sideline, and opposition defenders there to cover.
Therefore, I think it quite important to have someone like Digby Ioane playing as one of the outside backs when we select Giteau. Ioane is the type of player who can run hard through the centres. Adam Ashley-Cooper is another player that should benefit. He runs some amazing lines. I will never forget that try he scored against the All Blacks in Sydney last year (where he famously hugged the crowd afterwards) where he cut back in on a line that tore the All Blacks defence to shreds. Id like to see Ashley-Cooper coming back inside off of Giteau more often instead of trying to keep outside of him all the time.
Anyway, there is some of my thoughts. Id appreciate any ideas on that.
