The change in Ruck Involvements by Australian Open Side Flankers.

[ForceFan]

Since the changes to the rules at the breakdown (some thought to negate the work of David Pocock) there has been more penalties such that there has increasingly standing off Defence rucks. Although there are still penalties being forced (due to the ball carrier not releasing the ball) there has been a significant reduction in the number of Turn Overs Won.
Fortunately there is still reward for players who get to the ruck early - as we saw with Riche Hardwick's Test opening.

During the recent June Test series there was a higher than normal tendency for the Wallabies to stand-off D rucks.
Cheika was evidently so concerned about penalties in this area that he'd instructed players to not get involved unless they were good at winning the ball from the opposition.

I enjoy the 'battle at the breakdown' and dread that Rugby Union rucks could become the same lame involvement as for Rugby League.
Some rugby pundits have claimed that the time of the "pilferer" is over.

I am so glad that I was at the Force v Rebels game as there was a real battle over the ball (albeit poorly refed).
In this game there were 14 Scrums, 20 Lineouts but 192 Rucks.
Game strategy around the rucks is a critical part of winning rugby games.
When the Force upped the intensity at the breakdown and the speed of support this quickly turned into points and disrupting the Rebels' ball forced a lot of handling errors.

However that wasn't the case in the other games in this round.

We appear to be encouraging our OSFs to actively avoid contact at the breakdown.
If you doubt this watch the games again and just focus on the OSF and their approach to rucks.
Then think back to the approach of Richie McCaw, David Pocock, Matt Hodgson and Liam Gill.

Formerly very active OSF are becoming clones of Michael Hooper; still making tackles, increasing their availability for ball carries but significantly decreasing their Ruck Involvements and impact at the breakdown.

The ruck involvements (normalised to numbers for 80 minutes played) from Round 16 as follows:

Richie Hardwick - 35 Total - 30 Attack/5 Defence
Colby Fainga'a - 33T - 22A/11D

Chris Alcock - 20T - 16A/4D
Michael Hooper - 16T - 13A/3D
George Smith - 10T - 8A/2D

In the game against the Rebels even Billy Meakes had more RIs than some of these OSF - 24T - 17A/7D.
As did Pekahou Cowan and TPN - 24T - 22A/2D; Ross H-P - 21T - 15A/6D; Adam Coleman - 21T - 19A/2D and Matt Philip - 21T - 2-A/1D.

The changes are very obvious in the following comparison for OSF in SR2016 and Super Rugby 2017.

 

[The torpedo]

Impressive analysis ForceFan.

Just a couple of things - a) do you have a legend for the acronyms & abbreviations and b) do you track forced penalties (e.g. one of the OS flankers winning a not releasing penalty for their team)

 

[Inside Shoulder]

Is this reduction in contesting breakdowns working?

 

[cyclopath]

Is this reduction in contesting breakdowns working?

Depends what you deem "contesting". If pilfering is the measure, it seems to work for better teams (i.e. not Aus teams). Kiwi teams are opportunists, with ability across the park at going for a steal, if / when the chance presents, but more and more, going for a counter-ruck. The ABs especially are good at counter-rucking enough to slow the ball or disrupt it significantly, without necessarily winning it. In any event, keeping the focus on one player as the contester / pilferer seems to be changing.

 

[ForceFan]

Just a couple of things - a) do you have a legend for the acronyms & abbreviations and b) do you track forced penalties (e.g. one of the OS flankers winning a not releasing penalty for their team)

No I don't track Forced Penalties as not enough camera angles to be sure who did the job in the ruck and not enough time to gather more than ruck stats.

Most of the acronyms are standard for rugby stats from ESPN Scrum or Vodacom Rugby.
(I'm not a big fan of Fox Sports stats)

TOW - Turn Over Won
TOC - Turn Over Conceded
PenC - Penalty Conceded
YC - Yellow Card
m/c - metres per carry
LB - Line Break
OL - Off Load
HE - Handling Errors
D Ruck - Defense Ruck (the opposition have the ball)
OSF - Open Side Flanker (aka No 7 or Breakaway)

Is this reduction in contesting breakdowns working?

IMO - No.
Especially when the Ruck Involvements by Aussie Tight 5 are generally below that of the quality opposition.

Once I've got the Ruck stats for the ABs v Lions 3 Test I intend to do a comparison of the ABs ruck work versus that of the Wallabies in the June Tests.

Effectiveness at the ruck is a lot more than simply earning a Turn Over.
D rucks are all about disruption (of set moves by the attacking team) while allowing your own defence to set themselves.
To give the opposition total freedom for up to 60% of their rucks I really don't think is working at all.
Effectiveness also includes timely support - with the right numbers- of your own ball carriers.

 

[ForceFan]

Interesting to look at Michael Hooper's Ruck Involvements change over the time I've been collecting these stats:

TEST RUGBY:
2014 - 41 Total - 27 Attack/14 Defence
2015 - 29T - 21A/9D
2016 - 29T - 20A/9D
2017 - 23T - 15A/8D

SUPER RUGBY
Waratahs win Super Rugby Title
2015 - 29t - 21A/8D
2016 - 27T - 19A/8D
2017 - 23T - 17A/6D

Changes that have occurred over this time:
Cheika replaced McKenzie.
Pocock available - 2015 & 2016.
Breakdown rule changes.
Game plan for the Wallabies.

Have the Wallabies re-adjusted the game plan without Pocock?

 

[Bullrush]

@ForceFan - I remember the stats you put up in 2015 for many of the ABs games in the RWC year.

I remember being amazed at how many RIs Richie McCaw had - most games he was in the Top 3 for the ABs if not No.1. I'll be interested to see what Sam Cane's numbers were like for the BIL series. It seems that even with the changes in the rules, McCaw still made RI's a massive part of his game. I remember the stats you put up before and after the RWC Final showing the sizeable disparity between the ABs and the Wallabies - I think the AB 2nd row were getting more RIs than the Wallaby back row.

If your OSF isn't going to get involved at rucks, surely someone else has to pick up the slack?

 

[ForceFan]

I'll be interested to see what Sam Cane's numbers were like for the BIL series.

You can see the ABs numbers against the Lions at
http://www.greenandgoldrugby.com/community/threads/ruck-involvements-–-wallabies-all-blacks-–-mid-2017.17816/

Sam Cane had the most RIs - but Sam Whitelock & Brodie Retallick weren't far behind him.

 

[ForceFan]

An update after Round 17 - 2017

Only Alcock could change if he plays in the finals.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

What that tells me is that Hardwick should be groomed mainly as an openside and encouraged to be the ruck monster and hard hitter on defence, as a complement to Hooper. Basically Pocock Mk II.

The comparison is pretty stark with the AB's. I've been in FF (Folau Fainga'a)'s camp for a while and agree that we need our locks in particular pressuring more at the breakdown. I know it's a trade off hitting the rucks vs fanning out in defence, but rugby is all about competition for the pill in every phase and I think we need to have more blokes smashing in at the breakdown. The more we slow down or steal their ball, the fewer tackles we miss IMHO.