And it’s not hard to work around a throw that can’t hit fingertips at the back. Just jump where your opposition isn’t set up.
I’m amazed More teams don’t implement 3 or 4 man lineouts, it’s just going out to a crash ball in most cases with the way teams play anyway!
Depends entirely on game plan, throwing to the back and off the top of an 7 man line-out is the preferred option for quick ball to an attacking backline, it doesn't give the forwards time to defensively clog up that 10-12 channel. For any 5/8 this is his preferred attacking platform, it gives less time for the defensive line to move up and there are less forwards in the opposition defensive channels.
Shorter line-outs mean more defensive options in the backline for the defending team, which may suit the game plan or may not. It can work if thats what the game plan dictates, poor weather conditions may dictate playing it a bit tighter. However the lineout is still statistically the platform from which the most tries are scored, so thats a consideration if you want to take a safer option. Another issue is 3 man line-outs don't offer any redundancy if the balls is overthrown or knocked down, and the defensive pod typically knows where the ball is going, its just a matter of timing to compete.
Generally any ball to the front you want to bring down as its stops fliers coming through and targeting the half or flyhalf, at the back you want it off the top to give the fly-half more time to work with against the defensive opposition. If you've got a big forward pack that like running it tight, you would send it to two and let the second pod get set for the next phase.
Variety in the line-out is key though, its important to mix it up between short and long line outs to keep the defensive line-out guessing. Even some of those 'special line outs' that the AB's pull off occasionally, they serves two purposes, an attacking threat that week but also forces next weeks opposition to dedicate training time to try and counter it.
