Waratahs vs Drua - Saturday 20 May 2023

[Braveheart81]

Thinking about why we were so heavily penalised for not rolling away, it occurred to me that BOK decided that since we were using two or three players to try to hold the runner up, as soon as BOK called "tackle" he could pick any one of three players for not rolling away. Interesting downside to our hold-em-up strategy, but I doubt other refs would have required such quick release. Given the Kiwi teams hold players on the ground so much to slow down the ruck, not many other refs would have given so many of those. Or maybe that was just top item on the referees must-do list this week.

We definitely ramped up this tactic against the Drua but it has largely been present all season. It's an interesting one in that it has both positives and negatives. It largely negates your ability to win a breakdown turnover because your aim is not to get the player down quickly and have a shot at the ball. You have some chance of turning it into a maul and getting the scrum feed but even that is inconsistent because of the amount of time referees will allow the ball carrier to get a knee to the ground before maul is called.

The biggest upside in my view is just how much is slows down each phase. It gives the defensive line a lot more time to organise and I think this is the primary goal behind the tactic and a big contributor to the Tahs' improved defence this season.