Bob Dwyer Rugby Workshops

In certain northern hemisphere media circles, it has been become fashionable, in recent years, to claim that the southern hemisphere rugby administrators are trying to hijack the ‘true’ game and convert it into some form of ‘try fest’, where the values of traditional forward play no longer count. The real reason for the southern cries for law change, the northerners have claimed, is that the south no longer have the skill nor the will to fight the forward battles.

“Is the game only about the number of tries scored?”, they have asked. “If three tries are better than one, what about nine tries? Would that be three times better again?” This was the prelude to one such article which pleaded for the IRB to resist such “flippant suggestions” and to insist on the preservation of “the core values of the game”.

Well on the strength of this weekend’s games in both hemispheres, there is no cause for alarm. In all of the vital ‘end of season’ games – Heineken Cup semi-finals and crucial Super14 matches – the ‘old’ forward values decided the outcomes. The size, pace and fitness of the combatants has certainly changed, but the basis of victory remains the same as it did fifty years ago.

“Do not let them ‘defuse’ the scrum!”, they pleaded. They certainly need not have worried. Despite an insistence from the IRB on a fair, early release of the ball from the tackle in order to open up space for quality attacking play, the scrum was clearly the major weapon for victory in this week-end’s games.

Last year’s champions, Leinster, used three different front-row combinations in an effort to contain Toulouse in their Heineken Cup semi-final. They made their first change – a brave one from coach, Michael Cheika – after only 30 minutes; such was the effect on their total game plan. To their great credit, Leinster managed to stay in touch on the score-board for three-quarters of the game, but the damage inflicted by the Toulouse forward pack lifted their team and took its toll on their opponents. It was ever thus!

The same can be said of the scrums of the Highlanders (v the Waratahs), the Brumbies (v the Reds) and the Stormers (v the Crusaders). In a number of these instances, injuries had weakened certain teams. This was unfortunate, because these were crucial matches and the results carried significant consequences. Nevertheless, the message was clear. “If you cannot compete at scrum-time, it’s going to be a long, hard afternoon!”

Why is this so? For me, I see the scrum as your “get out of jail” card. When your opponents have possession, you must defend – sometimes for extended periods of time. If you are good enough, you can resist your opponents for long enough to, perhaps, force a scrum – a knock-forward, a ball held up in the maul, drive them backwards, etc. Your reward for all of your toil is “your scrum feed”, but, if your forward pack can’t realize quality possession, the doubts start to creep in.

There are other areas for potential forward domination. The lineout and the tackle contest are equally important and require other physical and mental attributes and skills. Such is the real joy to be gleaned from the complex game of rugby.

For the Bulls in their hard-fought victory over the Sharks and again in the Toulouse game, the lineout and the subsequent driving mauls were significant contributors to the results. The Bulls were unable to gain early superiority in their scrum battle with the excellent Sharks scrum, but the quality of their lineout possession – with Matfield, Botha and Spies, all Springboks  – was the foundation for their driving maul. This eventually wore down the Sharks pack and the victory was there. Toulouse and the Stormers also realized the ultimate value of the driving maul and used it to great advantage. If you cannot throw in a top quality defensive lineout, one which can limit the security of opposition ball, their driving maul can assume massive proportions and, as was the case for Leinster v Toulouse, give your opponent a steady succession of “three pointers”. The Stormers lineout and maul were equally effective – not surprisingly given the 205 cms (6ft 10ins) Andries Becker and a forward pack which averages 114 kgs (over 18 stones) per man – over the Crusaders.

The other area – perhaps not universally one of the traditional forward skills – which proved significant in many of the weekend’s important games was the ‘tackle contest’. I, and many others, always refer to it in this way, rather than as the ‘breakdown’, because it is not a ‘fault’, a ‘breakdown’. It is essentially the ultimate drawing of defenders and can make space for support attackers, if you can win the ‘contest’. It is a ‘contest’ and I use the term advisedly – indeed there are many more ‘tackle contests’ than any other in the game. If you are to be ultimately successful, your teams must win these contests. Indeed, this has been the single most significant area of dominance for New Zealand rugby since the international game began.

I would have thought it obvious, although this is clearly not the case, that, if you are to win these contests, you must commit committed troops to the task. Leinster did – and it kept them in the match. The Waratahs did not – and the match was as good as lost after 20 minutes.

The more things change, the more they remain constant! It was ever thus!

Launch the heavy artillery! Weaken the numbers and their resolve!

Send in the ‘fly-boys’ and the contest is over!

What a fantastic weekend of old-fashioned, modern rugby.