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Using Your 9 on Defence

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  The game of rugby has advanced so quickly over the last couple of years when it comes to your 9 defending and the role that he plays within a defence system. A key example of this is how the Harlequins use Danny Care on defence.  Within a defence system 9 has a primary role to play and we may ask what would that be. Below are some roles that he has to perform: Organising the ruck defence Plug next to the ruck if the pillars are not set and folding Working and communicating with the back field Cover attacking kicks in behind the defence line Organise the spacing on defence  Those points are just some of the basic roles he has to perform to ensure that the defence system is functioning. It is crucial that your 9 communicates at all times. The interesting thing that you will see is that Harlequins have given Danny Care license to roam and hit opposition when they least expect it. This can create a little bit of doubt on the attack as they might not know when that next hit ...

How to use your lineouts to score with variety, looking at the British and Irish Lions.

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 The British and Irish Lions have played two games already against Japan and the Sigma Lions. Warren Gatland will be happy with how things are going now as they prepare for the rest of the tour. There are a few articles out on tries scored and the source of possession it came from and most will tell you that most of those tries scored would have come from lineouts. Below is a image obtained from Opta Data which focused on the tries scored in the rugby world cup quarterfinals in 2019. The full article was written by Eoin Toolan who is a performance analyst and can be found here for deeper reading: https://www.the42.ie/analysis-world-cup-quarter-final-tries-4864914-Oct2019/ So far we have seen a few tries from the British and Irish Lions where they are looking to score from first phase and from their lineouts, attacking the transition zone and vacuum and looking to put opposition under pressure. But first the intention is not just to set up, play phases and get into structure but sco...

Defence in the Six Nations: Focusing on Wales

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  Wales Defence 2021 Six Nations   Wales have struggled to get going since Wayne Pivac took over at the start of 2020, losing most of their games in last year’s Six Nations and finishing second last only because of their win against Italy. Sometimes when new coaching management takes over it can take some time to implement systems and get players to buy in from the beginning. From what we have seen in this year’s Six Nations, Wales has improved immensely and sit second on the table with equal points after two rounds, having beaten Ireland and Scotland. We can analyse their defence but should also bear in mind the impact that Wales playing against 14 men may have had on their results .   Tackle System and defence breakdown Wales use a double hit system. One defender goes low on the legs to stop that momentum and the next defender will go on the ball either to choke and soak or to rip the ball out. You will also see that they have 1 defender putting pressure on the ...