Coaching – Attack first. Both of these laws are intertwined and I see a couple of major areas to work on. With the two sides being 10 metres apart there is now an opportunity to run more back moves, along the lines of what you see from lineouts, simply because of the extra time created to play. I would look to bring in the blind side winger as an inside option as the only player likely to be able to get to him would be the openside flanker. Problem being for the openside is that his first target is the 10 who is now 5 metres further away than normal so he will really have to fly, leaving himself exposed to the inside ball to a fast running wing. The opposition 10 is then faced with the task of taking the man down at pace. With the extra time you will also be able to move the ball wider if you have the pace outside to use it well. Finally I see a major amount of back row attacks being developed. Number 8 peels off and is followed by the 9 and flanker. The extra time they get will enable them to get over the gain line pretty quickly and to tie in the opposition midfield (targeting the gap between 10 and 12 to bring them both in). Quick ruck ball at that point (probably using the flanker and 12 to clear out) produces great opportunities to move wider still.
Defending – this is going to be tough. One thing is for certain, I wouldn’t want to be a 10 defending that channel this season! Everything is going to be coming at the 10 and a whole lot quicker than before as the attacks will have had extra time to gain speed and momentum. 10s will have to tackle like demons. Back rows will have to be quick as they will need to cover far more ground than they do now as the breakdowns will happen wider out. It may be advisable if the defending team can’t disrupt the attacking scrum for the 9 to drop off the 5 metres and become an extra man in defence straight away. Alternatively he should stay very close to the back of his own scrum (rather than track the attacking 9) to act as an additional back row when the ball is released.
Lineout and throw
- If a team puts the ball back into their own 22 and the ball is subsequently kicked directly into touch there is no gain of ground
- A quick throw may be thrown in straight or towards the throwing team's own goal line
- There is no restriction on the number of players who can participate in the lineout from either side (minimum of two)
View – Point 1 brings some major defensive headaches! No longer is the easy option of passing it back and kicking straight to touch going to be available. Anyone watching Super 14 this season will know that this has created a helter skelter game of kick chase. The ball is certainly in play for longer. Point 2 just speeds the game up and allows an extended option for the current quick lineout. It’s high risk but can be valuable with the right broken field runners in place. Point 3 is an interesting one. At worst you could see a 3 man line being called and the opposition putting in 7 and just swamping the attacking side. Alternatively you could see the opposite and get a 14 man lineout in attack trying to set up a maul and being pulled down by 3 men in defence. Likelihood is that we will end up with broadly similar numbers at any given point and an increase in the use of off-the-top ball as mauls become less productive under the new laws.
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