McGeechan’s selection blunder
11 Jun 2009
British & Irish Lions coach Ian McGeechan should have picked another centre in the Jamie Roberts mould.
This is according to Jake White, who’s busy coaching 120 school and club coaches at Paul Roos Gymnasium as part of Jake White’s Winning Way.
‘The Lions will have to change their game plan if Roberts is ruled out of the Test series with injury,’ said White during an analysis session on Thursday. ‘When Roberts has played 12 for the Lions he’s been the guy who’s taken the ball forward on attack and gotten over the advantage line. When Roberts hasn’t played, their backline’s been far more lateral, and they’ve made more use of the No 8, especially from lineouts.’
White believes the Lions should have brought another big centre in case something happened to Roberts.
‘I think they made a selection mistake, because if Roberts is injured, they either have to fly in another 12 from the UK who can play a similar game to him, which obviously isn’t ideal so close to the Test series, or play one of the other centres in the squad, who won’t make the same impact.’
White said if Roberts does play in the Test series, the Boks will need to be clever in terms of their defence.
‘When he runs the ball up, I’d say the Lions have a 60-70% chance of getting the ball back quickly, so if I were the Boks I wouldn’t load the first ruck with players. I’d target the second ruck, after the Lions No 9 has made a break or one of the forwards has taken the ball up.’
Other interesting observations about the Lions – made by White, Eddie Jones and some of the coaches at the course – included:
– The Lions have used the cross-kick on tour, which could make the Bok wingers stand further apart in the Test series. The inexperienced Bok fullback (whoever he may be) could decide to call them back to give him support, which will create confusion on defence. White referred to past occasions when England have scored tries by using their tall wingers to out jump the Bok back three.
– The Lions used the grubber a lot against the Sharks, which will give the Bok fullback something else to think about as far as his positioning on defence is concerned. (Will it be a grubber or a cross-kick?)
– The Lions’ main focus on tour has been their defence, because the four home unions use different defensive systems. White said he’d give their defence a mark of six out of seven so far.
– The Lions aren’t committing many players to the breakdown (sometimes just two) and didn’t appear to worry about this area of the game against the Sharks. This allowed more of their players to stand back in defence.
– When the Lions get the ball in their own half, they kick long and generally try to keep the ball in play (they won’t want too many Bok lineouts in the Test series because of Victor Matfield’s jumping ability). When they’re in opposition territory, between the halfway line and the 22, they play direct rugby, either through Roberts in the backs or one of the forwards.
– The Lions like to maul from lineouts, before using the pick-and-go or a cross-kick. White expects the Lions to drive rather than go wide if they have a lineout inside the Bok 22, because they have selected forwards to play that type of game.
– The Lions rarely contest opposition ball at the back of the lineout, and Paul O’Connell struggles to get quick ball on their own throw (Jones said he was ‘terrible’ against the Sharks).
– White said that while many people expect the Lions to target Adi Jacobs, it’s worth remembering that 13 is the hardest player to get to (a team need to make at least two passes) and there is always cover defence to provide support. Interestingly, 6 and 12 are the two players in the team who take the most contact in a game.
– Brian O’Driscoll never receives the ball off first-phase ball, and instead plays off second and third. He just doesn’t like the traffic.
– The way O’Driscoll was hunted down after his interception against the Sharks suggests the Lions have only one or two players who can beat the Boks with pace (another reason why they won’t play an expansive game in the Test series).
– A lot of the Lions’ moves from the scrum revolve around No 8 and 9. They can do this effectively because they have a big scrumhalf in Mike Phillips (103kg).
– The Lions use a rush defence, and want the opposition 10 to stand deep because that gives them more space in which to rush up and gain speed. They also want the opposition to run the ball (take note Peter de Villiers). What they don’t want is to be turned around by a kick (chip or grubber) because their defence will become disjointed. They also don’t want the opposition to get to centre-field, because that makes it harder to rush (a team can’t have five defenders on either side), or the opposition to get quick ball.
– White was surprised that the Lions turned down kicks at goal against the Sharks, because they took every opportunity to score points against the Golden Lions. He added that the only way for someone to practise goal-kicking is in a match situation, and that goal-kicking could decide the Test series.
– White said it was good for the Lions that the majority of their likely Test team had played in Durban against the Sharks, 10 days before the first Test at the same venue, because they had now experienced the conditions. He added that the Lions were also at an advantage in terms of game analysis, because they have recent footage of the Bok Test team. The Boks obviously don’t have nearly as much to work from because the Lions’ Test side has yet to play together.
By Simon Borchardt, in Stellenbosch
115 Comments
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11 Jun 2009, 16:18 pm
#97 cab:
lol
Thanks Cab
#98 Big Hit:
Thanks Big Hit i will have a look,but its late here so i am logging off,catch you all later and be nice to the next Kiwi that jumps on alright
Cyas
11 Jun 2009, 16:18 pm
mr hurricane am just pulling your leg, but was genuinely devastated when ABs were knocked out cos i thought Bokke would play ABs in an almighty final, and yes fully fit imo the Boks had the wood over the ABs…sorry about that.
11 Jun 2009, 16:21 pm
#100 Hurricane: hehe I’m always nice, it’s just banter to me
have a good night.
11 Jun 2009, 16:21 pm
#100 Big Hit:
yip i’m in paris, he plays for stade who i often go and watch. did not know he was gallas’ cousin, incredible. very hard to stop, very powerful thighs and legdrive.
11 Jun 2009, 16:28 pm
#103 cab: I didn’t realise you were in Paris for an extended period, thought it was just a holiday. Stade haven’t been great under McKenzie, can be boring sometimes. Have some truly world class players tho.
11 Jun 2009, 16:35 pm
#105 Big Hit:
no they haven’t at all, they not so happy with him, but some other good ozzie signing, that brock harris is a pretty damn good flyhalf for clermont. Fanatstically worked perpignon try against stade a couple weeks ago. really clever.
saw perry freshwater interviewed the other day, fairly fluent, tho the frenchies had a laugh in the studio, i dont think thats a bad effort at all for a prop.
11 Jun 2009, 16:44 pm
#105 cab: perry freshwater, now there’s a blast from the past. Top 14 winner now I guess. Are you fluent in French yourself cab?
11 Jun 2009, 16:45 pm
#107 Big Hit:
yip, they were enjoying the celebrations.
nope i’m hopeless
11 Jun 2009, 16:50 pm
#107 cab: hehe I’m also hopeless, thankfully in Paris most froggies were able to speak english (in the tourist areas anyway). Wilkinson seems to be pretty fluent, he taught himself by reading French newspapers, sounds impossible to me.
11 Jun 2009, 18:04 pm
This Lions team is very well coached. Good players with great coaches tend to make for excellent teams.
They are going to be a big handful.
Big. Fast. Tackle – best defensive lines and strategy I have seen. Kick. Scrum.
Relative weakness. Lineout. Wider loose.
Please pick the right guys. Looking at 6 & 12 and their defensive roles – well we know Schalk can tackle (if he gets there) but imo Steyn is the most offensive tackler amongst SA backs.
11 Jun 2009, 18:48 pm
#109 SodaJoe:
jaques fourie got to be there..
11 Jun 2009, 21:07 pm
#63 ashley: Yes, and sweet FA all else eh!! How many medals at the olympic’s, bloody disgracefull, a country with what 45mill plusand us with what, 4 mill, well enough said!!
11 Jun 2009, 21:12 pm
#59 Big Hit:Bshite, what you don’t understand is we hate the frogs, its not the rugby thing it goes much deeper than that alot deeper, and if you can’t figure it out, your a lot thicker than I thought you were.
Does WW1 and WW2 and R/WARRIOR sound familar, work it out.
11 Jun 2009, 22:25 pm
#109 SodaJoe:
That’s why Darcy has to feature at some stage.
He is a player who opperates really well in traffic, and himself and BOD know each other inside out.
Also he can play at 13 if BOD gets injured
11 Jun 2009, 22:52 pm
the other way to break down a rush defence is to get the ball through three quick phases until backs and forwards ar e mixed in the line. Then the rush defence will be confused and staggered (since forwards run slower than backs when rushing up- if at all). It is then just a matter of our mobile skillful forwards being able to run and read a situation like our backs. Yeah right…
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