Analysis: Tonga defence coach Grant Doorey on how teams can defend rucks and scrums
With the use of Tactic Pro software, Liam Dunseath from Sport Video Analysis catches up with Grant Doorey, the Tonga assistant coach, to talk ruck and scrum defence on behalf of RugbyPass to help explain to players and coaches the roles and responsibilities when defending an edge ruck and a midfield scrum.
"When defending an edge ruck normally you will position a player on the short side labelled “-A” but you can choose what you like. From the ruck outwards, player positions in our clip are A to G. Each ruck is different and the one used here is No9 who passes directly to No10 with a pod outside him, who are usually forwards.
"Notice the second distributor out the back usually happens to be the No12. The ruck set-up or picture could be quite different if the No10 had players inside him - for example, the blindside winger or if it were just a pod of three players directly from No9. Therefore, whatever the picture presented, the roles and responsibilities for the defenders change depending on what the attackers choose to do.
"When attackers have gained a midfield scrum, have your backs recognise how their backs set up. In this instance the attackers have chosen a 4/2 split with four on the openside and two of their backs on the blindside. The defending team has two backs either side. However, the No15 roams and can push up to cover the edge at the last minute.
"Notice how the No9 rides high to put pressure on the first receiver, allowing the defending No12 to defend the player outside. This utilises the extra players to cover the zone.
"Although it may look like a 3/2 split it actually gives us a 3/3 split. The defending No10 drops to cover the back field along with the blindside winger if the defending No15 goes up to cover the outside space.
"We encourage coaches and players to change positions to have a feel for each role and promote coaches to change formations within training sessions."
- Be sure to drop Liam Dunseath and Grant Doorey, the Tonga assistant, a line to sportvidanalysis@gmail.com with any tactical rugby questions
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What’s new its a common occurrence, just the journos out there expecting a negative spin. The outcome will be beneficial to jordie and Leinster. The home grown lads hav got some experience to step up to and be more competitive, that or spend the 6 months keeping the bench warm.
Go to commentsI’m all for speeding up the game. But can we be certain that the slowness of the game contributed to fans walking out? I’m not so sure. Super rugby largely suffered from most fans only being able to, really, follow the games played in their own time zone. So at least a third of the fan base wasn’t engaged at any point in time. As a Saffer following SA teams in the URC - I now watch virtually every European game played on the weekend. In SR, I wouldn’t be bothered to follow the games being played on the other side of the world, at weird hours, if my team wasn’t playing. I now follow the whole tournament and not just the games in my time zone. Second, with New Zealand teams always winning. It’s like formula one. When one team dominates, people lose interest. After COVID, with SA leaving and Australia dipping in form, SR became an even greater one horse race. Thats why I think Japan’s league needs to get in the mix. The international flavor of those teams could make for a great spectacle. But surely if we believe that shaving seconds off lost time events in rugby is going to draw fans back, we should be shown some figures that supports this idea before we draw any major conclusions. Where are the stats that shows these changes have made that sort of impact? We’ve measured down to the average no. Of seconds per game. Where the measurement of the impact on the fanbase? Does a rugby “fan” who lost interest because of ball in play time suddenly have a revived interest because we’ve saved or brought back into play a matter of seconds or a few minutes each game? I doubt it. I don’t thinks it’s even a noticeable difference to be impactful. The 20 min red card idea. Agreed. Let’s give it a go. But I think it’s fairer that the player sent off is substituted and plays no further part in the game as a consequence.
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