When Clive Woodward took over the England team in 1997, he set out a clear plan to win games. Ultimately, the last point of his plan was to \u201cscore tries\u201d and he was clear they needed to do so from first phase possession.<\/p>\n
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In 1997 the scrum was a lot different to the way it looks now. At international level, though some coaches will be looking to win penalties at the scrum, it seems to be returning to an attacking platform.<\/p>\n
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It\u2019s also worth remembering that in 1997 sides did not have the luxury of that extra 5m that defences now have to stand back.<\/p>\n
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While Woodward doesn\u2019t float everyone\u2019s coaching boat, the fact that scrums bunch their opposition defence, the space to attack remains an attractive attacking opportunity.<\/p>\n
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Our team mindset<\/p>\n
We can count on scrum ball as a viable attacking force. <\/p>\n
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When we construct our attacking plan, we should be expecting to score with our backs from every scrum in their half. \u201cWe\u201d is key, because your players have to be confident they can do this too.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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However, it is well worth remembering the words of Gareth Edwards, the legendary Wales scrum half who scored the great Barbarians try against the All Blacks in 1973. He said the team didn\u2019t set out to \u201cscore\u201d when they recovered the ball in their own 22, but they had\u00a0the intent to attack, break the line and make progress.<\/p>\n
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So, alongside this mindset, your team should build in a failure rate. That means, if we don\u2019t score from this play, it\u2019s not that the move won\u2019t work, or we will never score from these situations.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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The players on the pitch need to assess what they could do differently next time, confident that if they execute their skills at the right time, they will bust the line and perhaps go on to score.<\/p>\n
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But, these are in the moment problems. You need to do some planning ahead of the game to make sure you have some solutions already in your armoury.<\/p>\n
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Us and them<\/p>\n
But defences are more organised than ever, aiming to close down time and space. <\/p>\n
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To breakdown a defence, players need to use good angles of running and accurate passing to exploit what little time and space there is available.<\/p>\n
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This is true of plays from a quick ruck and from a scrum. So, before you build your play book, you and your players have to be aware of their own skillset. They can then identify what needs to improve.<\/p>\n
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Key running skills<\/p>\n
There are three basic angles of run to take\u00a0a pass: <\/p>\n
Straight
\nTowards the ball
\nAway from the ball<\/p>\n
Each has its merits. <\/p>\n
A straight run preserves space on the inside and outside and tends to fix defenders. <\/p>\n
Towards the ball attacks the inside or weak shoulder of the defender. <\/p>\n
Away from the ball takes the player away from the defender in front of them. <\/p>\n
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In all cases, a defender can simply follow the attacker, unless they\u2019re confused because other attackers are running different lines.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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An attacking backline that runs hard and in many directions creates spaces.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Use Colin Ireland\u2019s running angles activity on\u00a0page 5<\/a> to develop this.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Key passing skills<\/p>\n Our focus in this answer is on running lines. <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Once the gap has been exposed, it needs an accurate pass to send the ball to the player in that gap.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Because the passer and the receiver are running in potential different directions, the passer needs to use the right weight and speed of pass. The calculations the brain is doing to work out relative speeds is quite something.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n