The Gallagher Premiership returned last Friday, and while the ink had barely dried on the final, we were served up with some great rugby. The first two tries of the Premiership season whet the appetite, and showed what could be in store this season. Both had remarkable similarities, starting from a lineout and being finished by forwards. However, they also showed the range of attacking options available to sides when using the Set Piece. Akker van der Merwe’s try was built in the fringes, and involved just 1 pass. Meanwhile Sam Simmonds scored his first try off the back of lovely interplay using 3 passes to find the weak point in the Quins defence.
The Akker van der Merwe try starts from a 5+1 lineout, with the +1 indicating that Ben Curry – a forward – will act as Half Back. The use of Ben Curry at half back is incredibly interesting, and has become a common lineout set up. By employing a forward here, the maul can be set a lot faster with Curry simply able to take the ball straight from the jumper. During Sale’s walk in to the lineout we can also see another interesting aspect of their lineout set up.
As highlighted by the red box, Sale have their two jumping options positioned next to each other. This concentrates their threat. It also means that any dummy jumps are more impactful. With both players also able to list, this setup allows Sale to manipulate Northampton’s lineout defence.
The impact of this dummy jump is really important.Notice the movement by Sale’s number 4. He takes a step backward, revealing the possibility that Jono Ross could jump moving forward. This drags not only his opposite man, but also the Northampton number 6. By dragging Isiekwe and Rainyurawa with him, Wiese disrupts a possible competition pod from the Saints. Isiekwe – who would be the front lifter – has to turn with Ross, and means that the Saints jumper is late to compete. This allows Sale to get clean ball, with Akker finding the jumper at the top of his leap. With stage one of the lineout complete, the Sharks move onto positioning the maul, where they can open up the opportunity for the back peel.
While it’s not quite clear using the magnification tool, we can focus on the actions of Sale’s number 4. Having acted as the focal point of the Shark’s deception, he now bounces around to the far side of the maul, pushing on the outside of the original lifter. Meanwhile, Api Rainyurwara (red square) enters the maul more centrally. Northampton have failed to counter the Sale push directly, leading to the maul spinning.
Also notice the Saints player who is standing off at the front of the maul. He has to stay and protect the blindside 15m channel, but is watching the ball. This prevents the guard from seeing Akker tracking across, and possibly alerting the openside guard to the movement.
The final stage of the try is Ben Curry’s back peel. The openside flanker darts from the back of the maul with deliberate timing and precision, thus opening a hole and allowing van der Merwe to charge through.
The first key is that Curry runs outside the first defender. With the majority of the Saints team having to start 10m back, the hinge defender’s first objective is to secure the seam. This means that with no aid on his outside, the Saints defender shifts across. His attention may also be drawn by the option of Sale’s number 5 running a hard line. The big tackle that Curry draws from the joining Saints defender is another example of how Curry has drawn attention away from the inside ball. The final aspect that allows van der Merwe to break the line and charge over is the shielding he receives from the maul. With the maul spinning, the Sale players can use a bit of gamesmanship to maintain the hole, and allow van der Merwe to drag the tacklers over the line.
The second try of the season came from Exeter’s game against Harlequins, with Sam Simmonds profiting from another beautiful lineout move to carve through and score a brilliant first try. The try showed a small change in order to increase the speed of Exeter’s attack so they could hopefully catch Harlequins cold.
The Chiefs call a 4 man lineout, acting with speed to take the Quins by surprise. One point of interest surrounding the Chiefs’ set up is the positioning of scrum half Jack Maunder. Maunder is at the front attracting the interest of the front Quins defender. He is then able to peel away and receive the ball. His peel also opens up a new front option for the Exeter lineout. Because Quins aren’t expecting a non lifting pod, they contract to the front and are unreactive in the second after Maunder pulls away. Danny Care remains largely stationary in the 5m channel, illustrating the surprise.
The Exeter attack is multilayered, aiming to manipulate the Harlequins defence. The Chiefs have their attack formed into 2 pods, with both pods consisting of a lead runner and an out the back option. The first lead runner (dashed black circle) plays an important role in holding the inside defenders. This has the combined effect of not allowing the Harlequins’ second line to move too quickly. This leads to the second line of Quins defenders beginning to hold their feet, and slowing down. The pull back option shown by the yellow square begins to drift outside. This fixes the outside of Quins second defensive line. This is crucial in creating the hole for Sam Simmonds to break through.
As the 1st pull back option drifts around and flattens, he forces Esterhuizen to follow him. This means the Harlequins centre is blindsided by the second pod options. This forces his outside man to bite in on the tip runner. However, the far outside defenders have pushed beyond the ball. They may be expecting the ball to come out the back to Woodburn, another variation on this strike play. On this occasion, the over-aggressive push of the Harlequins defence on the outside forces a hole which Sam Simmonds can sprint through.
The first two tries of the Gallagher Premiership season therefore contained both similarities and differences. While both were built through expert manipulation of the defence, the Sale score relied on driving power, with the maneuvering of the maul opening a gaping hole for Akker van der Merwe. Meanwhile, the Sam Simmonds score came from a double layered strike move which maneuvered the defence with guile and speed. Both tries were built through defensive manipulation, but as always in rugby there is always more than one way to score.
The Analysis Guy 