The Toronto Arrows have been a revelation in Major League Rugby since joining the league last year (MLR’s second). In their inaugural year, the Arrows reached the semi-final stage. The winter weather in the Toronto area meant that for the beginning of the 2020 season the Arrows played all their games away from home – …
Author Archives: theanalysisguy
Combining Structure and Flair: Joe Simmonds brace v Harlequins
While lockdown continues the rugby void still needs to be filled. So I have looked back instead at a game in the English Premiership, in order to see what learnings can be taken for when rugby takes. In the following piece, I examine how Exeter converted two opportunities through fly half Joe Simmonds to expose …
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Collective Intelligence: How Wales built a multi-phase defence
Defence has become an increasingly important facet of the game. So while my last piece looked at scoring from lineout and the flair of attack. It is time to look back, to a wonderful example of grunt, guile and grit as Wales took on Ireland in 2015. The defence shows the importance of adaptability, ruck …
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Lineout Tries – Using rugby’s most plentiful platform
The lineout is rugby’s holy grail when it comes to attack. This is simply down to the various options teams can use on the attack. Teams have the option to pin various amounts of forwards in the lineout and numbers in their backlines to strike. As we are still in the rugby doldrums, I look …
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Organised chaos, striking from turnover
As this barren period of rugby continues, it is important to continue to learn and develop. So while the Barbarians with little preparation time may not seem the best team to learn tactical developments from. Looking back to their game against the Springboks in 2016 provides some real insight into turnover attack. This aspect of …
NOLA’s forwards exploit New England with wonderful finesse
NOLA and New England share an impressive match in MLR Round 5. Both sides scored some great tries, however NOLA managed to take back the lead with a particularly special effort. While it had more luck than the spectacular offloading of New England’s earlier score, this was a brilliant try working through the phases before …
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Scottish defence hold firms around double tackling and simple system
For obvious reasons, the analysis and punditry of the France v Scotland game focussed on the moment Mohammed Haouas threw away a chance at a possible Grand Slam game against the Irish. However, Scotland showed impressive defensive solidity both before and after the red card to restrict France. France obviously did manage to score tries …
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NOLA fall just short but structure creates first try
Yet again the MLR didn’t fail to disappoint with a great game between NOLA Gold and San Diego Legion on which the rugby family could feast. Yet again the first try of the game provided a wonderful look at the structure used to create a score, with NOLA going through a high number of phases …
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Simple structure allows France to create their own luck
France away at Wales, was a classic game, with tension and strong scores. It shows the development of Pivac’s game plan is still very much in the beta phase, however whilst the welsh side failed to fire, France created and took opportunities. The key part of any attack is how it starts. Without a beginning …
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Building blocks deliver Arrows victory
As the MLR descended on Vegas we were all entertained with a light bending, colourful display of rugby, as the Toronto Arrows took on the Houston Sabercats. In a thrilling game, the Arrows showed clear signs of development and why they’ve been such a success. In three passages of play, they showed an ability to …
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