Italy provided the shock of the Six Nations beating the Welsh in Cardiff. The Azzurri won their first game in seven years off the back of a new-found pragmatic attack, and their suffocating defence. The Pragmatic Approach Italy adopted a more pragmatic approach in the 2022 Six Nations. They were previously a side happy to …
Tag Archives: Wales
What does Adam Beard’s try tell us about the Lions?
Throughout the Lions tour we have seen Gatland developing the structures he believes will beat the Springboks. While most of the games were not of the highest calibre, they have provided a useful laboratory for the Lions. By looking at Adam Beard’s try against the Stormers, we can begin to see the fruits of their …
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Wayne’s Wales: Lineout
Under Wayne Pivac the Welsh lineout has been quite the roller coaster ride. In the 2020 Six Nations Wales had perhaps the worst lineout. Using Simon Gleave’s Lineout Effectiveness Metrics they sat bottom, however by the end of the 2021 competition they had risen to the top. This piece won’t focus on how they fixed …
Wayne’s Wales: Defence
Under Wayne Pivac, Wales had a rocky start defensively, conceding over 90 points across for the first time since 2015 in the 2020 Six Nations. The defence wasn’t any better when Wales played in the autumn, when they conceded the 3rd most points of any team. There were still some problems with the defence under …
Wayne’s Wales: Kicking
Wales under Wayne Pivac have developed into an innovative and forward thinking side. They have melded various strategies and tactics into a high skill, attack minded gameplan. The development however has not just been on the attack, with innovation also present in their kicking strategy, whether it being double footed scrum halves, 2 man chase …
Wayne’s Wales: Attack
Under Wayne Pivac, Wales have developed one of the strongest attacks in the Northern Hemisphere. In the 2021 Six Nations Wales scored the most points on their way to the title. One of the main drivers of this success has been the innovations by Pivac and Stephen Jones especially around the “no numbers on back” …
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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