One of the most notable features of the first full round of the Super Rugby competition was the high number of points scored, highlighting the influence of the new ruck laws on attacking play.
The seven games last weekend produced a total of 439 points, which was an average of 62.7 points a game. In comparison, the nine games played in the opening round of the 2017 season produced 508 points at an average of 56.4 points.
But if you take the then uncompetitive Sunwolves’ 83-17 loss to the Hurricanes out of the equation, last year’s total was 408 points at an average of 51. This means point production has effectively increased by almost 12 points a game.
Pivotal year lies ahead as Super Rugby seeks to emerge from troubled waters | Bret Harris
One round does not a season make, but the early signs are that teams will need to score points and plenty of them to win games this season.
In four of the seven games last weekend the winning team scored more than 40 points – Lions (47), Crusaders (45), Melbourne Rebels (45) and Highlanders (41). The lowest number was points was 19, recorded oddly enough by the usually potent Hurricanes, which would have been enough to win five games in last season’s opening round.
No doubt a range of factors contributed to last weekend’s high scoring, but the new law amendments at the breakdown would almost certainly have played a significant part in raising the bar for attacking rugby.
Under the new laws, the tackler must still get up before playing the ball, but now also has to return to their side of the tackle “gate”. As well, players on their feet may use their hands to pick up the ball at the ruck as long as this is immediate, but as soon as an opposition player arrives hands can no longer be used.
These two amendments to the law favour the attacking team by reducing the contest for possession at the breakdown, enabling teams to potentially hold onto the ball for long periods of time. There are still turnovers at the breakdown, but they are mainly the result of mistakes by the attacking team or counter-rucking and not so much by specialist pilferers.
If a team can control the ball for long enough in the opposition’s red zone, it seems almost inevitable it will result in a try or penalty goal. But variety in attack is still important. Knowing it is more difficult to steal the ball at the breakdown, teams are fanning out in defence in phase play, which means teams will need to be more creative in attack.
It looks as if attacking-kicking will become an increasingly important tactic. In a recent Six Nations Test Ireland created a massive 41 phases to set-up five-eighth Jonathan Sexton for a match-winning field goal against France. But during that marathon sequence of plays Sexton had to execute a kick-pass to an outside support to disjoint the French defence to gain the ground to put him in range for the drop-kick.
Likewise, Israel Folau scored in the Waratahs’ 34-27 win against the Stormers at Allianz Stadium on Saturday night by leaping into the air to catch a Bernard Foley high ball. Some of the New Zealand teams are already adept at attacking kicking, but you can expect to see the Waratahs and other sides use this tactic more and more to counter-act the brick wall defence.
Another area of the game that will become even more important is the restart. If a team can control the re-starts, it can control the game by maintaining possession and continuity for longer periods.
If last weekend’s Super Rugby round was any indication, teams will still play expansive rugby, shifting the ball from width to width, in an attempt to manipulate the defence, while tries will still be scored from counter-attack. But teams now also have the option of holding onto the ball ad infinitum and just boring forward until the defence cracks.
Ironically, Australia used to be the master of the multi-phase game during the Wallabies’ golden era in the late 1990s and early 2000s and the Brumbies’ dominance of Super Rugby in the same period.
For Australia’s current Super Rugby teams it may be a case of going back to the future as the pendulum swings yet again in the never-ending battle for supremacy between attack and defence.