Analysis: Complex simplicity from Harlequins
Our analyst Sam Larner returns to Planet Rugby and this week his focus centres on a beautiful, yet simple, try from Harlequins at Twickenham.
Rugby is an increasingly complicated game. When analysis and specialist coaches first started arriving into the sport, gains could be made with relative ease and without the need for much complication. Now that all clubs employ teams of analysts the margins have become tighter and the advantages more complicated to achieve. It is easy to imagine that games are won in backrooms on spreadsheets but that’s not the case. Sometimes simplicity is best, as Paul Lasike showed against Leicester Tigers.
As with most very simple things, there is complexity behind them. How many players do you have defending at the scrum? That might seem simple, barring a card, the answer is seven. Eight in the scrum, seven defending. Of course it is not that simple, with a dominant defensive scrum you might face eight defenders, one of them the flanker closest to the action. A wheeling scrum might expose your attackers to a flanker and number eight, limiting your attacking effectiveness. Quins had a plan but to execute it they needed all eight Tigers’ forwards tied into the scrum. A solid eight man shove was needed to ensure that.
Ben Youngs has to follow Danny Care around the scrum. He is stopping the blindside carry but also trying to pressure Care. When Care picks the ball up he doesn’t immediately pass. The Quins shunt has kept the back-row in position but when Care picks up the ball is out and flanker Jordan Taufua can close. What that creates is indecision, George Ford can’t be sure that Taufua will get across in time so he has to stay tight to prevent Care from running through. Leicester centre Kyle Eastmond would be expecting some inside support from Ford but that has now disappeared.
Care has become the decision maker. He is holding the ball until he sees what he wants. He is looking at Jaco Taute. The centre is the key to this play. It might look like Quins only plan on passing to Lasike and letting him crash through but the play is more interesting than that. If all the defenders are drawn to Lasike then Care can pass out the back to Marcus Smith who can trot in for the try. Care is looking to see what Taute does. If he turns his hips in then the ball will go to Smith. If he turns his hips out then he is leaving Eastmond one-on-one against Lasike.
Care doesn’t quite get the look he is after. Taute refuses to be drawn in either direction and keeps his hips upfield. Care has held the ball for so long that when he passes Taute won’t be able to get across and support Eastmond. Taute hasn’t fallen for the bait but by taking the ball to the line Care has forced his hand. If Care had just passed from the base of the scrum then Taute would have just reacted to what unfolded. Care’s run is crucial to this try.
When Lasike receives the ball he has only Eastmond in front of him. Eastmond needs to make a dominant hit. Anything else allows Lasike to flop over the line. Eastmond makes the hit but goes too high. Lasike doesn’t break the tackle, but he doesn’t need too. He wins the collision and scores the try.
Conclusion
Lasike’s try was about as simple as they come. Run really fast and receive the ball then run through the defence. Everything is linked in rugby though. To achieve a try that simple you need a lot of complex actions happening in the background.