Analysis: Lineout masterclass from Harlequins

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Analyst Sam Larner returns to Planet Rugby this week to give a sneak peak of what viewers may see at lineout time in the upcoming Six Nations.

If you do most of your rugby watching during the Six Nations you will be surprised by how much the lineout changes each year. Recently the use of a back at the front of the set-piece has gone from being a novelty to being completely normal. As that competitive edge has disappeared teams have fought to find a new one. In this article we will look at the changes teams have made and what you may see during the Six Nations.

First, let’s start with some fundamentals about the lineout. The lineout is typically a little easier to defend than the scrum because you only need to defend in one direction. That means that you do not need blindside defenders to make one-on-one tackles. Instead you can stop the outside attack by rushing your outside defenders up. Subsequently, moving the ball to the wide channels is a difficult task to accomplish and even if possible there is no guarantee of success. The best place to attack off a lineout is therefore not wide but actually directly off the back of the set-piece. One way to get the ball there quickly is via the deliberate overthrow.

Harlequins showcased a version of the deliberate overthrow that we may see more frequently in the Six Nations. We have seen some overthrow variants in the last few years. American hooker Joe Taufete’e launched a lineout into the middle of the pitch during a USA World Cup warm-up match and Fijian hooker Sam Matavesi overthrew to fly-half Ben Volavola in the first Fijian lineout of the World Cup. Quins did something a little different with their overthrow. They lined Alex Dombrandt up in the lineout and then peeled him to the back.

By collecting the ball at the back of the set-piece Dombrandt can charge into the hole between the defensive line and the back of the lineout – the soft defensive area. The number eight removes the first defender from the defensive line by running directly at him. Danny Care was stood in the typical receiver position at the lineout and he is now perfectly poised to hit the inside line and receive the pass from Dombrandt. This move works so effectively because Care runs the inside line. If only Dombrandt was involved he could gain ten metres before being tackled. That would be a success. But clearly a much better success is the try. Quins force that to happen by hitting the soft spot in the defence and creating a two-on-one. No doubt Eddie Jones and his team of analysts will be looking at this as a potential attacking opportunity in the Six Nations.

One of the reasons why the previous move can happen is that Saracens haven’t put a defender at the back of the lineout. That gives Quins easy access to soft underbelly of the defence. In the following example Saracens do defend the back of the lineout but the result is the same.

As you can see, Saracens have two defenders stood off the lineout who join as soon as the maul is formed. They then have a further defender, Calum Clark, stood off the lineout who is there waiting for the peel from the maul. Clark jumps in when he thinks the maul is moving forward and that leaves Rotimi Segun as the fringe defender. When hooker Elia Elia picks up the loose ball he gets a free run at Segun. The winger has to make both a dominant hit and tie up the ball. That is a massive ask and Segun is unable to keep the ball in the tackle. Elia offloads to Paul Lasike and the American crosses over for one of his easiest tries.

The lineout maul is very simple, if the opposition keep their defenders out of the maul then you keep the ball in there. If the opposition rush defenders in then it provides an opportunity to peel out and attack a weaker defender. The analysts of the Six Nations countries will be looking at how the opposition defends off set-pieces. If they are content to let weaker defenders take on a key defensive position then teams will attack that.

by Sam Larner

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