The Breakdown - The Sneaky Scrum-half Snipe

Well, the dust has settled on another eventful weekend in the Six Nations and we can reflect on a round that showcased Irish power, Scottish mud and French whatever-you-call-it in abundance.  Of course, it wasn’t just the Scottish mud that led to the 20 point humbling at the hands of the English, but rather a very promising display from the visitors’ forwards and the back 3 in particular, and that’s reflected in my Six Nations Team of the Week, which can be found on The Rugby Blog.

However, one particular moment which caught my eye at the weekend was Luther Burrell’s try against Scotland, which went to demonstrate why I think – in the modern game – it is essential to have a scrum half who can provide a running threat.  And Danny Care, despite having limitations in other parts of his game (which, to be fair, he has evidently worked on), is one of the best of this breed.

Take the classic situation below.  England were mauling Scotland’s pack backwards before it stalled 5 metres out.  Care (white 9) had his backline outside him, with the Scots marking man for man and all looking fairly comfortable.  Dave Denton (blue 8), the powerful back rower, was the only guard by the side of the maul, watching for the scrum half snipe.  All in all, a pretty solid set up by the defence, right?

 

 

Wrong.  Where Care is so good – and Ben Youngs, too, when on his game – is with the darting lateral runs he makes to create uncertainty amongst defenders.  Some people say that it eats up space for those outside the 9, but as long as you have a runner charging from out to in, into the holes created, it can be absolutely lethal.  In this pre-planned move, Care will dart across into Duncan Weir’s (blue 10) channel, with big Luther Burrell (white 13) hitting a short line on Weir’s outside shoulder.  Owen Farrell (white 10) and Billy Twelvetrees (white 12) will be drifting wider to make the defence wonder if Burrell is just a decoy.

For the defence, this is a nightmare.  Denton is no slouch, but Care is undoubtedly quicker, and this causes Weir to question whether or not he should continue to drift wide to mark Farrell, as he’s worried that Care will slip through the gap between him Denton. So, he makes the decision to step in – or at least hesitate with his drift – and this opens up a huge gap.  Matt Scott (blue 12), doing the right thing, is keeping an eye on Farrell and Twelvetrees as they drift wide, and isn’t close enough to get drawn in by Care’s run.

 

 

The end result is Burrell as a Dawn French sized space to aim for between Weir and Scott, and a well timed pass from Care is enough to get him through it with the ball. 

 

 

 

So how, as a defence, do you stop that from happening?  You can't just carry on with your drift and ignore the 9's run, as they might sneak through themselves.  Well, the answer is simple.  If you don't have a seriously quick flanker who can handle the pace, you'll need to place two guards by the ruck, clogging up the channel which the speedy 9 wants to attack.  Of course, this may leave you short of numbers at the breakdown, but when you’re facing a rapid 9 like Care, you have to take the necessary precautions.