Breakdown - O'Driscoll Brilliance v Wales

Simon Zebo ran in his first 6 Nations try for Ireland on Saturday, opening his country’s account for the tournament in the process.  Whilst he was the finisher, the old magician O’Driscoll was the architect, drawing in 3 defenders to create the space for Zebo to jog in unopposed – every winger’s favourite kind of try.  We’ll be taking a look at why what BOD did was so good, and how it made Zebo’s finish probably the simplest one he’ll have all season.

 

O’Driscoll (green 13) receives the ball wide on the left, just inside the 22metre line, with only Zebo (green 11) outside for support.  Directly opposite him is Jonathan Davies (red 13), whilst Alex Cuthbert (red 14) is marking Zebo and Leigh Halfpenny (red 15) is covering fullback.  O’Driscoll receives the ball flat on an outside break and hits the accelerators.  He runs laterally, just getting on Davies’ outside shoulder.  Because Cuthbert doesn’t know if Davies will reach O’Driscoll or not, he will decide to step in, whilst Halfpenny, who is covering across, will also take out O’Driscoll in the belief that Davies won’t catch him.  Zebo meanwhile, spots what O’Driscoll is trying to do and instead of switching, as most wingers would do on a lateral run near a touchline from a centre, he hogs the left touchline.

 

With Davies just reaching O’Driscoll and Halfpenny covering in any case, Cuthbert has made a mistake by stepping in, leaving Zebo unmarked.  He should have left the inside man to his inside cover (and/or full back) and concentrated on his job (marking Zebo) unless he was absolutely sure O’Driscoll would otherwise have a free run to the line.  As it is, O’Driscoll is able to flip a perfect pass out behind the in-stepping Cuthbert to the onrushing Zebo, who has held his line brilliantly.

Let’s watch the master at work once more.