Chronicles from New Zealand: Where's the difference?
The weekend's first round of games from the World Cup produced a lot of surprises. Surprises in the sense that games that were meant to be one-sided turned out to be a lot closer than was expected.
With ten minutes to go Romania was ahead of Scotland. Not only were they ahead but they were also playing a lot more convincingly. The Japanese high tempo game caused problems for the French. Given the spirit of their performance, brave blossoms' was indeed an apt name for the Japanese team.
The reality however was there were no surprises in the first round of fixtures. Even with the Welsh clash, there seemed an air of inevitability that the Springboks would find some winning points somewhere. If you look at all the games (with the possible exception of the USA performance) the dominance of the underdogs came from their technical skills up-front.
At this early stage of the tournament, it seems the gap is closing amongst all nations with regards to set piece play, especially come scrum time. This point is best illustrated with the Italy - Australia game.
Where it was believed that this match would be a good test for the Wallaby front row. It must be said the Australian scrum did perform well against the Italians, a sign that their front row has indeed improved. These technical set-piece are skills that can be enforced an re-enforced at training. You can do drill after drill, weights and gym sessions to improve your scrummaging, mauling and driving.
However it's what you do with the ball that ultimately determines your success. It's the spontaneous stuff. It's the ability to finish opportunities. Turn possession into points. Have a look at the Australia, Italy game. With the Italians, once the ball made it to the second-five the Azzurri seemed bereft of ideas. Contrast this with the Australians in the second half; the Italian tryline was always going to threatened when Beale, Ioane or O'Connor had ball in hand and space in front.
Countries with backs that can read the game and make superior decisions in possession will continue to dominate world rugby. This does not mean that there's no room for strong forward play. Good back play thrives on quality ball that is recycled quickly.
But ultimately success depends on what you do with ball in-hand. Players like Israel Dagg, Ma'a Nonu, Richard Kahui and Conrad Smith of the All Blacks have this inate ability to make the most of attacking situations. Watch Smith in action. He's almost like a wizard. A creator of gaps and overlaps.
So where's the difference? If you live in a country like New Zealand you're immersed in rugby. Your surrounded by knowledge. You can walk into a bar and happen upon someone who could give Graham Henry an earful of plausible advice. Sometimes this is our problem. Many fans just aren't willing to surrender their opinions. Thus developing a derisive rather than supportive fan base.
However this knowledge is a powerful asset when it comes to player development. From a young age, kids are surrounded by coaches who have extensive experience of the game. Many kids start at 3-4 years old in club nurseries on a Saturday morning. Congregating to learn basic skills. To take the first steps in pursuing their father's dreams.
These trainings also serve to give Mums a welcome break from their energetic tykes. Once kids reach school age they start playing Saturday morning touch or ripper rugby. The key here is that kids develop confidence in passing and running with the ball. They start learning elements of teamwork. No emphasise is placed on results. No scores are kept. Certainly no tables or championships are entered into.
Tackle rugby is played from eight years. Club convenors organise teams by age, unless a child is extraordinarily large or small for their age. Teams are mixed boys and girls. Which has a positive flow-on effect with our woman's rugby. During our winter season, I watched an 11-12 year old match. The best player on the field was an athletic girl who as number eight had an uncanny ability to run from the back of the scrum.
The passion for young people's rugby is intense. Secondary school rugby is broadcast live on New Zealand's rugby television channel. Rugby players always seem to retain an interest in how their old school team is performing. This can lead to good crowds at finals or traditional fixtures.
All this gives the young stars exposure to playing in front of crowds and allows them to learn how to handle big-match pressure. However the real learning is done every lunchtime, afterschool or with fun in the sun touch games be it in parks or on beaches. Kids just picking up the ball, throwing it around, doing kicks or playing touch. Each touch of the ball helps with player development.
The real learning is done here. Far from the dominating yells of the sideline coaches. It's in these games kids start developing their decision making skills. Learning how and where they can beat opponents. Learning their strengths and the things they need to work on. The kids get together. They adopt their favourite players names and they relive scenarios.
Do I take the ball back to my forwards, spin it wide, kick it or run for the gap? It's all good learning for when the big game comes. It would be interesting to compare total rugby hours (be it game, practice or fun) individuals from different teams have experienced. It's probably here you'll find the difference between the teams that won on Saturday and those that were unlucky. More rugby time would help Romania beat Scotland, Italy play two halves against Australia or Japan to equalise against France.
@AzzurriNZ
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2 commenti:
Very instructive food for thoughts, great contribution, tnxs so much AzzurriNZ!
"However it's what you do with the ball that ultimately determines your success. It's the spontaneous stuff. It's the ability to finish opportunities. Turn possession into points. Have a look at the Australia, Italy game. With the Italians, once the ball made it to the second-five the Azzurri seemed bereft of ideas."
Mi è venuto in mente quanto ho scritto - up here - a proposito della partita col Connacht:
"Non padroneggiando le fasi statiche Treviso è sembrata spuntata e a corto di idee."
Anche se non penso sia SOLO una questione di tecnica e di abilità.
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