Ireland 2015

[Oldschool]

Attack and defence, and backs coaching are sorta the same thing, except in so far as the forwards spend time on exercises for forwards like lineouts and scrums while the backs work on moves off set pieces. If you're not playing 10-man rugby then it's only at set-piece time that the backs are together as a unit (and even that is becoming rarer at lineouts).Separate defence coaching was something that Woodward (etc.) used because they were able to bring it from league but didn't trust the coaches to have specialist knowledge of rugby union. But this was for a structured gameplan where there was a clearer divide. If you move the ball over a number of phases then you start mixing forwards and backs. If you don't, you still need to be able to defend against it.

It's hard to learn to defend against moves that you don't have the skill to execute. When you do them (and your regular opposition do) then you automatically get better at defending them. Opportunity knocks too infrequently to allow chances to pass because not everyone can execute when required. A defence coach who doesn't understand the attack isn't much use, an attack coach who doesn't understand every implication of the opposing defence's strategy is unlikely to be able to beat a half decent defence.

A lot of the defence coaches are becoming increasingly involved in running the backline when they have the ball (Kiss, Ford, Edwards etc.). That's what Schmidt is, he's a defence coach who's in charge of the backs coaching rather than having a defence coach who's subservient to a backs coach or a backs coach who covers defence. The way that we get around the inevitable delegation problems is that we have a skills coach: Richie Murphy.

Gaffney was (until this year) backs coach of Ireland and Leinster, an unusual situation that was partly due to the similarities between those two roles and was more feasible when it was easier to be away with the Ireland team and neglect Leinster.

Leinster have a different coaching structure from the traditional. We don't have the head coach and a hierarchical, narrowly defined coaching team with their own spheres of influence. There's a smaller core team with broader remits and we draw on a large pool of coaches like Kane and Farrell (video analysts).

For Ireland we have the situation where you have Kidney who has been a backs coach and is involved, you have Gaffney who's an old school coach with immense experience and you have Les Kiss who's a ex-rugby leaguer who specialises in defence.

As an aside.
In general terms what is the best defensive system for a junior club to use, given that personnel can change quite a bit from month to month.
What other systems, aside from drift and blitz are used. Would you favour one over the other and why or maybe in a more general sense, what are the weakness, strengths and even skills required for each system.
Thanks in advance!

[ronk]

I think blitz is better because you're more likely to force mistakes than make them, but you have to be disciplined. If the attack are aligned flat the ball is unlikely to go wide, if they're deep they will often lose territory. Really it depends a huge amount on what team you have, if they're fit: blitz. If not, don't.

I'm a tighthead, so my place in the system is different. I don't think too much about blitzing or drifting unless we're short numbers and then I have to make a decision based on what I see. For me the big thing is that I don't want fast guys trying to run around me because I'm lazy and they make me look bad. If you look at their numbers, and your numbers, then try and take away the easy options then you make them work. I'll hang on the blindside and get a rest knowing that (as long as) I'm marking someone and they're not going (usually) to go blind unless they have numbers.

It's the same with penalties. Get back 10m, get ready and teams won't run at you, so you get your rest. If you're making faces at the ref then they'll run at you and now you have to burst your gut or you'll be getting your rest an extra 10m back or even under your own posts. In that sense the right defensive system is just to continuously organise to what they're doing so you don't give them free yardage. That means pillars, then pillars, and more pillars. Every ruck, every time, it gets done. And if it there's a missing/late pillar when you have the ball, straight through, thanks very much.

If you're not doing that, your system doesn't matter, it won't work. Get it right and you start at the basics and take away the easiest options one by one until you suddenly find that you're a tough team to crack.

[Twist]

It's remarkable how many of the promising young players mentioned here have fallen away. It makes for interesting reading though