Contact It’s Importance in the Modern Game Level 3 2015 - Lachlan Parkinson Page | 1 CONTENTS CONTENTS ....................................................................................................................................... 2 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 3 2. Winning the Collision .................................................................................................................. 4 3. Ruck Speed .................................................................................................................................. 8 4. Breakdown Support .................................................................................................................. 12 5. Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 15 6. References ................................................................................................................................ 16 2 Lachlan Parkinson Level 3 Paper 2015 1. Introduction The following paper will look at the importance of contact in modern rugby and how coaches have adapted training practice and behaviour to ensure their teams remain successful. The paper will examine Super Rugby team’s stats in the contact area and whether there is direct correlation with team success. There are a number of questions that we can pose that will help identify the important of contact to the game and the success of a team, they can include: • Does winning the collision affect attacking shape, defensive shape and penalty decision at the tackle contest.? • Does being dominant in contact in attack improve the speed of the ruck ball provided or on the flip side whether dominance in defensive contact actually reduces ruck ball speed.? • Does contact play a part in the number of players required at a breakdown and if so what is the affect and how do we manipulate it effectively? • Is success in contact a way of improving our continuity and flow of play? All these questions may be reflected in the way we train and the type of athlete we require to be successful which provides our last question to look at which is: • Will the importance of contact change the outlook of both coaches and performance staff and how they approach training and preparation? By examining these questions this paper will provide an insight into the importance on contact in the modern game of rugby and highlight key areas for coaches to improve or exploit to increase their opportunity for success. 3 Lachlan Parkinson Level 3 Paper 2015 2. Winning the Collision Attack The ability to dominate the tackle contest during attacking ball carries is a central component of successful performance in rugby union. Performance analysis shows that the top 4 teams in the Super Rugby competition demonstrate a higher percentage (19%) of tackle-breaks compared to the middle five (16%) and bottom five (11%) ranked teams. The statistics outlined below demonstrate this from the 2014 Super Rugby Season. The statistics look at totals for all matches played in the 2014 season. Attack Runs Run Mtrs. Tackle Break Gain Line Half Breaks Line Breaks Blues 1659 11367 321 602 226 108 Brumbies 1572 10169 256 539 170 117 Bulls 1353 9284 271 491 166 95 Cheetahs 1412 10459 281 452 198 130 Chiefs 1676 11269 312 615 226 126 Crusaders 1638 11896 323 552 225 143 Highlanders 1334 9339 351 498 169 105 Hurricanes 1782 12773 389 612 239 151 Lions 1366 9960 298 480 178 124 Rebels 1670 11765 333 629 201 117 Reds 1502 9813 276 550 152 120 Sharks 1410 9583 346 428 131 101 Stormers 1569 10924 318 535 187 109 Waratahs 2147 15361 411 785 314 169 Force 1555 9827 289 572 196 95 From the data above we can identify some significant points about the importance of winning the collision to being a successful team. The waratahs were the 2014 Super Rugby Champions and they also won the Australian conference. They significantly made the most metres when carrying the ball, with over 2,000 more metres than any other team, they made the most line breaks. The most significant statistic from the above table for the waratahs is their ability to achieve gain line, they were the number 1 team in achieving gain line when carrying the ball, they achieved this almost 150 more times than any other team. 4 Lachlan Parkinson Level 3 Paper 2015 This gain line statistic is important and is identifies that the waratahs were able to achieve go forward and front foot ball, which in term would have stressed defensive structure of the opposition and therefore lead to the number of line breaks they were able to achieve. It seems that from this we can make the assumption that attacking ball carriers are more likely to dominate the tackle contest when this carry has advanced beyond the advantaged line. If we look at the other end of the spectrum at teams who did not perform well in the 2014 Super Rugby Season, we can identify that their statistics are reflective, if we look at the cheetahs for example they only achieved gain line success 452 times which is almost half of what the waratahs achieved, along with 142 tackle breaks again this figure is much lower than the successful waratahs. On average all teams that won their conference and participated in the Super Rugby Final series of 2014 featured in the high end of the statistics in regards to ball carries, this can lead us to say that winning the collision and dominance in this area is important if a team wishes to be successful in rugby union. If we look at the international game the statistics again tend to reflect that dominance in this area are generally reflective of overall performance of the team. Below is a table outlining the statistics taken from the 2014 Rugby Championship. Attack Runs Run Mtrs Gain Line Tackle Breaks Half Break Line Break South Africa 339 2295 125 67 46 25 New Zealand 381 2695 153 86 58 32 Australia 433 2704 190 78 67 23 Argentina 331 2294 117 70 45 35 Defence As we have discussed above the ability to win the collision in attack is important to the overall success of a rugby team, but does this same dominance of the collision in defence reflect overall success. Again if we analysis the statistics below from the 2014 Super Rugby season we can identify a number of significant figures which may answer the above question. The statistics look at the number of tackles made, tackles missed, the tackles effectiveness percentage of a team and how many tackles resulted in a successful pilfer for the defending team. 5 Lachlan Parkinson Level 3 Paper 2015 It also shows the number of Turnovers forced by the defending team and where these occurred either at the tackle or at the ruck which followed. Tackles T/Over T/Over Forced Pilfers Made Missed Tackle Eff% Forced Tackle Ruck Blues 2078 280 88.1% 27 135 28 43 Brumbies 2360 328 87.8% 34 136 22 57 Bulls 2220 338 86.8% 24 156 50 43 Cheetahs 2216 382 85.3% 38 163 33 62 Chiefs 2033 254 88.9% 44 158 33 62 Crusaders 2437 365 87.0% 45 178 39 68 Highlanders 2792 370 88.3% 42 159 30 65 Hurricanes 2295 324 87.6% 39 169 41 59 Lions 2257 312 87.9% 33 179 29 47 Rebels 2100 267 88.7% 35 138 31 53 Reds 2228 337 86.9% 24 163 50 50 Sharks 1883 276 87.2% 42 176 30 74 Stormers 2198 307 87.7% 32 159 32 64 Waratahs 2100 315 87.0% 40 181 47 60 Force 2214 319 87.4% 35 145 32 59 When we examine the statistics from the table, there are a few that stick out as significant in indicating a dominance of contact. The waratahs where in the top tier in pilfers and turnovers forced. The most interesting statistic was that their turnovers were also one of the highest to occur at the tackle. This may reflect that the tackle was dominant and forced the ball carrier into error or into a poor position which made access to the ball easier for the pilfering player. Again the Sharks and crusaders who both won their respective conference ranked highly in the same area’s as the waratahs, where as teams who finished low in the conferences such as the blues and the rebels performed on the lower end of the scale in the same areas. It is important to consider however that other factors may influence the figures above and the outcome of matches. We need to consider that a smaller team may avoid contact and look to pass the ball which will in turn reduce the number of ball carries and therefore the opportunities for tackle breaks etc. Likewise, a kicking team may not be as reliant on ball carries to move the ball forward as they use kicking skills to play field position and back their defence and ability to win contact in this area. 6 Lachlan Parkinson Level 3 Paper 2015 All of these considerations must be taken into account by coaching and team preparation staff when preparing players for matches. This will be looked at further later on in the paper. Overall however teams that were dominant in both attack and defence at the contact area of the game where the teams that contested and eventually won their conference and in the case of the waratahs the competition. This clearly shows that being dominant in contact and winning the collision has a direct relationship with being successful in rugby. The next section we will look at is ruck ball speed and its impact on team success, which we can perceive as a direct result of winning the contact zone. 7 Lachlan Parkinson Level 3 Paper 2015 3. Ruck Speed Attack When we discuss the importance of contact to the modern game we need to also consider what effects winning the collision has on the following ruck situation. A major factor to a successful team attack is the ability to generate fast ruck ball. This is important as it creates stress on the defensive team as they have less time to set up their defensive system, as well as produce line speed in their defensive line.