jonh wrote:
Wasn’t a good watch really. Showed character but made very hard work of a game most quality sides would have run away with.
I tried to really focus on our attack yesterday and try to understand where it is falling down.
One thing that was blatantly obvious is we are way too flat.
I appreciate that in the modern era you play flat attacking rugby but we are so flat we are not able to hit the ball at speed.
We have very few bodies in motion. We lack option runners, our ball handlers lack strike options with very few runners working off the ball making it relatively easy for the defenders to identify what is happening in front of them.
Our passing accuracy is awful.
It’s a basic fundamental of the game but one which is hugely important. I lost count of the number of times we had laid a good attacking platform and the pass from either the ruck or the half were low or behind the runner. This was causing them to adjust their run, stuttering the entire move as it sent the timing of those outside them off, which was compounded by how flat we were which leaves virtually no margin for error.
Our lack of ruck threat is concerning when Powell is on. I think he is a fantastic player however it’s not quite working for him this year. He was probably the player that improved most under Lam as he seemed to have more freedom, however this year he seems to have reverted to being very 1 dimensional. The lack of craft/strike around the ruck makes it very easy for the opposition to read our play. This was highlighted when he went off.
Smith and Leului need to offer more than just being link men.
Whichever side Hastings goes to the ball goes to. Smith and TL seem happy to just be link men who give it to Hastings. They need to be taking on more responsibility and getting things moving around them rather than simply bring the link between the ruck and Hastings. The way they currently play is making it very easy for the opposition to read our attack.
I think the most glaring deficiency in our attack, John, is we are passing way too early. No Lockers and Hastings at full back means that we are simply not playing at the defensive line often enough. I lost count of the number of passes yesterday that were made without engaging a single defender. One up drives aside, I'd estimate that 4 out of every 5 passes made yesterday failed to commit the defense. We're too often just shovelling the ball along the line. It's too easy to defend and one of the reasons we're being held up over the line so often. We're attacking into a set defense all the time.
