AB Props
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@duluth The Breakdown highlighted the way the NH players were cleaning out rucks differently from the ABs and were getting quicker, cleaner ball. The AB forwards were going off their feet and the NH players were staying on their feet and clearing out people beyond the ball clearing space for their big ball runners. Basically, a small technical shift making a big difference.
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@old-samurai-jack said in AB Props:
clearing out people beyond the ball clearing space for their big ball runners
that is often illegal, but not always policed.
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@taniwharugby said in AB Props:
@old-samurai-jack said in AB Props:
clearing out people beyond the ball clearing space for their big ball runners
that is often illegal, but not always policed.
The NH teams have struck a deal
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@taniwharugby Yeah, I am sure it is a fine line but I think it is the act of staying on your feet and driving over the ball which is the letter of the law. That creates space and gets the defending team on the backfoot. Obvious but going off your feet stops the momentum forward, takes your own players out of the game, and gives the defending team time to fan out.
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@old-samurai-jack said in AB Props:
@taniwharugby Yeah, I am sure it is a fine line but I think it is the act of staying on your feet and driving over the ball which is the letter of the law. That creates space and gets the defending team on the backfoot.
How do you do that if the opposition forwards have fallen over the ball and sealed it off?
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@canefan The way I understood it is they were going in low and exploding upwards on their feet making clearing the breakdown more efficient. Maybe I took too much from the explanation but it made sense after watching the ABs get blown away by both the Irish and French in that area and the resultant space it created behind the AB pack.
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Ruck arrivals don't tell you everything (how effective are they once they get there etc)
Still, I thought these stats were interesting
Lomax is the first player to the ruck seven times per game on average – a stat more typical of a loose forward than a front-rower, while Hodgman averages 5.3 first arrivals per match. No other prop has been managing the same feat more than four times per game on average in the current season (with Joe Moody, Jermaine Ainsley, Ollie Norris and Aidan Ross all hitting that mark). In terms of overall offensive rucks hit, Lomax is again head and shoulders ahead of the flock, managing 106 this season (17.7 per game). Irish-born Crusaders prop Oli Jager’s 16.7 rucks per game is not far behind but only on seven occasions has Jager been the first player to a ruck – and therefore the most important player in the breakdown contest. On the defensive side of the breakdown, Chiefs loosehead Ollie Norris (3.5 attended per game) and Hodgman (3.3) lead the charts in terms of industriousness, while they’re part of a five-strong group who have secured two turnovers each throughout the season. -
@old-samurai-jack staying on your feet is a no brainer, I mean when they clear well beyond the ruck which takes out other players not part of the ruck is the illegal part, but ideally you take thier man with you when you clean so he is involved in taking out one of his own players as well, harder to ping.
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Surely the mighty Williams needs a look in?
Although it may be a bit early for him
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Owen Franks confirms All Blacks aspirations ahead of injury-delayed Hurricanes debut
Three years after he was dropped from New Zealand's 2019 World Cup squad, Owen Franks wants to play for the All Blacks again.
Returning from an injury and relatively old.. I doubt his work around the field will suddenly get better now
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@cgrant Being huge doesn't always correlate into being All Black worthy. We will just have to wait and see the outcome on these guys. Look at Grant Batty for example, huge of heart and feistiness but small of stature.
…..and you can be small and a bit of a pussy in contact and still be an AB. Look at Foxy and Merhts !!!!
