Backline defence captain
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@mariner4life Davy is going much better this year than he did at the end of last year, when I reckon he ran out of gas mentally.
Probably not surprising for a guy who in March 2021 was probably expecting to spend the year playing fullback for the Crusaders and the Mako.
He's very much a second-five rather than inside centre, though - and I'm still worried if he has to mark a huge munter in the opposition.
To refer to the OP - I'm not convinced either him or Rieko is the defensive KP we need.
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@Chris-B said in Backline defence captain:
@mariner4life Davy is going much better this year than he did at the end of last year, when I reckon he ran out of gas mentally.
Probably not surprising for a guy who in March 2021 was probably expecting to spend the year playing fullback for the Crusaders and the Mako.
He's very much a second-five rather than inside centre, though - and I'm still worried if he has to mark a huge munter in the opposition.
To refer to the OP - I'm not convinced either him or Rieko is the defensive KP we need.
i think they are using him differently as well. And he's not playing outside BB running him out of room and then shovelling shit at him
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@mariner4life you mean not using him to try and batter his way through, thats quite a novel approach on how to use a midfielder under 90kg
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@taniwharugby said in Backline defence captain:
@mariner4life you mean not using him to try and batter his way through, thats quite a novel approach on how to use a midfielder under 90kg
crazy aye?
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@taniwharugby He was more mid-90kgs - and he may even have packed on a few more kgs in the off-season (or should have tried to).
But, your point is still correct - 95kgs is a "little" midfielder.
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BB and DMac both 10s that work better with a bail out option at 12. RM a touch better but I guess that he just has more experience in finding ways to not compromise the 12..
The original question is one of the reasons I am not a great fan of JB at 12. He doesn't do a good job directing from the back and plays his own game so putting him in the midfield only adds him closer. -
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@Tim said in Backline defence captain:
@Chris-B What is average these days, about 105 kg?
Certainly over 100kgs.
Bovidae posted a video of ALB on the scales and he was something like 102.8kgs and you'd only class him as a middleweight.
SBW and Nonu were listed at 108kgs and looked it. There's a few who are bigger.
Big Bastard from France is listed at 120kgs, but maybe he's converted to prop!
Wiki says Levi Aumua is 118kgs, but that looks a bit much to me. No wonder he's a handful in NPC though!
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@Frye said in Backline defence captain:
@Chris-B he's tall for only 95kg though. Not exactly a low center of gravity he has there.
At best he's medium.
And when you select Smith and Mo'unga that is three smallish players in a row. Defences love it.Our defence has been average this year. Leaked a whole lotta points. Used to be if we hit 20, we won ... totally not the case any more
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@nzzp said in Backline defence captain:
@Frye said in Backline defence captain:
@Chris-B he's tall for only 95kg though. Not exactly a low center of gravity he has there.
At best he's medium.
And when you select Smith and Mo'unga that is three smallish players in a row. Defences love it.Our defence has been average this year. Leaked a whole lotta points. Used to be if we hit 20, we won ... totally not the case any more
A lot of the leaks is about system, not size. McLeod loves giving up metres
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@nzzp said in Backline defence captain:
@Frye said in Backline defence captain:
@Chris-B he's tall for only 95kg though. Not exactly a low center of gravity he has there.
At best he's medium.
And when you select Smith and Mo'unga that is three smallish players in a row. Defences love it.Our defence has been average this year. Leaked a whole lotta points. Used to be if we hit 20, we won ... totally not the case any more
The leaking is on the edges according to the stats.
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@nzzp Yeah - I don't think we've got any backs available right now who are elite defenders.
Maybe Jordie is at fullback.
I think ALB might be able to plug one of those holes - at a stretch Goodhue might plug the other.
But, then you go back to Mariner's point on offensive threat...
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@Chris-B said in Backline defence captain:
I think ALB might be able to plug one of those holes - at a stretch Goodhue might plug the other.
Goodhue was insanely good on defence against SA in his statement test in 2019 (I think the year's right) in Wellington. But post injury, do you back him to hold Lukhanyo Am? I'd be concerned ... it'd be shades of Jordie on the wing again (hee haw)
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@nzzp It's a definite concern - Jack's lack of pace got exposed a couple of times in Super rugby this year - though mostly he was able to cover for it.
The worry, I guess, is that we won't have much time to test it against test match opposition prior to RWC, so we might only get exposed when it really matters.
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For those of you no longer playing or coaching, the modern vogue is to leave the opposition winger to the covering fullback. It provides the benefit of showing space, forcing passes and using the side line. It allows you to bunch and restrict the middle which is much harder to defend after a breach as a side line break can really only go one way. Breach the middle and you can go either way.
Currently our wingers look to position themselves to do neither, or make decisions that expose them having made no impact shaping the oppositions attack.
Caleb's positioning and impact on defence is worrying, as is the amount of missed tackles by Will Jordan.
On attack we're looking much better now that the forward's shape and impact has improved.
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@antipodean said in Backline defence captain:
For those of you no longer playing or coaching, the modern vogue is to leave the opposition winger to the covering fullback
Modern? That was the "vogue" 30 years ago and is just a simple numbers game. Fullback and potentially blindside wing enters the line on attack, so fullback sweeps and tidies...as does blindside wing.
