Something I wrote in 2009

“All war is based on deception.”

The psychology or war is based on morale of the army. If the troops are negative they will perform poorly on the battlefield. The same is true with rugby. With a negative attitude you will perform badly. When you are deceived by another, you feel negative and it causes negative thoughts and negative attitude. The object of the deception you create on the rugby field is to make the opposition negative. You also want to deceive, because if you deceive, the opposition expects one thing, but unexpectedly gets confronted by another. This deception gives you the upper-hand, as the opposition is confused and will not be ready for that which follows. Examples of deception include a dummy pass. A dummy switch, a dummy runner, Concentrating attacks in one position to open up another section of the field, etc…

“Be extremely subtle, even to the point of formlessness. Be extremely mysterious, even to the point of soundlessness. Thereby you can be the director of the opponent’s fate.”

This means that you must hide what your plans are the enemy (opposition) must not hear or see you approach. The idea is that you structure in such a way that the opponent will NOT be able to understand the structure. The element of surprise must always be present. Deceiving the opposition is of extreme importance. Play with their mind by doing what is unknown to them. One of the main ingredients of surprise is the availability of options. If option 1 becomes known to the opposition, you must be able to play option 2 or 3. What must however be kept in mind is the fact that the basic principles and elements of the game of rugby ALWAYS stay the same. Refer to the aspects discussed below. (Decision making)

“He who knows when he can fight and when he cannot, will be victorious.”

This is one of the most important aspects of the game of rugby. You do not want to “fight” in you own territory. You don’t want to get involved in close exchanges and expend a large amount of energy, when in your own territory. If you can rob the opponent of possession, you have to do so reasonably quickly. The better option could however be to drive the opponent back first and only after that get into a position to steal the ball. Or when it’s not expected you can run from your own territory, as the opposition back three would be further back. But do not run into close contact and get involved in a wrestling match. Rather use the space on the outside, as you do not want to spend a lot of time in your own territory. Don’t waste energy when it is not necessary. If the opponent protected the ball properly for example, then do not try to ruck/counter-ruck, but rather spread out on defence so that you have more players available to drive them back and/or create another opportunity for turnover ball – (Decision making)

“Hence that general is skilful in attack whose opponent does not know what to defend; and he is skilful in defense whose opponent does not know what to attack.”

In all contests, whether it is war, or a game like rugby, you must firstly on attack keep the opponent guessing. The opponent must not be sure where to defend. This means that if I play the same pattern all the time, the opponent has the opportunity to figure out how to defend. For this reason it is important to vary the attack, or to have options, so that if mid-way in an attack, when the defence appears to be up to the task, you must be able to change the attack (options), so that you confront the opposition with something he does not expect. (Decision making and deception).

In defence, you defence must be of such a nature that the opposition must not know where to attack. For this reason there are a number of defensive patterns that are in use, where the main aspects of successful defensive systems are always the same.

• Keep your defensive lines
• Back three in position deeper function as sweepers
• Defend inside-out – (Best example is the sevens defence, where a line of 6 players can cover the whole width of the field by shifting quickly). This also prevents chances of an inside step.
• Defence can also be used as attack by assigning one/two player/s the task of chasing out of the line for more pressure, but the defensive line must close behind the chasing player to keep the defensive line intact. That one/two player/s do not form part of the “defensive line” and have a roving role (Also known as a form of “rush defence”)
• The suitable defensive pattern will depend on the players you have available, their skill level and their speed.

“Opportunities multiply as they are seized.”

The more you break down the opposition and the more you take your opportunities, the more the opposition start to doubt their own abilities. Once the opposition is unsure about their own abilities, panic sets in and their defenders break their lines. They then start to cover for others and do not play their own game. The more unsure the defence of the opposition, the more you chances of breaking that defence increases. Therefore, the more pressure you apply on attack, the more opportunities will present itself. This is also in line with the psychology of the game. Make the opposition feel negative and your opportunities increase.

“Supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.”

“The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.”

These lines in the “The Art of War” again refers to the psychological effect on the enemy. A good example in breaking the spirit of the enemy is to defend hard in your own half, while you do not have the possession. When they cannot get through and lose the ball, one single kick of 50m gets them deep into their own territory. You could have had the option to try and run in your own half, or to wrestle in your own half. But why increase the risks and fight when it is not necessary to fight. A single kick or running into space, relieves the pressure, without fighting (wrestling). This also also a big aspect in the “Art of War”. Make sure you cross your own territory as quickly as possible without fighting and then only fight one the ground you want to gain for yourself.

Another example of subduing the opposition without fighting is a drop-goal. You are in a scoring position, but the defence of the opposition is still strong. Chances of breaking through are there, but it is difficult. Instead of fighting for 10 to 15 minutes for 5 or 7 points, a drop-goal can give you three points in a few seconds. After a second drop-goal for example, the opposition will then try to cover the drop-goal by rushing out of the defensive line. This then creates more opportunities…

“The opportunity to secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself.”

This is again a repeat of the basic principles. Make sure your own defence is strong. Keep your lines. Trust yourself and your team mates. Give the opposition a solid wall at all times. The opposite is true for the enemy. Deceive them into a situation where they do not trust themselves. Make them break the defensive lines by doubting their own ability. Make them unsure about the next area of attack. Should they come up to defend against running? Should they turn back to cover for the unexpected kick? The more options you have, the more unsure the opposition will be and the more new opportunities will be created.

“Thus, what is of supreme importance in war is to attack the enemy’s strategy.”

This is what is normally expected in professional rugby of the technical analyst or advisor, but it is also important that the players understand the decision making necessary to vary patterns of play and the game-plan when required. What is important here is that you have to know your enemy”. This means you must know how they play and what they want to do…

Examples:

1. If a specific team plays by rushing up more in defence than others, your back-line must firstly be deeper to create more space. As the outside defenders now have to shoot up further, the chances of getting out of the defensive line increases. This means the gaps will now be created further back, which also means your loose-forwards will have to run different lines to support.

2. In the above example a grubber or a chip kick can force the opposition to turn or hold back. This means you have to think on the field and you have to make decisions. (In such a case a clear call must be made to make your support players play flatter for this option, so that pressure is placed on the defence. The loose forwards will for example now run a more attacking line than in the first example.)

3. If the defence of the opposition is flat and does not come up, then you can play a little flatter and attack the gain-line closer to the point of breakdown. Here the support players must also play closer to the gain-line. (Always support out of depth!)

In terms of this it is very important that one must be able to assess the opponents in the first 10 – 20 minutes at the most. So that any changes can be implemented as soon as possible. The decision-makers, “usually” 8, 9, 10, 12 and 15, depending on the team in question must therefore also “read” the play of the opposition in order to understand the opposition strategy. At the same time all the decision makers must COMMUNICATE in order to develop changes to attack that specific strategy.

Too many teams rely on fixed patterns and game-plans and when confronted with something different, they cannot adapt to the changing requirements. They then continue with the wrong pattern of play, just because they don’t know or understand anything else.