[su_dropcap style=”flat” size=”4″]R[/su_dropcap]ugby is a game of projecting force on the opposition.

We can talk about wider schemes and patterns – the more complex aspects of the game – but those come into play when you are (a) playing at a physical disadvantage to the opposition somewhere in the attacking line or (b) you have already created the space.

Everyone’s ideal is to play the game simply because the simpler your game plan is, the more likely you are to retain possession phase for phase. There’s nothing that simplifies the game of rugby like a physically dominant pack.

The less physical dominance you have in key areas, the more complex your game must become to compensate.

Physical dominance is usually clustered in the front five with the back row being an area where you can throw in “options” depending on your game plan but this isn’t always the case. Some sides have those physically dominant players in the back row or midfield so they can afford to have players who fit the “support” profile elsewhere in their pack makeup.

The very best sides – the top sides in Europe and at test level – have 5 or 6 of these physically dominant, test calibre athletes dotted through their offensive line.

Leinster’s Heineken Cup-winning side of 2018 had Cian Healy, Tadhg Furlong, James Ryan, Dan Leavy, Andrew Porter and Robbie Henshaw in their matchday squad. James Lowe gives them this quality heading into 2020.

Saracens Heineken Cup-winning side of 2019 had Mako Vunipola, Jamie George, Titi Lamositele, Vincent Koch, George Kruis, Maro Itoje and Will Skelton in their matchday squad.

These players help you win collisions, narrow defensive lines, and allow your creative players to play with space and a positive angle of attack. Other players help to facilitate this – ruck support when it comes to forwards, set-piece specialists (usually lineout) and scrummaging specialists although, ideally, they’d be power carriers too. These support forwards will ideally also be more athletic, wider running forwards in the mould of a Siya Kolisi or Ardie Savea but this isn’t always possible.

In the hypothetical scenario below, we’ve got six power forwards in our attacking setup with two support forwards who are pacier and more suited for making gains in the wider areas. We’ve also got two ball-carrying midfielders alive on this big openside play and you’ll notice that they are our two flankers. The traditional archetype of a big, hard carrying blindside forward doesn’t always have to be the way in the modern game.

We can divide out the roles between the pack and in this instance, our blindside is a wide-channel carrier with a lineout speciality.

A structure like this – with a big ball carrying rotation in the middle of the field – gives you simple options and radiating complex options depending on the defensive picture.

But on the first phase of the sequence that we’re looking at, we don’t need too much complexity. All we’re looking for is one pass from the scrumhalf to our heavy tighthead prop and let our size come into the occasion.

These set-up phases are really important, even when they don’t get huge gain line initially. You can add a bit extra to this situation by tipping the ball on, or back inside or swivelling it back to the #10 but by far the simplest route is to take the ball into contact directly from the pass.

I have no problem with my heavy power players blasting into this ruck to ensure we win the ball. They can trap any jackals and make sure the tackled player stays on the ground.

The next phase gets width and hits our lead runner in the midfield forward pod. If a call comes from #12 or #13 to go “option!” then we’ll go wide but we know our plan here. Hit the lead running forward off #10 and then see what the picture is after the collision.

After the collision and, in this instance, I’ve had our guys make a slight gainline win but win quick ball. Our heavy carrying midfield have slid across and, essentially, make another forward pod for the opposition to worry about as they slide across the pitch to match our position.

You don’t need massive gain line every carry, you just need to win consecutive collisions and build on that momentum.

That’s how Leinster played so well into the wind last weekend. They were playing almost exclusively in the forwards until they ran out of space and, when the backs they brought into the line won gain line, they went back across the pitch with their heavy forward line.

In a lot of ways, there was a clear segmentation between the forwards and backs with regards to carrying roles with the previous ruck point as it pertained to field position being the key decider of the carrying target.

This is Leinster’s key attacking strategy; play amongst the forwards, retaining the ball and looking for gain line wins to create space and then launching the ball to the backs when the space and angle allows.

Let’s get away from the Leinster game for a minute and have a look at some similar sequences from France. I had a look at Toulon vs Toulouse over the weekend and thought it meshed well with this article.

***

We’ll start with a straight-up forward carry as Toulon play into a period of Settled Phase Play. This is the play that happens after 4/5 phases of play off a transition or set play.

This is a good example on both sides of the ball. It’s a simple pass from Serin to Alainu’uese but it’s an effective collision in that it sets the platform for Toulon to play off. Toulouse meet it well through Esltadt and Mauvaka.

The next phase sees another low-risk pass to Gigashvili – with a gainline win aided by Etzebeth and Etrillard before Toulon try a pullback move on the next phase.

Parisse swivels the ball back to Carbonel, who tries to take a slice at the seam between forwards and backs but finds Kaino hasn’t been drawn in by Toulon’s forward play.

When you look at this sequence, you can see a clear delineation between forwards and backs. The amount of forward integration into the backs is minimal, with Lakafia adding width alongside Ikpefan on the blindside of the previous ruck.

Parisse, Toulon’s other support forward is in the middle of a midfield forward pod where his passing skillset can link the forward play to the backs.

Ollivon tries to act as a decoy screen for Carbonel – make himself look like a passing option to draw Kaino which would create a lane for Carbonel to attack – but Ollivon was slightly off and the space didn’t appear.

When we look at Toulon as they move into Settled Phase Play, that separation between forwards and backs becomes even more apparent with the end game being to narrow the opponents forward line and create high-quality opportunities for the backs to break the line.

Toulouse played in much the same way, albeit with slightly more interaction between backs and forwards through Cros and, at times Elstadt.

It’s all built on those five or six heavy carrying forwards that manage to win the forward on forward mini-game (break or compress) to produce opportunities for the backs to exploit. The more of these forwards you have, the better.

To my mind, you can never have enough size and physical dominance in your front five/pack. If we look at Toulon and Toulouse from the above game, we see a familiar pattern in their starting XV.

Toulouse: Castets, Mauvaka, Aldegheri, Arnold, Tekori, Elstadt, Cros, Kaino
Toulon: Fresia, Etrillard, Gigashvili, Etzebeth, Alainu’uese, Ollivon, Lakafia, Parisse, Savea.

Every top team in Europe is either looking to sign those few elite players in the or develop them from within their own system. The more of these players you have that project force at the very highest levels, the better your chances of success on the rugby field are.