It’s generally considered as a given that players in the pack are, in general, getting taller and heavier.
The last few years of rugby would illustrate that pretty starkly. One look at at your average top-end professional starting pack would convince you of that, let alone looking at the recent Springbok side that won the World Cup.
To put it quite simply, it has paid out to be big over the last few seasons.
But I think the next few seasons will see a change in that taller/heavier trend, in some areas of the pack at least, especially if more teams begin to use a half lock or 4/6D in the back row. That will leave space for smaller, more mobile players to fill out the other two free slots in the pack in a way that suits your overall game plan.
It is in these two “free spots” that we will begin to look at a change in definition between what a “tight forward” and “loose forward” actually is. Just because you have #6 on your back doesn’t automatically make you a loosie, in the same way that having #7 on your back doesn’t automatically mean you’re a groundhog breakdown specialist.
I find it easier to visualise the difference in position between half-lock and the other two flanker spots by arranging them like this.
Not every team will set up like this but it’s a trend we see developing throughout the game if we look at the World Cup, Champions Cup and Six Nations over the last few seasons.
Leinster used a “half lock” in their Champions Cup run of 2018 – Scott Fardy – and it allowed them a bit of variation in their other two starting back-row slots with Murphy and Leavy playing altered roles from what we’d typically expect from an #8 and an openside. Leavy, the openside, was used as a primary phase play ball carrier while Jordi Murphy, the #8, played more of a support forward role. Leinster were able to change that up with their bench rotation of Ruddock and Conan, but Fardy’s role in balancing out their pack with Toner/Ryan in the second row was vitally important.
So, in a game where 4/6Ds and half-locks exist, how do we populate the other back-row spots?
I think we’re about to see the rise – or maybe the return – of the Wing Flanker.
We’ve all heard of the 6.5 Flanker. It was a massive trend in the game from around 2009 up until roughly the 2015 World Cup – and that archetype was typified by the likes of Mark Robshaw, Yannick Nyanga, Tommy O’Donnell and James Haskell. If I was to describe the Wing Flanker using the terminology of the 6.5 Flanker, you might say they’re a 7.5 Flanker.
Ideal Height: 5’11” to 6’2″
Ideal Weight: 100kg – 108kg
Must Haves: Explosive pace and acceleration, elusive footwork, expansive passing range in loose play, at the breakdown and off mauls, offloading off both sides, comfortable handling the ball in edge spaces, fourth option lineout ability, comfortable defending space at the edges and have the versatility to defend closer to the ruck, aggressive jackal, first phase pace to the breakdown if required, strong tackle involvement and a big engine.
Main Archetypes: Ardie Savea, Hamish Watson, Jordan Taufua
Future Examples: John Hodnett, Hacjivah Dayimani, Ben Earl
The ultimate archetype for the Wing Forward is Ardie Savea. His World Cup profile and the Hurricanes site has him at 6’2″ and the All Blacks site has him at 6’3″ but I think the shorter height is closer to the togged out reality in the house of lies that is rugby heights and weights. Either way, he’s a shorter and lighter back-row forward than we generally see at the top level and he fits the Wing Forward role perfectly.
He was initially used as an impact player off the bench in his initial run for the All Blacks and only really became a starter for them towards the end of 2018. He played a large role in the World Cup for the All Blacks as a starter (with Read operating as a half-lock in the back row, stylistically speaking) but you can see why Hansen would have chosen to use Savea off the bench – the Wing Forward is a great archetype to inject into a game in motion because of the pace they play at. If you’re looking to up the tempo against a tiring opponent, a Wing Forward is perfect. They can truck it up off #9 when necessary…
… and all good 7.5s should have the leg drive and contact skills to get over the advantage line here but they’re most effective in the wider channels.
Watch Savea (Black #6) tracking the wide track of the ball here before exploding onto the play with a great line and carry off the inside ball to the scrumhalf.
This is exactly what you want from a Wing Forward. He’s tracking the ball movement, lurking in the wide areas and he has the pace to keep up with and enhance the outside break. This positioning in the wider areas is a hallmark of Savea’s positioning on phase play.
Savea (and all Wing Forwards) are perfect for taking the ball at the edges of the play – either as a lone wolf in either side of a 1-3-3-1 or paired with another forward runner as part of a 2-4-2 or 1-3-2-2.
When you’re operating on the edges like this you must have pace, you must be comfortable handling the ball at pace and you’ve got to have footwork closer to an outside back than a forward.
The 7.5 flanker needs to be comfortable off #9 and have the pace and acceleration to be a key asset on wider plays.
Defensively, the Wing Forward needs to have good breakdown timing and instincts – they are smaller and lighter than other forwards so they have to pick their battles on their jackal entries. Go after too many of the wrong ones and you’ll get penalised (both by the referee and the cleanout) so you have to spend time tracking close to Off #9 collision points and filling space out wide.
Sometimes you’ll be chasing over to the openside and leading the line speed…
… sometimes you’ll be guarding the fringe against a badly constructed pick and go or tight carry and you’ll get a chance to use your speed and agility to get over an isolated ball carrier.
Everything about these scenarios is based on the 7.5 flanker using their speed and agility to get into a position to make a defensive play.
Sometimes that very speed and agility because of a lighter frame will mean you lose collisions…
… but that is the balance you have to strike. This GIF feels a little unfair because there are very few players in the game that could stop Etzebeth and Kitschoff getting big gain line in this latch and drive situation but it’s a reminder that physics will play a part sooner or later. When you pick a shorter, more agile back row you will lose tight collisions against bigger and heavier players every now and then.
Ideally, your 7.5 flanker will find themselves in a fluid contact scenario one on one, and they’ll be able to get their aggressive hand fighting for the ball into the game.
There is space for smaller, more agile, explosively quick forwards in the modern game. Not everyone needs to be a behemoth. The players that are best suited for this role will still need to have forward qualities like occasional lineout jumping, lifting, scrummaging hard on their prop and mauling and this is what makes them different from a young player (15/16) that might be better served as a ball-carrying midfielder.
