In most attacking structures, the actions of the closest players to the ruck are, to my mind, the most important.

In a way, I think the actions of those players – usually forwards – when they take the ball off the pass from the ruck shows the attacking personality of a team. So much of what we see on the field in open phase play comes from those “starter phases” when teams move from set-piece structure to a more open phase structure.

From Munster’s perspective, a lot of what we want to do this year is based around our behaviour in this phase of the game.

Last season, I think our actions off the ruck in big games – both semi-finals to be exact – played a large part in our lack of success with the ball in hand in both of those games. I felt then, as now, that we played those games like a side that was physically much “bigger” than we were in reality and our downfall came, in large part, because we were physically outmatched in those moments.

You often hear complaints about “one-out” carrying but it’s something that every side does in every single game and the main differences come in what the one-out carry is looking to achieve. Is it just another phase or a precursor to something more? That “something more” is what Munster will look to build as the season builds to its different peaks and ultimate end-game in April/May.

A lot of our conversations about attacking shapes can get tied up in the complexity of 2-3-2-1, 1-3-3-1, 2-4-2 and so on. We need to strip that back a bit and focus on the most consistent structure we see in the game – the two or three players closest to the ruck.

When we look at behaviour off the ruck, you’re looking at finding a balance between ball retention and expansivity. This would be a pretty conservative shape option off the ruck.

The thing is if you have a big enough rotation of ball carriers at your disposal you can (a) almost guarantee the retention of the ball from ruck to ruck and (b) pressurise the opposition’s defensive integrity with the simplest catch pass movement there is in the game with this shape.

Here’s a good example of that shape in action.

World Cup final. Slow ball off a ruck to wait for the shape to get in place and then a pass to a near static target. End result? Gain line and a penalty. But, as might be obvious, not every side has the kind of muscle the Springboks have at their disposal, especially against a defence as “big” as England’s – and for England, see Saracens if we want to keep this local to Munster.

This kind of three-man structure should look familiar because it’s the same kind of shape usually preferred by Joe Schmidt. Murray would throw to a static target close enough to the ruck and, with possession all but guaranteed to be retained for the next ruck, your big-hitting forward carrier smashes into the defensive advance with two big ruck support forwards coming in right behind him, latching or building a ruck before anyone can get their hands on it.

Keep that up for 5 or 6 phases as you spread across the field and spaces will appear if you’ve got a big enough rotation of ball carriers to sustain it. By the time phases 6-10 roll around, you’ll get the ability to start playing some of your more expansive plays because the basic one-out structure has allowed you to progress to a position where you either have the angle or numbers to work with.

At a European level, I think only a full strength Leinster and Saracens have the kind of ball carrying rotation to play like this with any level of consistent success.

Munster tried to play this way last season in the big games, whether it was the actual plan going into the games or not. We played a tight, physical game against teams that were bigger and stronger than us in the areas where we wanted to play.

That needs to change this season and, for the most part, I think it has.

For convenience’s sake, let’s have a look at what our main considerations are in this area of the game;

• Width from the ruck.
• The tempo of the ball from the ruck to the carrier.
• The movement of the ball carrier relative to the passer i.e. are we static or running onto the ball?
• The shape of the structure the halfback is passing to.
• The pass options once the ball is in the structure.

The wider you go from the ruck, the more likely you are to run into opposition line speed because, naturally enough, the ball has to travel further to get to the target. As a result, the opposition will be closer to you when you receive the ball but on the other hand, taking the ball wider from the ruck means you will usually have more space to carry into because it’ll be away from the more compact defenders closer to the ruck.

Going wider from the ruck suits teams with a more mobile front five, like Munster do in 2019.

The tempo of the ball from ruck to the carrier generally relates to how quickly you can get your attacking structure to reset from ruck to ruck and ties directly into the movement of the ball carrier relative to the passer. 

The quicker your attacking structure can reset after every ruck, the more likely you are to find a disorganised defensive line. Picture it like having a big cannon against a wall that can rebuild itself over time – the quicker you can reload the cannon, the more likely you are to destroy the wall before it can rebuild after the last blast.

The movement of the ball carrier relative to the passer determines how the target moves onto the ball. Passing to a static target is easier, and is more likely to retain possession on the next phase. Passing to a moving target is much harder – for the passer and the catcher – but it means you’re more likely to win the collision with the defenders.

The pass options once the ball is in the structure relate to what you plan to do once the ball reaches the target. Are you looking for a tip on pass? Are you looking to offload in contact? Swivel the ball behind to a creative back?

All of these elements stress the skillset of the larger forwards that have to execute it. From a skills perspective, the “easiest” thing to do – strictly from a skills perspective because it hurts like hell – is to stand 5m away from the ruck, take a static pass and then crash into the defenders with a latch and look for weakness in contact before presenting the ball back.

The more you expect of your forwards from a handling perspective – be it running onto the ball, passing, offloading, etc – all have to be drilled week to week and you’ve only got so many hours in a week that has to be taken up with S&C and specific forward drills. As a collective, you’ve got to invest the time – during the week and during the game – to get these skills right.

The more mobile your pack – and that’s what Munster have – the wider you have to play, the faster you have to run onto the ball and the better your handling skills have to be.

If you get all of these right you get a linebreak at best, but the entire process generally provides you with quick, workable ball that can then be spread to your other pod alignments at pace and on the front foot.

For the most part on Saturday, I thought that Munster’s work in this area was a little below where it had been from the previous rounds, but this was to be expected.

Here’s a pretty typical example;

We didn’t win the one on one collision here. The ball came to a static target who was moving slower than the man who was tackling him and our next phase was played on negative terms as a result. That isn’t to say that carrying it straight up like this is always a bad idea – that isn’t the case – but it’s about being able to vary the picture that the opposition are being presented with.

We tried a few phases where Peter O’Mahony was the primary ball-handler but our timing either side of him wasn’t what it needed to be. This is a pretty good example;

For me, Kleyn is slightly ahead of where he needs to be and is on a cleanout line, rather than a support line. The ball coming to him is a surprise because I think he was expecting a latch and drive or a ruck. This is an example of the “L” structure in both configurations.

The ball can be passed to anyone, but more likely to “4” or “3” in this shape. If it’s passed to #4, you have three radiant options before you even bring in swivelling the ball to a creative back. #4 can pass to #3, tip the ball onto #2 or carry himself. If it’s done with enough pace, the radiant options should “space out” the opposition and produce more one on one collisions that we can win on our terms.

You can see it in practice here;

The presence of Scannell and Holland outside Cronin in passable positions opens up a one on one for Cronin to attack. He’s moving, the tackler has to stand still and Cronin wins the collision.

Essentially, if the opposition have to worry about passes either side of the ball carrier, then they can’t double up on any of the possible options without constricting their defensive line further out. This means more collisions taken at pace, on our terms, and more gainline regardless of the option taken from #9, or the eventual pass target.

The most aggressive structure is the wide “V”.

It takes up the most lateral space – so the opposition has to commit more defenders to one area close to the ruck – and has the most aggressive passing options with both “wings” attacking at the same pace as the ball carrier.

As you might expect, it has the highest skill demands but when it works, it can create one on one collisions, eats up a lot of defensive space and allows your “wing” attackers to get good pace and momentum into the cleanout.

It allows you to build space for wider attack pods by creating one on one matchups, clean cleanout lanes and always draws men around the resulting ruck.

To the newer players coming into the system, these new demands are going to be difficult to get up to speed on. The skillset is something that most of them will have down pretty well but it’s getting the timing and positioning right on the lines around the ball carrier. It’s getting the confidence to throw those passes, knowing that the support runner will be there and that, in one way, is the most difficult thing. Backing yourself to make the pass rather than the contact is the hardest skill of all to achieve.

It’ll come with time, for sure, but the clock is ticking.

The Test Match Animal exclusive podcast companion to this article is here.