By Kooga
June 2 2005

Where Did Saracens Season Turn Around? Many contributors to both the unofficial and official message boards [forums, call them what you like] have put this down to Dimes taking overall control of the squad as head coach. This fact I feel cannot be disputed, however I don’t think the removable of Rod [Dave] Kafer was the sole reason. A lot of Saracens’ success has come from their improved defence and low penalty count which has to be down to one of the most important and in my opinion best signings of last season – Mike Ford!

Defence is a major part of rugby [in either code] and therefore need to be practiced and mastered if your team is to dominate your opponents. If done correctly, a strong defence can dominate opposition possession through turnovers or disruption of the presentation of the ball at the tackle area. The core principles being speed, shape, tracking and communication.

Dimes and Ford took the decision to not contest lost ruck situations but to manage the position to give Saracens every opportunity of disrupting opposition possession. By not contesting lost rucks they believed this would reduce the potential of conceding a crucial penalty but also gave them players out in the defensive line rather than buried in a ruck we had no hope of winning.

Ford did this by managing the defensive roles and responsibilities around the breakdown. Given the amount of game time that involves phase play it is important to include breakdown defence in training and just not set play defence.

I had the privilege of attending a Saracens training sessions where Dimes explained how they implemented their breakdown defence. Look out for Saracens breakdown defence at the next game you attend.

The first defender is given the role of ‘pillar’ defender and his role is to defend the first channel beside the ruck/maul communicating to the other defenders he is in position. The pillar doesn’t track a player just covers a 1-2 metre channel. It is still important that the pillar still moves forward off the line to close down time, space and increase pressure. Once the pillar has moved forward they must hold their channel until the second pass has been made. This will cover the late inside ball from the scrum half or first receiver.

Defender two is known as the ‘block’ defender and he covers a wider channel than the ‘pillar’ defender [about 2-4 metres]. The role of the ‘block’ is to move forward taking the space and again cover the ball carriers that enter the channel. He too holds within the channel until the second pass has been made and covers the late inside ball.

The third defender from the breakdown is referred to as the ‘ball’ defender; it is his role to track the first receiver to contact. The ‘ball’ defender positions himself on the inside shoulder of the first receiver. This allows the attack one option to attack the outside. It also allows the defender to ‘drift’ onto the next outside supporter should the pass be made. Dimes and Ford use the term ‘turf’ [to go forward] and ‘wedge’ [drift across].

All defenders outside the ‘ball’ defender implement the same defensive pattern, in this scenario to ‘drift’. To be an effective defensive line they must push up together and hold their defensive shape – a slight stagger where the first defender outside the ‘ball’ defender is half a step behind the ball defender and so on. This allows the outside defenders to react easier to what the inside defender does [i.e. drift].

The final piece of the jigsaw is the ‘sweeper’ this is usually the scrum half. The ‘sweepers’ main role is to provide communication in the formation of the defence and making sure all the positions are covered. His secondary role is to cover the first three defenders [pillar, block and ball defender]. He must also be able to come into a breakdown defence role if needed.

This is one reason Saracens have become harder to beat and given away fewer penalties than most other teams in the Premiership and I hope it gives an insight to a tactic the Men in Black implement in games.

KooGa
28 May 2005