PRETORIA - England coach Eddie Jones said he would retire, while Italy coach Conor O’Shea was left bemoaning the lack of acknowledgement for the amount of work they put into trying to win last weekend’s Six Nations clash at Twickenham.
What transpired in that game has not only divided world rugby, but has seen many calls for a review of the tackle laws to prevent matches turning into a free-for-all, as was the case in London last week.
At the heart of the debate are the tackle and ruck laws, which Italy exploited and used effectively for some part of the game until the Italians were tiring and England ran away with the match.
What Italy did was not to contest the rucks and make sure their tackling player moved away as quickly as possible from the tackled player, to ensure there is no ruck formed.
Without a ruck, there is no offside line, which means the Italian defenders could waltz at leisure into the England backline, and also in between the scrumhalf and whoever the receiver was, from the base of the tackled player.
This is what infuriated Jones, causing the former Wallabies and Japan coach to spit fire and called the Italians’ tactics “anti-rugby”.
This is when Jones said he would retire if this tactic was allowed to continue by World Rugby, and called for a speedy amendment of the rules.
O’Shea sees nothing wrong with what his side did, though.
Former Springbok defence coach John McFarland, who is regarded as one of the leading defence experts in the game, feels Italy were certainly innovative in their approach, but did nothing new - and that England should have adapted better on the field.
McFarland also lauded Italy’s defence consultant and soon-to-be Springbok defence coach Brendan Venter, who hatched up the plan that was successfully deployed in Super Rugby and by Wallaby flank David Pocock before.
The Sharks tried the same tactic in 2006 when they played against the Cheetahs, but were penalised even though they had spoken to the referee prior to the game, according to former Sharks assistant coach and Wallaby wing David Campese in a recent article on the same issue in The Telegraph.
“It’s innovation. It has been done before but never as much as it was done in that game. It provided England with a lot of problems, and Italy were leading 10-5 at some stage, and it really made the game interesting. I don’t think Mr Jones was impressed by it, but it is something they will need to look at going forward. But you play the laws to where you can play them. Credit to Brendan Venter and Italy for what they did,” McFarland said.
McFarland, though, does feel that World Rugby should provide greater clarity on the tackle and ruck laws as the grey areas have been exposed and exploited by more technically and tactically astute teams.
If the laws are left as they are and not reviewed, it could easily water down the game and bring a halt to plans by World Rugby for a more expansive running game that seeks to attract more viewers and spectators.
“I think long term, yes. They just need to clarify it, how far you can stand, where you can go and what is the definition of a tackle? We don’t want to see a game where in the wide channel all the defenders are getting out of the tackle situation, and then you have a line of people blocking the pass so you can only play close. Or if you are looking and can only play five metres from the ruck. So you understand Eddie’s comments, but at the end of the day credit to Italy for what they did,” said McFarland.
England could have approached the tactic differently had their players just applied their mind to the situation unfolding on the field, according to McFarland. But he concedes that teams struggle to adapt to sudden changes in Test rugby.
“The whole thing was to pick and go and they didn’t know what to do with it. To me the space behind, the chips were on because the scrumhalf was in front. Or you can run at that guy and bring somebody short off it, or you can run at that guy and put it behind the back and there is space out wide. Obviously England weren’t prepared for it. It is very hard in a Test match arena, where there is high pressure and high stakes, to change things.”
Whatever the outcome from World Rugby, England have finally been shown up for their players’ inability to adapt and further entrenched the “Eddie Moans” jokes.
Italy justifiably feel that nothing they do is ever lauded, even when they do it within the laws of the game and manage to beat powerhouses like South Africa, as they did last year.
The Springboks will also be feeling upbeat at the prospect of having Venter’s expertise at their disposal soon and maybe, just maybe, it will be the innovation needed to turn around their form.