The fly-half continued - What is a fly-half's task?

Tuesday November 04 2003

All you need to know about all-round play

Let me answer this in a roundabout way - please have patience.

The link between the murky underworld of the forwards and  the open, sunny Champaign of the backs is the scrum-half, called by some the halfback. The scrum-half is the Persephone of rugby moving from Hades to the outer world to bring spring and summer fertility to the game of rugby.

There is nothing more sterile and frustrating than a side that insists on remaining in the sulphurous fires of Hades, playing its entire game through the forwards by means of rolling mauls, forwards running off the ball, crashing across gainlines, going to ground and recycling the ball only to repeat the process. Kicking halfbacks keep the ball in front of the forwards and the outer backs are there merely to restrict opponents' space, thus to pressurise them into making errors so that the ball can be returned to the caves of hell.

More time is spent, nowadays, in coaching defence and ball-retention than on coaching the skills of running attack - a great sadness, indeed.

Rugby forwards used to be there to give the skilful backs a good ball with which to run, to score tries through open play but now the roles are reversed and the scrum-half and fly-half give the ball back to the forwards - wings seldom see the ball. The result of this in some countries has been the demise of the creative fly-half; coaches prefer the big man who can block that fly-half channel in defence and take the ball up through it in attack - he must be able to kick prodigious distances preferably for posts as well as to gain ground - Jonny Wilkinson is a perfect example. However, thank heavens, he can get his line moving unlike some other World Cup fly-halves.

There is still in the game a place for the Larkhams of the world - does anyone remember the great Cliff Morgan? Now, there was a fly-half who could run, kick, use his feet, beat a man in a one-to-one situation and he fed his line to perfection, giving them space and time.  He had to be watched and marked tightly throughout the game yet he always managed to create havoc for his opponents by slipping through the inevitable gap that he would always create and feeding his outside (or inside) men. His passing was precision, no motion was wasted and his timing was superb.

What sort of fly-half would you like to be?

Much, of course, depends upon what your coach wants, where the talent in your side lies and what your skills are. For me, a good fly-half is a catalyst who creates for others space and opportunity; he marshals his team's forces and directs the team so that it effectively uses itself; he makes the space and varies the pace, decides on the mode of attack, relieves pressure to put his team in an attacking situation, skillfully using his teams pressure points, bringing different facets of his team's game into play rather as a conductor with his baton manipulates his orchestra.

This is asking much of one man - that is why good fly-halves are rather special men. They must decide when to pass, how to pass, where to pass, how to align, when to kick, how and where, when to break- and all the time fly-half must communicate with his scrum-half (who must know where to pass and why) and the rest of the side.

Kicking is one of the arts of the game - everyone thinks he can kick and, indeed, everyone can but few can kick like Jonny Wilkinson.  I always tell my players that kicking is an easy option; I tell them that it is the last option and that going to ground is the second last option, but I cannot deny that a good kick is often the most effective and efficient way of putting your side in a position to score tries (or of getting your side out of trouble).

Jim Greenwood wrote in one of his books that the key to tactical-kicking is early decision-making; he goes on to say that failure to make decisions, or to make them early enough, leads to the most depressing of spectacles - the kick that is forced upon you by lack of decisive action and by your opponents pressure.

In other words, the fly-half must sum up the situation at scrum, ruck, maul, line-out or even in general play and decide that he is going to kick and determine where he is going to kick. His scrum-half, ideally, should know where the fly-half wants the ball to be passed to enable him to kick it the way he wants to. An aimless kick is a disaster - and we are seeing more and more of it at the highest level, too! It is, indeed, an easy way to play rugby.

Tell the fly-half to keep the ball in front of his forwards so that they are always moving on to the ball, moving forwards. Dr Craven used to coach his Stellenbosch University side to play efficient and effective rugby. Anywhere in their 22 (25 in those days), scrum-half would kick to touch from scrum, line-out or loose scrum, as it was called then; from his 22 to 10 metre fly-half would go for distance and the touchline; from 10 metre to 10 metre fly-half would kick for attack and from 10 metre to tryline backs would run in attack.

Ugh! you may well say, as I do, but it worked and it still does. Let's face it there is greater economy of effort in getting the ball into an area by means of the boot than by taking it up by hand and body! And what can be more sensible than playing the game in the opposition half?

Of course, a bad kick gives the opponents the ball but some will argue that even then you can pressure them into a mistake for few sides are really adept or have the skill to counter-attack effectively.

I preach against myself - I still coach that all kicks are bad kicks (a little bit tongue in cheek), but a coach cannot deny his players one of the skills of the game so we must teach our players how and where to kick - none more so than fly-half; more and more sides are also using inside centre as a kicker and you can see why - he is often farther from the pressure and can delay his kick until he sees the passing option is out.

He can also employ the wiper - that kick the moves out wide across field towards the openside, a long, raking kick that rolls towards touch. With defence systems such as they are, the grubber and the chip are very sensible options for any of the backs.

I begin once more to waffle - let me finish by saying that kicking is a most important part of a fly-half's armoury - he cannot afford to neglect it (but I will take a running fly-half any day!).