Rugby midfield attacking options

Dan Carter

What are some new exciting ideas for midfield attack in open play and off set rugby? Recently, I’ve been talking to Farnham RUFCs’ Director of Rugby Barry Warner to try and get an insight into what he’s been thinking in shaping a team that has only lost once since December 2011.

Rather than having the traditional crash ball off Out-Half in the Centre that every team will expect, there are other options that can give players the opportunity to attack the line unmarked.

Inside and outside Centre are normally the big strong battering rams designed to hit the opposition hard and punch holes in the defence, a bit like a medieval army storming the neighbouring castle with a massive tree trunk. And to a certain extent this needs to continue.

Wings are traditionally the small, nimble and lightning fast backs who are given the ball to simply run the length of the pitch. Think of people like Shane Williams who rivals Jonah Lumo as the greatest wing in the history of the game. 

In the 90’s, along came All Black Jonah Lumo to blow this idea out of the water. A winger who filled in at back row in the scrum was just unheard off in those days, as now you have the likes of Andrew Trimble and Chris Ashton who get much more involved in the game due to their sheer size and strength.

Barry has devised a game plan for Farnham that continues on from international success in various backlines. “Why not get the wings to do the crash ball instead of the centres?” he told me.

Here is a diagram of a typical back line set up. The idea is that the blind side winger is no use to anyone in attack just standing out on his own. Barry gave me the lowdown on how he wants his wingers to perform. “The backline works in triangles, you have out-half (10) inside centre (12) running in depth, and blind side winger (11) being the tip of the triangle. Another shape is formed using the inside and outside centre (13), the tip of the triangle being formed by the full back (15).

This gives the ball carrier options both side-on and at depth. Inside centre draws in his opposite number, taking him out of the game, before offloading to blind side wing that is unmarked and will have space to run. This move can also be performed by outside centre and full back.

Playing in this formation also allows the ball carrier, weather that be 10, 12 or 13 to make decisions based on the options both inside and outside them depending on the gaps in front of them.