Army and Dartmouth Set the Benchmark
30 Oct 2006
Army and Dartmouth will again set the benchmark in New England Collegiate Rugby. Both programs appear to be very organized and they hold the template for how a college rugby program should be run.
They both have great facilities, great coaching, obviously a great recruitment system but more importantly they both have well organized game plans that seem to have a southern hemisphere influence attached to it.
Most teams in New England Rugby, whether its college or senior men, play basic one dimensional crash it up rugby. It can be frustrating to watch and doesn’t do rugby any favors in this country.
Army and Dartmouth however have been able to execute an expansive 15 man game plan that is based on ball carriers getting over the advantage line with powerful leg drive. Once the ball carrier goes to ground the primary lateral support players are very good at clearing their opposition out providing the halfback with good clean ball. The ball can be so quick at times that the opposition does not have time to get their defensive structure in place and huge gaps appear out wide.
Its one thing to get quick ball but it’s another to be able to use it properly. Last year both teams had very good halfbacks and flyhalfs who had a very good understanding of the game. Both teams like to use decoy runners in front of the pass which can be difficult to execute and requires good timing. The fact that both teams could execute blockers and sliders effectively is an indication that the decision makers are very smart and are very organized players.
Both teams use pre planned sequences to organize their game structure. In New Zealand we call it Bi Phasing or Tri Phasing. It’s when the players have specific jobs to perform and lines to run and the objective is to manipulate the defense so holes in the defensive line appear. A team usually has a couple of key ball runners who should be running at the weakest link in the opposition’s defensive line. With the help of decoy runners and primary support players, teams can often exploit the weakest link to create go forward. Both Army and Dartmouth are very good at this and they don’t commit to many players to the breakdown which creates numbers out wide for the next phase.
Playing a wide expansive game can be difficult to master. Players require good passing ability, good fitness, good vision, good communication and they need to be able to take the ball in to contact correctly so when the ball carrier presents the ball to his team mates his body is in a good and safe position so quick continuity can to take place.
From what I have seen, the skill level at Army and Dartmouth seems to be a lot higher than their competitors. The coaching staffs have done a great job at producing multi skilled rugby players that can effectively play the game the way it should be played. I hope other programs can learn from Army and Dartmouth because if they do it will only mean good things for New England College Rugby.
