Leinster and Ulster served up a close interprovincial derby, but it was far from the contest that was expected given the weather conditions at Belfast’s Kingspan Stadium.
Garry Ringrose referenced Ulster’s starters and Leinster’s midfield access which saw them go a second half and if it hadn’t been for a somewhat lucky, but exceptional intervention from attitude, from Charlie Ngatai, Ulster’s momentum could well have led to a third victory in the last three outings between the teams.
However, Leinster held on and managed the conditions just enough to win a all-important inter-provincial derby that put them back in the ascendancy of the Irish rugby league table.
Usually it is the coach and not the captain who talks about entries and access. Players are very focused on the moment in front of their face and rarely think about a sequence of plays that result in scores. They could reflect on how they could have defended a free kick differently, while the coach potentially examines how the free kick was revealed and how their team ended up in their own half in the first place.
This is the role of the coach in relation to the player. Some tactically astute players can develop their thinking towards a coach’s helicopter vision, but that can be the big difference between a coach’s thoughts and the player’s thoughts.
When transitioning from player to manager, that’s definitely something I had to be aware of, the sequence of events leading up to an opportunity on offense or defense. Although I played in the semi-finals and learned more about game management, it was the practice that really developed that part of my thought process, as I’m sure many do. other players who go through training.
But what does it mean to be aware of access and entry points? The most obvious is errors in attack or defense. A single missed tackle away from the pitch can lead to a line break and entry from one half to the other. This can be more simply solved by the defensive system or the one-on-one tackle.
On offense, something like a loose offload when there is an opportunity to clean up a breakdown and score in the next phase with a fastball can turn into a jamming defensive situation because the loose offload has turned into a threat of counterattack. These are easier entry points to identify because they are error-induced and most people will know how a rollover or transition occurred.
Inconsistent exits from your own half can also give the opposition easy access points. There was a time when Jacob Stockdale gave a long kick out but he never found the safety of the touch. I don’t know if that was his goal or not.
Sometimes, if the kick is long enough and the pursuit of the kick is aggressive and organized enough, you will end up with a defensive line closer to the halfway line, which would be considered a success. However, in this case and despite a fairly decent connection from Stockdale’s left foot, Jimmy O’Brien was able to gnaw through the ground on the counterattack and only had to use his pace to cross the ten-yard line. of Ulster.
It’s very easy access on the counter-attack for Leinster and it put Ulster under pressure again in the first half of the game where most of the damage was done.
John Andrew interrupted two of Leinster’s kicking outings in the first half and gave Ulster chances to strike, but with the weather and their own mistakes they simply couldn’t capitalize on their entry points in the first half.
On the verge of kicking, Leinster gained a foothold in the game when the weather was at its worst by kicking Luke McGrath’s box, which Ulster failed to deal with. Lowry and Sexton failed to catch high kicks on numerous occasions, which allowed Leinster to play in Ulster’s half.
One of the simplest entry points into a match is the referee’s whistle. In fact, it was thanks to a scrum penalty against the head that Leinster gained a foothold in the game. Ulster had dominated the opening possession, but Leinster kicked their penalty deep into Ulster’s half and played right then left before sublime handling from Ringrose under pressure put Ryan Baird on the wing left for the opening score of the match.
Penalty concessions from Leinster’s perspective also got Ulster back in the game in the second half. With some dominance from the maul and repeated offenses from Leinster, Ulster pushed them into making mistakes and it was almost enough for Ulster to pinch the game.
How often do you see a team go from defensively pressing deep in the opponents’ half to defending their own 22-yard box? Cumulative errors or cumulative stupid penalties can often be the root cause.
Hastiness in a defensive scrum or defensive line can often lead to a cheap penalty when the opposing team is playing from their own half. The penalty is awarded, a spot kick followed by play from the lineout jumpers arms up and all of a sudden the team under pressure are sixty yards from their own line and have turned the defense in attack.
Game management usually passes from coaches to decision-makers like half-backs and team managers, but mostly rests on the shoulders of the half-timer. When teams decide to run/kick their own 22, the outside half trusts the next man to make a good call on the long kick if the defense rushes. Sometimes this decision-making can be poor, and the blame will always lie with the outside half for not managing properly.
Likewise, with game management, Aaron Sexton attempted to catch Leinster napping with a quick lineout of Jacob Stockdale. Leinster were quick to respond, winning a penalty that resulted in Dan Sheehan’s maul try.
If Ulster had sorted things out and come out with more structure and game management, Leinster might never have had the chance to kick their maul, and Sheehan might not have scored their 21st try in 31 games, a ridiculous comeback for the athletic hooker.
When watching a rugby match, tracking entries and access points in each team half can give a better understanding of match management and can change the way you view the outcome of a match.
Ringrose and company will be aware they have lost control of the second half of their derby with Ulster and will look to put together a fuller performance as they welcome even more internationals in the coming weeks.
#Ulsters #game #management #cost #Leinster
