Eddie Jones

[USARugger]

Timing and space -- they exploit space expertly in those clips. I wonder if one of the reasons you don't see back line play like that as much these days is because defenses have improved.

I was thinking about this as well and I think it's impossible to say that they haven't - lots of passive defense in those clips making Flatley look like even more of an animal than he already was.

 

[Martin J. Dunham]

I would definitely agree defenses have become more disciplined and structured to handle all the flashy set moves teams can come up with these days. It seems upper level rugby is starting to trend back to multi-phase set ups. Not nearly as structured as 10-15 years ago but use attacking ruck structures to create favorable matchups/alignments for the playmakers to then decide how to play what is front of them.

Would people also say set piece play (mainly lineouts) have become more complicated over the years? Lifting definitely adds a dimension as opposed to lifting. Maybe it's just me but more and more I see teams using dummy jumps and lifts quite frequently to try and throw off the opposition.

 

[Martin J. Dunham]

I want to share this resource I've had for awhile, it's a USA U19 Eagles game plan from 2006 that seems to have to structure Eddie Jones may have implemented. This is a lot of information to have to digest for a senior side, let alone a U19 national team that has limited prep.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B7nIWZILOJZuaEFUMjhtVUc2TjA/edit

 

[Thinker]

Interesting document. I've seen a number of handbooks from USA based high school teams that would be more complex than some professional teams. Sure the kids can't catch and pass, but the coach has a great game plan.

Tactical preparation seems to be universally over-emphasised at the development level.

 

[Pfitzy]

Why does the title of this thread not have "is a c***" appended to it?

If that book was written by Eddie Jones then most likely it has:

1) Too many statistics
2) Not enough about scrums
3) Crazy fucking eyes

I hope he does well with the Brave Blossoms because Japan is a massive market now they're Super-fied.

 

[mxyzptlk]

Interesting document. I've seen a number of handbooks from USA based high school teams that would be more complex than some professional teams. Sure the kids can't catch and pass, but the coach has a great game plan.

Tactical preparation seems to be universally over-emphasised at the development level.

I don't know how thick rugby play books generally are, but in the US, coaches looooooove their play book tomes. In American football, at the college level, they're usually 2-inch thick three-ring binders stacked with moves, scenarios, variations, etc. The players carry those around and study them as intensely as any book for any class. At the pro level they're bigger still, and that's only for their position.

 

[USARugger]

I like the zones scheme in terms of helping kids who have realistically probably only been playing for 3-4 years (if that) in terms of making it easier for them to react appropriately when under pressure, based on field position.

That playbook looks way too similar to the ones from the lower-level rep groups when I was playing at school. A few days of training was never even close to enough and we'd always end up just picking a handful of movements and using them, the entire book of plays was never used once in my own experience.

What's with the fetish over the "11 at 7" plays, Eddie?