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Reds v. Crusaders Threat Analysis

Scott Allen May 26, 2011 14

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As we head towards what I think will be the game of the season to date I wanted to take a look at some of the threats the Crusaders pose for the Reds.

The following video touches on some areas the Reds must be mindful of. But the thing about the Crusaders is that there are so many other threats to deal with as well.

Having said that, the Crusaders will also have their hands full dealing with what the Reds have to offer, so this should be a great game.

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POSTED IN » Queensland Reds, Super Rugby
About the author: Scott Allen View all posts by
Scott is one of our regular contributors who used to be known around G&GR as "Austin". He has experience coaching Premier Grade with two clubs in Brisbane.

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Discussion »

  • http://www.ruckingoodstats.com RuckinGoodStats

    Really good analysis, again. Dickinson as a ref ranks 5th highest, by my count in handing out pens and F/K at scrum time so if your first analysis is correct then the Reds will need to employ some ref management like they did against the Tahs when Steve Walsh went off the field.

    However the Crusader cough up more pens, ranking 3rd most in comp and the Reds 7th.

    Taking your second analysis on turnover the Reds rank 7th highest in losing the ball in ruck after taking it in; and ranking lowest in all types of Lost possesisons/turnover, again by my count. This might starve the Crusaders of the ball they need to counter attack.

    Touch finders are not usual play for the Reds ranking 7th in this aspect.

    Either way is building into a really good clash and this type of video analysis provides what to look for thoughout the game to make it even more exciting.

  • Joe Mac

    Great video Scott,

    Do you think the Reds coud use this structure to their advantage?
    It seems that their outside backs are positioned a fair way back from the breakdown to be able to counter kicks in numbers… Maybe that provide space out wide for the Reds to keep ball in hands and run it themselves.

    • Scott Allen

      Absolutely – we discussed this with Richard Graham on the Podcast the other night and he made the point that Genia and Cooper are two of the best at making the long pass necessary to exploit holes in the defence.

      With 4-6 players back, there is some space in the front line, although the Crusaders have been playing this way for years so are well drilled in closing those holes.

      It will be fascinating to see what the Reds come up with and I wonder if the Crusaders might pull a switch and keep more players up in the front line trying to nullify opportunities for the Reds.

  • Old Weary

    Always knew they had numbers on the kicks, but didn’t think so many (ie 6) like this.

    Think we will see some more running from inside 22′s this weekend (if that is evening possible?)

  • http://www.myoquip.com.au Bruce Ross

    Excellent analysis which clearly demonstrates distinctive aspects of the Crusaders’ play.

  • redbull

    Who are the numbers that are back just out of interest? All backs or a loose forward or two?
    So the front line is sliding back and forward for the point of attack?

    A few of the videos showed clearly that the Crusaders have perfected what Bod Dwyer reiterates about the speed and accuracy of the realignment in attack, where players are running around the back of the ruck in the background in order to effect an overlap at the far side from where the ball was turned over.

    Impressive analysis; brief, and the ideas each very well displayed.

    • Scott Allen

      Who are the Crusaders getting back?

      Clip 1 – #8, #10, #11, #12, #14, #15
      Clip 2 – #9, #10, #11, #12, #14, #15
      Clip 3 – #9 (who was actually playing #14 by that time), #10, #11 (who was actually playing #15 by that time), #12, #11, #8

      So the usual suspects except for #12 – Sonny Bill and guess who creates two of the three breaks in those clips with either a pass or an offload?

      Looks like they’ve got the backrow covering #12 channel when he goes back.

  • Skip

    I watched the stormers game and remember that try, not just because if the offload etc but as soon as Aplon booted I wondered if the crusaders had kicked it to that spot to tempt Aplon into booting it long back them. Did they (‘saders) feel they then have the space to move the ball to where there are mis-matches. A side like the stormers would probably think the risk comes from a line-out ‘cos that’s their weapon whereas the ‘saders think that if they can sucker the Stormers into thinking that, the stormers play into their hands? Or was it not such a planned tactic?

    • Scott Allen

      Skip – I think it is part of the ‘Saders plan. They suck you into playing the way they want you to.

      As I said on this week’s Podcast, I think that’s why the Reds need to take them out of their comfort zone. The Cheetahs did that with their kicking as you’ll see in the video Gagger is putting together.

  • ruggerbob

    Where do you get your statistics from and what software do you use to cut the footage?

  • MattyP

    Great video Scot.

    It seems that the Crusaders are defending in two lines, with the bulk of the backline playing very deep beyond the first phase and letting the forwards do a lot of the defensive work?

    If that’s the case then two points come to mind. First, you need fit and fast forwards to cover the frontline attack across the whole field. Second, it seems like they would be more vulnerable to a close, hard driving game, exploiting the numerical advantage you have in the front line. That’s how I’d think about playing them.

  • Lee Grant

    Thank you for that Scott – good stuff.

    One of the many things I like about the Crusaders is their rapid realignment.

    All teams try to scramble back to realign when they turn the ball over but 3 or 4 of the Saders run back routinely even when a long kick is expected. You can see some running back as a team mate is running forward to catch it. Then they turn around to join in a likely movement. That movement is not always realised but if it is, the players who ran back are there to run forward onto the ball from depth.

    The players of most other teams wait for the ball runner to run past them, then they join into a line. Why waste effort for something that may not happen?

    You also see this running back to go forward when the Saders get a turnover. The players on one side of the field near the ball may be running forward with it, whilst the players on the other side of the field are running back to get in position for the wide ball in the next phase, or sometimes later in the same phase.

    It is impressive to watch and is something that the great Blues team of 2003 did, but it needs coaches that coach it, and players with a good work ethic to do things 5 times that are likely to be needed just once.

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