Trick plays / Worked moves

I have watched a lot of rugby recently including a lot of the 4N games. Its surprising to me how few trick plays we see used. Seems to me ten years ago teams were trying this more - why not now? Things like the plays use in American football - runarounds / reverses / etc. Lining up the backs in unusual formations - I remember the all blacks lining up all the backs directly behind the scrum and then as the ball is putting in running into formations.

Not just in the international games but in club games as well. Even the dummy runners has become predictable and easily defended. Why not the ball straight from the SH to a centre on the blindside while the 10 stands on the openside? Ok it might be high risk and you would need to be unpredictable but has defensive coaching overtaking offensive?

any thoughts?

anyone got any youtube clips of interesting plays?

They never use them in American Football either- each one is one use effectively and higher risk than playing percentage or counter strike rugby

But they do use them in american football - the reverse for example is used a fair bit and would translate into rugby well I would have thought. Same as the flea flicker and a delay play. You see th reverse happen in broken play sometimes in rugby as a result of somone spotting a gap and running back against the run of play around the back of the ruck. Often makes a break as a result.

Just seems like a lack of imagination in attacking play to me compared to ten years ago.

Trick plays are an interesting concept, they can produce great rewards but a failed set play can reult in the worst case scenario.

I think at international level the risks are too high, think of the 15 man lineout of Wales, had the ball been thrown a few inches higher, or hadn't been caught it would be a near certainty that NZ would have scored, but as the game was dead and buried it was worth a go.

Similarly at club level, players get very ropy reputations for taking personal risks, think Cipriani, and Cooper. Can you see a coach taking the types of risks with set plays that they do ball in hand, it only takes a trick play failure to give a coach a bad reputation!

An issue with real 'trick' plays is that in this era of video analysis they are a 'one time only' thing, so is it really worth all the training ground effort?

There is probably more scope for it at the level of recreational rugby, in part because you can use the same play against different opponents and in part because the penalty for failure is not so significant.

Oh, and of course all the worked moves that flow so beautifully on the training ground (yeah, right - once in 10 when you get the timing and angles right) never work so neatly when against an opposition defence. First rule of war - your battle plan never survives beyond the first contact with the enemy.

Nobody is going to win anything pulling a rabbit out of a hat.

SecretFly wrote:Nobody is going to win anything pulling a rabbit out of a hat.

Millionaire Paul Daniels won the hand of Debbie McGee.

Debbie won more...

so Daniels is still on a loss with that one Cyril