How to be like Richie McCaw from the rugby scrum

From the scrum, the defending openside flanker should be targeting the opposition 10. So he needs to be away from the scrum very fast.

His first five metres off the scrum are the most important. His initial movement should be towards the inside hip of the 10, aiming to get over the gain line, while keeping the 10 in front of him. Ideally if he makes a tackle on the 10, it should be front-on or semi-side-on.

If the ball is passed on, the openside needs to change his running angle slightly to be more flat. Again, he must try to keep the receiver in front of him and behind their gain line. The tackle here will ideally be semi-side-on or side-on.

If the ball goes wider and has, or looks like it will cross the gain line, the openside needs to cut the corners and cover across the field.

While it may be necessary for the player to “allow” the opposition to get over the gain line, the openside flanker must not let them get past him (along a lateral line). He must still be reading the play and timing his arrival to be the tackler or in support of the tackler.

This article is from Rugby Coach Weekly.