Coach Pushes for Running Rugby

Ella for running game

Sunday, November 15, 2009

THE Wallaby trying to keep Fiji in the world's top ten nations believes the global game is in danger of dying if teams do not step back from an increasing reliance on kicking balls all over the rugby pitch.

The launch of the November Test window last weekend returned the spotlight to a desire by teams at the top level of the game to kick the ball into opposition territory instead of run with it, in an effort both to avoid being caught in possession and penalised, and force the opposition into mistakes.

This kind of "safety-first" rugby exploded across the Test stage at the 2007 Rugby World Cup with coaches falling like dominoes in their protestations of being forced to take the kicking route because that was exactly what their opposite number was doing.

The IRB turned to experimental laws in a bid to arrest the slide towards increasing periods of aerial ping-pong, notably forcing players to run ball outside their 22 instead of going for touch and allowing more of a contest for ball at the tackle, but the latter move has merely heightened some teams' reluctance to run ball from their own half at international level.

Glen Ella played for Australia in the 1980s when his brother Mark was at the centre of a new generation of Wallaby success stemming largely from incredible passing and running skills. He is, therefore, delighted to be working with the Fijians for the next few weeks.

"If you look at the last World Cup, let's be honest, if it wasn't for the island teams it would have been just a kickathon. Fiji, Tonga and Samoa sparked that into a great tournament, but from the first game of Argentina and France to the final, the rest of the teams just kicked the leather off the ball. I hope we don't see that this weekend."

He accepted, however, that to play running rugby one first has to have the ball, and that is where he fears for his team, who are without a handful of key professional forwards not released by their clubs.

"Our guys are here to run the ball, but if we don't get ball on the front foot and going over the advantage line, then we're going to struggle, and that's something we've talked about all week," said Ella.

"We have some real quality players, brought up in Fiji where they just want to run. We've got to find ways to find room for these guys because they'll light the crowd up.

"But these Fijian boys love to represent their country and they will do everything to make it happen."