Goal Line Defense

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Introduction

The World Cup will be won by the team with the best Defense. Winning the contact line is like throwing the most punches in a boxing match. It accounts for 90% of the outcome. The bouncing balls, stolen lineouts, kicks off the poles and interceptions together account for the other 10%. Without being supercilious, the score does not matter, the team throwing the most contact punches must win out in the end. The recent England SA II in Durban,was just such an example - the halftime score 6-6 did not reflect the contacts and the true scoreline was soon revealed 50-12.

England still has the chance of producing the best Defense! How I can convince their coaches of this still eludes me. This is a pity, for while both South Africa and New Zealand are currently ahead of England, they both have a soft underbelly. Their players are too tall to consistently win the contact line. For England to become a winning team against these two teams would require only for them to win the line of contact. With their player pool this should be possible.

For the Foreseeable future England WILL be playing Defense against New Zealand and South Africa. Good news is that the contact line is winable. First step to that would be to have a Defensive plan and program. Getting Players up to the correct standard requires ONE on ONE training (Sparring). This seems lacking. There are many examples of this. Let us just take a simple one :

The 4 point Stance

This is the stance for Goal Line Defense4 point its called the 4 point stance.

This is an absolute bread and butter basic and the England players are incapable (physically) of doing this. Hard to believe I know!

There can be no discussion, negotiation or compromise here. This the last yard. This is where we stop them or we let them score. We know they are going to pick and drive, they know we know they are going to pick and drive and the outcome is obvious to all - they pick and drive. Its not about heart or attitude or opinion, it is simple biokinetics. Its not even about strength or mass, simply - the player "coming up" will win the confrontation. It was completely unnecessary to allow the taller South African Forwards to "rumble" over England. Particularly distressing to see a player like Burger, at 6 ft 4, slide under your defender - bad coaching.

Someone must have read my stuff, it was really cute to watch some of the England players taking up the 3 point stance. But who taught them this - Sebastian Coe? They looked like sprinters getting into the blocks. A complete misunderstanding of the mobility that we are trying to achieve. Wrong foot position, wrong alignment, completely wrong posture and the result was there for everyone to see - flatfootedness.

Now it is one thing to understand this, it is completely another thing to prepare for it. In particular a player without the correct gym training will not be able to sustain the correct posture. The Overhead Squat is the best way to train in a short time for this

Its all about strength in the lower back. Back this with the Scrum truck

Practice it with a net, lower it as you get closer to the goal line. Note the use of helmets to up the tempo of contact.

The only way to get this done, and especially in the time frame that you are facing, is for your Defensive coaches to be there coaching every gym lift, individually overseeing every training move, correcting individual movements - sparring. You have to stick to the player like glue. You cannot explain these techniques rationally - you have to "punch" them in. Smashmouth Football!