Former French international back row Olivier Magne (89 caps), now a consultant for Midi Olympique, has chosen to highlight a lineout combination by Perpignan (Usap) against RC Toulon. The combination was executed perfectly, shining a spotlight on the search for free space.
“The game of rugby is quite simple, more so than it seems. If the goal of attacking play is to find free spaces, create situations of imbalance to face a reduced number of opponents, we see that the same applies to lineout play. In other words? What is true in offensive circulation and open play is also true for balls carried after aerial conquest. Usap demonstrated this very well on Saturday against Toulon. In the half-hour mark, the Catalans executed a combination to perfection. Undoubtedly, they had worked on it diligently during the week under the guidance of their coach Mathieu Cidre. A masterpiece that deserves recognition.”
Firstly, the Catalan alignment was set in a 6+1 formation but structured in a 1-3-2 with a central block of three players targeted by the thrower. Max Hicks was the receiver. However, this block of three players shifted forward to better draw in the Toulon defense. All Toulon players present bent down, as is often seen near the try line, to defend against the “jumping block”. Initially, rightfully so. Their goal was to defend against an axial push. However, upon Hicks’ successful catch, the supporting Perpignan players simulated a maul which turned out to be a diversion… Result: this feint isolated Toulon’s defense, which the Catalans promptly exploited. Even before touching the ground, Max Hicks quickly redirected the ball to Peceli Yato positioned at the entry of the five-meter channel. Rapidly, he was well supported by Joaquin Oviedo, previously a supporting player, and by the second-row Adrien Warion coming from the back of the lineout. These two strongly impacted and created an initial advance. It was logical, inevitably logical. Only prop Dany Priso remained to defend and couldn’t handle the pressure, even with help from hooker Gianmarco Lucchesi. Initially comprising three players, the maul quickly grew to include two more elements: prop Pét…Mihrovijićetro Ceccarelli and hooker Ignacio Ruiz. The balance of power inevitably shifted in favor of Usap, catching Toulon off guard and lacking in responsiveness. The advance was extremely swift, and back row Joaquin Oviedo scored the third Usap try. The progress was so quick that between the moment Max Hicks caught the ball in the air and it touched the ground, only five seconds elapsed. The combination worked perfectly. A real success for Mathieu Cidre and his players.
In summary, it’s a bit like a game of cat and mouse. Do you see me? Now you don’t? I lure you into one area to be elsewhere. That’s what the Catalans achieved on Saturday with this lineout. And honestly, when each player is in the right place at the right time, it’s almost indefensible. What’s even more interesting is that this lineout wasn’t played with a back of the line catch which could have been reset and allowed Toulon to organize defensively. The Catalans instead aimed for the front block of three, where the first jumper usually positions. A somewhat restricted space that expanded thanks to this clever trickery. And that deserves a big round of applause.
Technical analysis of the action:
1 – In this lineout, the Catalan alignment is set in a 6+1 formation, with Joaquin Oviedo acting as the support player. The alignment is structured in a 1+3+2 formation, suggesting there is only one jumping block in the middle.
2 – Hicks is the designated jumper and quickly passes the ball to Yato before landing on the ground. The Toulon defense positioned to defend centrally due to the deception by the two supporting players…
3 – In reality, the two supporting players only pass in front of Hicks and join Oviedo who is contesting the ball from Yato. Usap finds themselves forming a maul of five (hooker Ruiz has joined the maul) against a single defender: Priso.
4 – The maul carrying is well structured. The progression is extremely rapid as the Toulon defense is caught off guard. Four Toulon forwards are completely outplayed. The balance of power favors the Catalans.
5 – The Toulon defense reacts too late, only able to slow down the progress of the Catalan maul which begins to splinter, before the third Oviedo, the ball carrier, manages to break free.
6 – Joaquin Oviedo evades the last defender to score a try in the Toulon in-goal area. It took approximately 5 seconds between Hicks catching the ball and the try being scored. The result of a perfectly executed combination.
