‘You never want to take that away from a player’ – The risk of the offload

THERE’S BEEN QUITE a bit of discussion around Simon Zebo’s offload attempt in the build-up to Nick Phipps’ try for Australia against Ireland on Saturday evening in Dublin.

The Irish player in question means it’s arguably been more of a talking point than it might have been if, for example, Tommy Bowe had attempted the same action. Others may point out that Bowe simply wouldn’t have looked to offload in this instance.

First of all, it’s worth looking again at the specific incident, which came in the 18th minute of the first half.

The context here is that Ireland have built a remarkable 17-0 lead at this early stage of the game, setting themselves up encouragingly for the remaining 62 minutes or so.

Robbie Henshaw claims a Johnny Sexton garryowen superbly and sends Ireland back onto the front foot. Zebo is present as first receiver, accepting the pass from Conor Murray and then immediately spotting that Bernard Foley is shooting up in defence.

The Australian out-half’s decision to rush up closes off the direct pre-contact passing option for Zebo to Sexton on his left, but it absolutely opens up space in behind Foley, exactly the gap that Zebo spots.

The 24-year-old wing stretches out a right hand as he is tackled by Matt Toomua, attempting to release the ball behind Foley’s back. Unfortunately, the Australia out-half has already turned back downfield and manages to get a hand to the ball.

This incident has been painted as a turning of the momentum in the game and that certainly bears up in terms of the scoring pattern. However, there had already been signs of weakness in Ireland’s defence beforehand, despite their 17-0 lead.

The intention here is not to castigate or excuse Zebo, merely to open up the debate about what constitutes a good offload. Is there a ‘right’ time to try offloads? Are there certain situations in which they are clearly more effective?

The offload is one of the most thrilling aspects of rugby, with the ability to create a try or linebreak in a split second. Offloading is fun to do, it’s expressive, creative, and exciting for players when they get it right.

At the top levels of the game, there are huge risks involved in offloading, particularly given that turnovers are such a major source of tries. Failed offloads or the ball going to deck can so often mean a loss of points, possession, territory or all three at once.

Every team has a different approach to offloading, with sides like the Glasgow Warriors notably favouring the skill, whereas the statistics suggest that Ireland’s coaching staff have not encouraged their players to offload.

Source: Dan Sheridan/INPHO

“We’ll back our players to play what they see,” says Ireland assistant coach Les Kiss in relation to the attempted Zebo offload.

“We still could have made the tackles that mattered in that moment. Certainly we’re not about being frivolous with the ball, but we also back our players to play if we see the opportunities.”

“He went into a lovely gap. I’ve seen him do it before when he’s got passes out the back. I ran into the space, because I knew he had the ability to get his hands free. On another day, it sticks and we score.”

Indeed, Zebo does have some history of behind-the-back offloads for Ireland. The clip below is from Ireland’s first Test against Argentina last June.

The context here is slightly different of course, with Ireland in a 23-10 lead with just 15 minutes remaining in the game. The area of the pitch is also different, with Ireland inside the Pumas’ 22. Furthermore, Zebo has more time to build up speed into the intitial tackle, allowing him to win that contact to a greater extent than he did against Toomua.

When is the right time to offload? Where is the best place on the pitch to offload? These are difficult questions to answer, and potentially something that analytics might provide us with answers to at some stage in the near future.

For now, we have to look at the actual physical circumstances of each situation.

Many coaches will prompt the offload as a totally post-tackle skill; the player must strive to win that collision, be moving forward, getting behind defenders and offloading beyond the gainline.

Is the offload coming from a position of strength after the attacker has won the tackle? Does the offloader have clear sight of the support player he wants to pass the ball to? All these things must be assessed in a split second, before a calculated decision is made.

And yet, some offloads might not fulfill those criteria. Had Zebo’s offload to Sexton – slightly unsighted with Foley in the way – gone to hand, we would likely have lauded his attacking genius.

For a team like Ireland, who again struggled to create anything in attacking phase play against the Australians, a player like Zebo – who is willing to attempt this skill – may be crucial moving forward.

What’s your take on offloading? Worth the risk? Should we be encouraging players to offload more? What are the vital components of a strong offload?

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