Select Region

Were I in the fortunate position of being able to select and coach the best possible side to represent my country, I should first select my loose forwards. Now this is a silly thing to say, not because loose forwards are not the most important men, necessarily, on the field, but because, if you have tight forwards who are just not good enough to stand up in the tight phases of the game, your loose forwards will struggle and so you would have, possibly, to change the ideal composition of your loose trio to compensate for the tight forwards shortcomings. Nothing can, I suppose, be perfect, yet we must strive for perfection.

What are you looking for in a loose forward?

Let me assume perfection, a tight five that can, at very least, hold its own, at best - take the ball forward. Now, I say to you, select your loose forwards.

For what are you looking?

In this game of rugby there are three positions which are difficult to mark completely: fullback (hence all the new defences, especially the drift), the blindside wing and, possibly even more so, the loose forwards; therefore, to have in those positions players who cannot exploit that fact is, in my opinion, shows you, coach/selector, up for what you are. The flanks and No.8, 6, 7 and 8 , are your jokers in the pack; a good loose forward can play in any position, he will pop up anywhere especially in attack (defence duties do limit 6, 7 and 8 in attack for their duties in that phase, are basic, laid down and not negotiable - from set pieces especially).

The loose forward impact can be and must be shocking, like that of an attacking shark, who comes from apparently nowhere, inexorably to rip a great big chunk of meat from your side, doing irreparable damage, leaving you gasping for breath, indeed for very life!

The ideal loose forward would be as tall as a lock, as quick and as skilled as a back, as strong as a prop, as lithe and lissom as a scrumhalf, as fast as a wing, as lethal in defence as the grim reaper. It is almost impossible to have all these attributes in one man let alone three men but I would argue that were you to subtract the physical apparent absolutes of height, weight and blistering pace, then it is not so impossible, nor do I think those virtues are nearly as important as hand/eye coordination, speed off the mark, passing skills, solid defence, anticipation, which goes with an ability to read a game, agile footwork, strength in a contact situation and above all, initiative (how many modern coaches allow, indeed encourage individual initiative?).

Some coaches insist that they want a tall No.8, at least, for the line-out work, they differentiate between what they call a fetcher and a carrier flank combination, and they will play open-side and blind-side flankers from scrums and from line-outs. If you have the players and it works, well and good but I certainly should never omit a good flanker merely because he is not a fetcher as I feel that the closest man to the ball is the best fetcher and so often he is a back, not even a loose forward! Nor should I exclude a No.8 because he is not tall and not a line-out forward –if he has other qualities. No, I should select the three most destructively constructive loose forwards I could find, whatever their heights or weights, be they fetchers or carriers, 6’s or 7’s for I believe there is nothing and no one on the field who can have as large an impact on a game as three terrier-like loose forwards. I can name many but one hero always comes into my mind when I think of loose forwards and that is the blond and bloody Jean-Pierre Rives of France, indefatigable genius, king of loose forwards - he looked like a shark and played like one (do you remember, also, the blond loose forward, also a captain, nicknamed “The Shark” who played for Scotland? Another outstanding example of what I believe to be a real loose forward).

Effect?

The effect of these wolfish sharks is inestimable - they can create havoc for opposition even if your tight forwards are struggling. If they do not do this, they are not good loose forwards - drop them! They should be unpredictable: if clever and used intelligently, they will be where the opponents least want them - in behind your backs as support in attack, covering behind them in defence, closing that hole between scrum/line-out and flyhalf in defence or adding to problems in the same spot opening up attack, running inside or outside your wings. A good loose forward is ubiquitous in both attack and defence. You can cope with all the set players from standard pieces of play but how the devil do you counter the free-ranging, free thinking shark?

How do you bring them into play?

From scrums it is easy - there are a number of set piece ploys which include the scrumhalf and we all know most of them but there are sometimes not many scrums in a game: I watched a 1st class game last Saturday in which there were only three or four first-half scrums so you cannot merely wait for scrums. From your own line-outs (sadly, there are too many of these for both sides), you can put loose forwards anywhere behind anyone in your backline as a group or singly and play them as dummy-runners, on the shoulder supporters, angle runners, you can use them as a deeper backline and so on. Why do we see so few short, quick line-outs, line-outs that allow loose forwards to roam? Why are we so stereotyped in our play? Simple answer is that we all copy everybody else - there are few free thinkers among the modern coaches. We can use 6, 7 and 8 particularly from quick rucks and mauls as runners, again singly or as a group - of course they will not always be available because sometimes they will be the ones who win you the ball. Use them from kick-offs to run off the edges and/or to spread the ball. Put your No.8 where he can take a “running” pass from a kick off, inside or outside flyhalf or fullback; think running from kickoffs, get the forwards moving after the loose forwards run and create for them. There is little as difficult to stop as a close passing bunch of forwards (notice I said passing!).

The quicker the game, the more effective the attacking loose forward; the slower the game, the easier it is to organise orthodox defences. (Please, someone, tell me why we drive our own line-outs if we are not close to either try-line.)

We have a very old saying in rugby, comparing it to a hand of bridge - play to your trumps! Your loose forwards are you trumps and if they are not, you have a bum side. Nine times out of ten, it is the side with the better 6, 7 and 8 that will triumph in a game, particularly a tough game.

Loose forwards must destroy opponents’ patterns and they must weave tapestries for their own side. They are a team within a team as are the tight forwards, the back three (wings and fullback), inside and outside backs - but the difference is that these loose forwards are always in the van of play causing sheer mayhem for their opponents, creating opportunities for their own. In defence, they are often , like a submarine in wartime; you don't know from where they are coming and so are unable to take evasive action.

Let loose these dogs of war and make chaos reign in the ranks of the enemy.

If you are going to place a bet on a rugby side, carefully examine the loose forwards of both sides before you do it! Perhaps, though, you had better give the coach a cursory glance, too, for some do not know how to use a good loosie.

Perhaps I oversimplify so I shall I repeat what I said earlier on: a tight five can be the difference between a great loose trio and an ineffectual one. Remember Boy Louw’s favourite saying: “Games are won and lost in the front row!” Naturally, I was a prop!