It is a tactic and a training method that has revolutionized the round ball, can it do the same with the oval ball? For several seasons, the ability of players to perform in all aspects of the game has become a particularly sought-after commodity. Today, this prerequisite has become essential in the best teams in the world, with Stade Toulousain at the forefront.
“Rugby, beyond the strategic aspect and the positional content, once you have balanced that, the most important thing is to have the right players on the field.“, Toulouse manager Ugo Mola confided to Midi Olympique at the beginning of September. Subsequently, the latter had imagined being able to line up internationals such as Antoine Dupont or Thibaud Flament in various and varied positions.
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World rugby in tune?
In an analysis published on September 19 by the English newspaper TheRugbyPaperthis versatility is then part of a potential tactical revolution: total rugby. Put forward by analyst Peter Ryan, this idea comes in response to a method of play and training that revolutionized football 50 years ago. Carried by the iconic Johan Cruyff and the teams of Ajax Amsterdam and FC Barcelona, it consists of a tactical plan where all players perform the same tasks, without distinction of position.
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Obviously, in rugby union, some set pieces of play are inseparable from certain positions. In conquest, the first line cannot be replaced by a trio of lightweight wingers. However, in the running game, can this idea emerge? This is where versatility takes on its full meaning, according to Peter Ryan.
The philosophy of “total football” is based on the idea that there are virtually no fixed positions. It aims to create shifts on the pitch. Of course, a winger cannot be a pillar, but you can take inspiration from him for the back line. The full-backs must make an effort and provide solid guarantees. Breaking the line of advantage is crucial, as it keeps the defense on the back foot. This allows the attacking team to anticipate. The system revolves around creating key shifts. There are a wide range of positions on the pitch, with each player tasked with a specific role. […] However, as rugby has evolved, many forwards have become more rugged. Hookers and backs seem to be much more versatile than in the past.” — Peter Ryan (TheRugbyPaper; 2024)
Already, this attitude has even been favored to the detriment of certain specialists. This truth was notably observed with the French XV. In particular, the full-back position has definitively been offered to complete players (Ramos, Jaminet or Bouthier) and sidelining players of great quality, irreproachable in tasks as decisive as they are precise.
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Cultural and geographical limits
However, this versatility seems to concern a panel of varying players. depending on the regions and the types of rugby practiced. Peter Ryan thus suggests that the number 10 and 12 could be interchanged. A very Anglo-Saxon vision of the position, sometimes called “Five-eighth” in New Zealand and England, encompassing the first centre and the fly-half, without distinction.
However, this would hardly apply to the French or South African game plan, for example, where the solid Jonathan Danty and Damian de Allende could hardly take the place of their respective fly-half. Similarly, the number 5 position seems to be available to well-defined Golgoth sizes, in the Top 14 and with the French XV, for several years, without this model necessarily being imitated elsewhere.
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In New Zealand, this “total rugby” hypothesis can also be mixed with its recognized training methodIn the country of rugby, players in training are classified according to their weight and not their age, forcing the heavier players to develop their offensive capabilities and their skills in the running game.
Elsewhere in Oceania, the Catalan Franck Boivert is one of the historic trainers who has left his mark on Fijian rugby.Previously, I did internships with Pierre Villepreux in Toulouse, so I was nourished by this philosophy“, he told us a few months ago. In response, he accustomed his players to practicing training sessions in which rucks were forbidden. So the ball had to be constantly alive, forcing all positions to know how to attack without stopping.
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It remains to be seen whether this methodology and offensive madness will remain the identity of a few structures and populations or whether the rest of the oval ball will seek to conform to it. For total football, if the ideology of Cruyff and his cronies became a must in the following years, its perpetuation was only really done in a few bastions. Even today, Rugby union is undergoing a complete transformation and pursues a complex globalization and professionalization, making its future complicated to imagine.
