He is to rush defense what Master Yoda is to many Jedi. A reference for spectators and followers, a guide for wannabes and players. It is not the second-line French international Bernard Le Roux who will say the opposite, he who aspires since his meeting with Shaun Edwards to become a coach.
Since his arrival in 2020, the Englishman, multi-titled in club and selection, has established himself as one of the centerpieces of this XV of France version Fabien Galthié. Moreover, by revolutionizing his defense, he profoundly influenced the style of play of this team and participated fully in its attractive results. Friday March 11, Shaun Edwards will return to Wales, which he left to join the Habs, after having won a host of titles there.
The man, the only player still to this day to have been captain of England in XIII as in XV, developed a defensive system which came to dust off rugby: the rush defense.
It involves pressing the attack very quickly by cutting the outsides and the passing lines, the idea is to leave the attackers as little time as possible to make a decision, we force them to go to the ground. We are not on a defense in control, always retreating. There we come to create faults thanks to very dense, fast profiles, which dominate collisions and large tackles.
Pierre-Henry Broncan, former Stade Toulousain defense coach and current manager of Castresat franceinfo: sports
In fact, it is not uncommon, as against Scotland, to see an Antoine Dupont or a Jonathan Danty alone in the lead ready to pounce on the attacker to make him retreat or block the ball in his arms as soon as the precious oval is in possession of their vis-à-vis. If the opponents suffer the collisions and the physical challenge – where the Blues have become particularly successful – and fail to find the outsides, they have no choice but to get rid of the ball at their feet.
“It’s a defense that allows you to benefit from a lot of turnover. Recovery balls are formidable in modern rugby where the defenses are almost impassablecontinues Pierre-Henry Broncan. To exploit them, you need very fast players. In front we are very dense, but behind also with Danty, Fickou or Moefana.”
In other words, the attack is fed by the defense, “Attack feeds with defense”, as is customary to hear in British clubs. The match against Scotland provided a great new example of this. “Finn Russell is an exceptional opener, a creative, but he doesn’t like to play under pressure. He could not express himself as usual. An average foot game and it was try behind”, adds the CO technician. Indeed, the insatiable captain and scrum-half of the Blues Antoine Dupont, well placed on the cover, had taken the opportunity to offer a festival of school supports and fuss to get a comeback from the field which ended with the Essay by Paul Willemse.
Further proof that players blend into this system with delight. This team emanates a real appetite to defend, to undermine the morale of its opponent by preventing him from developing his game before sinking it with a counter flash. Little by little, the XV of France appropriated a game of dispossession leaving the initiative of the game to its opponents.
One could be led to believe that a team that spends most of its time defending and chaining tackles suffers more physically, a pretense for the former Toulouse player. “The most trying are the chase runs. The sprints to cover the ground under the high balls or when you run to put the pressure. When the defense is in place, you move little across the width and then when you dominate the collisions you get less tired. In addition, Shaun Edwards asks a lot for two-man tackles, one up, one down to prevent the continuity of the game”develops Pierre-Henry Broncan.
According to him, Friday’s match will have nothing to do with the one against Scotland or Ireland who appreciate having their hands on the ball. “You have to see what it gives against a team like England who play like us in dispossession, see how the Welsh will adapt. They have densified their pack, and their kicking game with Dan Biggar is even heavier and effective than that of Finn Russell or Stuart Hogg. He is used to hitting so high and hard that he recovers them himself at the other end of the field. The fight will be tough in the back of the field.”
Especially since the former proteges of Shaun Edwards will be waiting firmly for their former defense specialist. They shouldn’t be surprised by this self-appropriated rush defense when the Englishman was in their ranks. With him, Wales won four victories in the Six Nations Tournament, including three Grand Slams (2008, 2012, 2019). Previously, he had also allowed Wasps to be crowned English champions four times (2003, 2004, 2005 and 2008) and twice European champions (2003, 2007).
These performances, Shaun Edwards intends to repeat them with the Blues. “Congratulations to the FFR. The XV of France will be the team to beat in four years (during the 2023 World Cup, in France), warned Sir Clive Woodward, coach of England, world champion in 2003, in November 2019. I couldn’t understand why the English Rugby Union hadn’t moved heaven and earth to bring Shaun back to Twickenham. Another England manager working with our biggest rivals?
Seduced by the idea of working with Raphaël Ibanez, whom he had coached, and the opportunity to accompany such a group until the 2023 World Cup in France, the former scrum-half and opener hopes to be living up to the philosophy he has been advocating since the beginning of his coaching career: “Attack sells tickets to fill stadiums, defense wins titles”. To get the first title of the Galthié era, before a potential Grand Slam, it will be necessary to achieve a tour de force and get rid of its former Jedi apprentices from Wales.