Line Out "Management"

[Iron_Lung]

Was watching South Africa vs Wallabies last night and noticed Wayne Barnes' approach to the management of the lineout. At least twice (maybe more), he pulled the lineout after the throw to get a re-throw and manage an issue that had occurred during the formation of the original line-out. The first one was at 10:20 (1st Half) when Australia had 2 receivers due to one player moving up late. Barnes blew the whistle and said something like "2 receivers, in the line please" and let the Wallabies throw in again.

It seems like there is a definite trend to managing issues with the lineout in the first instance, much the same as scrums, through a reset rather than a first up FK. Is this something everyone else has found? What sort of offences at the line-out would you give a reset rather than a FK for?

 

[Dixie]

I thought WB had an excellent game - his communication is calm, unflustered and profession - not sure about the linguistic wisdom of using the word Hystrionic to JP Pietersen, though.

In the instances you mention, the lineouts were not properly formed, so he avoided the need to PK by insisting the formation was rectified. He did the same at 29:44 when admonishing Gold #4 for an attempted double crotch bind in the scrum. He COULD have let these issues go and played "GOTCHA" -I think most people there would have preferred his approach - especially as Gold won the game on the last PK in the final second of the match.

Both these last two tri-nations games have been characterised by comedy defending and Aus running out of puff after an excellent 1st half. Notable that the Boks pulled it back together by reverting to form and eschewing the frantic basketball-style game apparently so popular down south. But the skill levels are definitely somehting to aspire to - did you see Matfield's pickup, chip, regather and offload? Awesome.

 

[Iron_Lung]

I totally agree that his approach was calm, laconic and exactly what was needed for the game at hand. I tend to reset lineouts early myself, but usually only for potential issues that I can identify before the lineout is really formed. I was wondering if people took an approach to other issues, either at junior or senior levels, to avoid using a FK/PK and resetting instead.

With respect to your other comments, I'm really enjoying the running rugby that the SH teams are playing at the moment (probably because that's where I'm from), but can still appreciate the tactical nous of the springboks to play it in the forwards to gain some ascendency when needed. Was helped a lot by the Wallabies going to sleep, but you could see that when either team got a roll on and retained the ball, it was a fierce battle to try and keep them out.

I thought Matfield was excellent (as you say, the chip and chase was unbelievable from a lock), Pocock continues to improve, Burgess continues to surprise with his run and consistency, and Gio Aplon is potentially the person to replace Habana if his run of poor form continues.

Couldn't believe the crowd started to boo their own team in the first half though... harsh crowd!