Ratier on Canadian strategy and tactics

For French spectators the 2014?˜Women??s Rugby World Cup a?˜real highlight of the competition was?˜the desire of the players and teams which?˜this led to a real enthusiasm (. The team that symbolised this desire perhaps most was?˜Canada.

We asked coach Francois Rattier two main questions -?˜how did he overcome his side's?˜lack of an effective kicking game? And why did they decide to gamble on a the game movement?

"This will not have escaped anyone, the girls play less of a kicking game than boys. The proof was in the semi-final between France and Canada, there were?˜only 40 kicks in open play. In comparison, during the pool phases of the 2007 men??s World Finals an average of 90 kicks per game was recorded (with more than 100 in some matches)."

"The first reason is the lack of a kicking game comparable to men's rugby amongst most women players, be it technical or strategic. While they have made tremendous progress in several fields (static phases, individual techniques, physical density...), but this area is still improving. But the power deficit in the kick will always be difficult to fill. As a result?˜the Canadian kicking game remains generally confined their final quarter of the field?˜with kicks direct to touch, as they are still find it difficult clear the ball more than 40 metres!"

"While other options might involve kicking to relive pressure or kicking for field position, the players prefer to take the ball forward by hand. We find that there are only 30-40% of kicks (according to selected criteria) in such situations have a positive outcome, so we focus our kicking mainly in the 22 meters and rarely beyond 40 meters."

Nevertheless the Canadian do specific kicking work on key positions (9-10-15) during the Warm Up using the ??Snap Kick???˜technique.

"The only goal of this is to ensure a straight path for the ball to compensate for the power deficit. To provide this kind of technical ingredients are:

* Hip in the axis of the trajectory*?˜

"However this does give a very mechanical movement and is a lot less fluid than the players would like. So overall we opt for a game of movement!"

"We therefore wanted to set up a set of plays, under the leadership of the coaches, which favour?˜risk-taking and use of overlaps... and in different zones of the field. Of course this requires perfect following of the game plan on the part of all players. So, during the 14 months preceding the competition, the staff had the players sixty days to prepare"

"Three watchwords symbolize this desire: movement, attack, and risk taking; risk taking articulated around three areas of work:

* Ball retention* R

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"Avoiding turnovers in this form of game is a risky?˜line to take, and it is important not to lose the ball and keep the initiative. This may sound obvious, but it is the team that initiates that controls the game. Progress is made by phases of rucks and mauls.

"Reading the play is a priority of player training. Working in small groups and en masse allows us to face up to situation and includes?˜"big hits" of the day competitions. An example of is the first try against France which was based on excellent awareness of number 15 at the ruck:

"The two points where we work are on the versatility and complementarity of our players (especially his three-quarter line) when it comes ball in hand. This allows us to be more efficient and reading and responding to the developing game."

"If you do not have a kicking game, we need solutions take the ball forward. Retention is not enough. Unlike many men's teams who play to avoid defeat, we have shown that risk-taking pays off. But for that you need to know to create and use overlaps."

"Many situations are practiced with 6 against 4, or 5 against 3 are repeated in training, so that in match situaions they second nature. Against France the second try which started?˜from behind the opponents scrum inside the 22 meters is a striking example.

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"Canadian Rugby is based around a high performance sevens programme. The players training both forms of play, which brings a real plus to the game at XVs, especially on the areas highlighted by the staff:

* Good reading of overlaps*?˜

"However, moving between the two forms of play is two-edged sword. A player returning to fifteens after a period in sevens, will need a few days to regain her bearings (not running backwards being the most essential). But in our opinion, the positive contribution is large enough to overcome this problem."

"This form of the game requires the full participation of the whole team. Management therefore aims to involve the maximum players in the process. However, in order to have a completely free group (and thus ready to play a full game), the main role of the ?˜head coach has been to remove any form of pressure by taking responsibility for decisions take. Although decision making is shared with the players, the coach remains the figurehead when working with the Union."