Thorn Wants Common Sense
New Zealand player, Brad Thorn, says he wants his team to use common sense as they are about to embark upon a quest to win the Tri Nations.
He says that basic and sensible tactics are a good way to start in trying to beat South Africa and Australia. Both of these sides will want to get one over on the All Blacks so it's important that the team do all of the little things correctly.
Thorn quite rightly relates basic tactics and common sense to an organised team, which will be capable of producing consistently good results. This will naturally lead to them being in a strong position during the Tri Nations and should help them to win it.
There are many positives to the way that the Kiwis play, which should mean that basic rugby leads to a game that is far too good for most opposition sides to handle. However, it's important to remember that at some point during a Tri Nations game the side may be forced into doing something different in order to get ahead.
Basic Kiwi Rugby
The basics of Kiwi rugby mean the side will be very compact and well organised. They like to have a very solid defence where they pack the field with their biggest players and use them to break down opposition attacks.
This makes them very difficult to get through because even when the ball is switched to the wide areas, they move out as a unit to cover. There will always be a few black shirts in the way when a player is trying to dart into a gap to score a try.
In terms of attack it means conventional tactics but New Zealand do these tactics very well. Every player in the team can pass and move the ball quickly. This makes them difficult to defend against because they can move the ball in an instant, which means they are wearing down the opposition defence as much as they are trying to score.
Versatility is also a very common factor in the common sense of Kiwi rugby. There are a number of players in the side who can drift without damaging the shape of the team. This gives the opposition all sorts of headaches and creates gaps and chances to score as teams become stretched.
Something Different
New Zealand are not a naive rugby team by any means. If they need to come up with something different then Graham Henry is a very capable coach. He has been coaching against and with good sides for a very long time and he will have a few ideas up his sleeve.
He may not even need to deploy them because the All Blacks have enough players on the field who are capable of spotting a weakness and improvising to exploit it. Although New Zealand are very good at doing all of the simple things wel, they can adapt in no time at all.
The Kiwis are in immense form ahead of their opening Tri Nations matches and they look a very good unit. Don't be afraid to back them to win this Tri Nations event although a lot depends on whether they can get over the ghosts of playing South Africa in the past.
Avoid betting on Thorn as a player and focus on the wider and faster members of the team. Don't forget about the kicker who will always wrack up important points as the side look to stay in games or just get their noses ahead at the vital moment.
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