The CA Brumbies have committed to an expansive, attacking game plan in 2007 as part of winning their third Super Rugby title.
The CA Brumbies scored 38 tries during the 2006 Super 14 season, while conceding just 22 ‘ the second least conceded in the competition.
However, CA Brumbies assistant coach Matt O’Connor, responsible for overseeing the CA Brumbies’ attacking plays, says there are several challenges currently facing attacking rugby.
‘It’s certainly not a growth market,’ he said. ‘With the level of contest in the game and the way it’s refereed, we’re seeing less and less ball in hand and less tries being scored.
‘But the Brumbies’ philosophy has always been about scoring tries and we’ll continue to abide by that. We’re continuing to develop a lot of areas that we used last year and we’re looking to get more width into our game, which should give us the option to play more running rugby.’
O’Connor says the 2007 CA Brumbies squad has the talent to execute the adventurous style of play.
‘We’re very fortunate in the number of skilled players we have in our squad,’ he said. ‘We’ve got blokes in the back row like [Stephen] Hoiles, [Julian] Salvi and [George] Smith who have the ability to ball-play like backs. Huxley and Larkham’s ability to play wide will also obviously be critical. Gene [
With just nine weeks until the beginning of the 2007 Investec Super 14, the CA Brumbies have continued to address their unstructured play ahead of their first match against the Chiefs in Hamilton on February 3.
‘Last year we were as good as any side in a structured environment,’ he said. ‘We’ll continue to consolidate our structured play but we’ve also focused on our unstructured play. We’ve worked on what players are seeing and what positions they’re getting themselves into so that they can make the right decision relative to the skills they’ve got.’
In addition to the expansive game plan, O’Connor sites the need to take advantage of early chances as key to winning matches in 2007.
‘If we can create and convert opportunities early in the game, it will change the nature of the match,’ he said. ‘Last year we got into several contests and lost games where if capitalised on early opportunities it would’ve been enough to get us a result. Remedying that will definitely be a key focus for us for this season.’
