As the Womens World Cup enters the semi-final stages I thought it'd be good to look back at one of the best tries from the pool stages, Christelle Le Duff's second against, a poor, South Africa.
The try doesn't really mean much in the context of the game, but it's worth looking at because it comes from a well worked strike move.
Strike moves are literally the Holy Grail of back play, it's one of those things that teams practice time and time again only to come to nothing under pressure on the pitch, that's why the most effective are normally the most simple ones, like this which sends Le Duff in untouched.
From a technical point of view it's worth watching the shape of both Agricole and Le Duff as they pass the ball on, they run what is known as the accelerator, a little arc that allows them to turn their body in one fluid motion whilst maintaining their balance, it puts speed on the ball and allows a more accurate pass. It also protects the ball when the player is that close to the gain line – if they get hit the ball goes backwards not forwards as it would if you were front when hit.
It’s a lovely piece of entertaining Rugby, but disappointingly the French closed up shop against the Australians using forwards power to put the game away. In some ways that’s great as it shows the team can mix it up, but personally fingers are crossed we see some more of this from les Bleus!
Author: The Dead Ball Area
