The fresh fangs of the Leicester Tigers splattered cherry juice after a spirited tussle with a roaring lion at the Ed Slater Cup. Michael Cheika has started to fire again like a top gaffer, for the first time definitively since 2015. With the rise of coach-based game plans in the last two decades, such as Warrenball (Welsh Golden era), Cheikaball was much maligned despite success in the form of a World Cup final and wins over Ireland. However, Cheika and Pollard have given each other a resurgence at the Leicester Tigers.
After a solid but underwhelming season for the Leicester Tigers in the 2023/24 season, Handre Pollard was plagued by injuries and benched during the Rugby Championship. However, Leicester’s attacking game has shifted, almost in a similar manner to the Springboks’ evolution under Tony Brown. This has benefitted both the club, who get a bang for their buck in the world’s most expensive player, and Pollard himself in the tight jersey race in the Springbok squad.
With the rise of more agile and supposedly ‘more creative’ and flair-based alternatives with a similar level of kicking game and the raw breaking threat that suits the transition kicking game of the Springboks, Pollard has had his own place in the starting line up of the Springbok team called into contention. The much-criticised and shoehorned fly-half was forced into a new challenge: adapt or phase out. The 30-year old has found more variety as his kick-to-pass ratio has transitioned from 3 or 4-to-1, to now about almost a 1-2 kick-to-pass, under a dynamic Sringboks attacking structure.
South Africa’s Handre Pollard. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)
Tony Brown’s new attack has maintained the old foundations that saw the Brave Blossoms blitz past a much superior Springbok side that could give the All Blacks a run for their money in 2015, resulting in all three fly-halves easily racking up impressive performances. All three fly-halves could arguably be rated in the world’s top ten, with all-round skillsets.
In this new circumstance, the flourishing of the South African Finn Russell (Manie Libbok) and the South African Dan Carter (Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu) has left Pollard on the outer. However, Damian de Allende’s inability to consistently play cutout wide passes has prompted theories Pollard could be used as a future No.12, or take Willie le Roux’s place in the bomb squad. I elaborated on the evolution in the Bok attack in a previous article, and it occurred to me that Pollard was taking Willie’s place as a creative midfielder of the regista, a deep-lying playmaker linking play from tight to wide regions of the pitch, taking pressure off the No.10 so their creative trequartistas can play their standard game. While in the past, Willie took the role of both regista and trequartista (soccer analogy), Pollard has swapped the trequartista role for a centurion in the Springbok attack, often directing the pods around and marshalling wave after wave of crash-ups at optimal angles to develop the rumbling biltong-powered drive.
His future in the squad depends on his ability to maintain a high standing in both the 10 and 12 jersey, especially if he is to become the next No.23. The phasing of le Roux into Frans Steyn’s old role, may now pass to Pollard as Rassie seeks to accommodate the Stormers trio of Libbok, SFM, and Willemse in the same 23 or starting line-up.
This means he must seek to replicate the sparking plays of Lukhanyo Am, the dynamic drive of de Allende, as well as revive the X-factor buried under years of World Cup-winning game management.
Under Michael Cheika, we have seen a return to the Handre Pollard of old, the one that straightened up and waltzed through All Black defences; perhaps a little slower and sharper this time round.
In the recent showing against Gloucester, it was evident much of the attacking gameplan was built around him, as Leinster-like plays were being designed with countless revolving doors and sliding pieces, overwhelming the midfield edges between different zones in the field. Pollard, ever the chimera, seemed even more adept as this creative hybrid 12, flourishing from the second five-eighth spot with the ability to make the killer plays in both passes and breaks.
In one of the tries that sparked Leicester’s comeback, the forward pack lined up in a six-man group, with a back doing a No.10’s role of holding the ball up as Pollard flashed around, dummied and darted through to continue the Tigers surge.
This quick-tap play has become a Leicester staple within five or ten metres of the try-line – a simplified version of the Leinster plays with Jack van Poortvliet, a world-class No.9, giving crisp ball and accurate pass selections which allow Pollard a platform to work off. The new dynamic attack of Michael Cheika is neither possession-based nor territorial; instead, it revolves around quick strikes, seizing opportunities, and executing to a tee. That suits the many internationals and solid players within the Leicester squad, blending skill and strength into a scintillating machine to deconstruct defences and continue individual creativity.
When it comes to their typical wide attacks, Michael Cheika has sought to emulate the Beale-Foley-Folau axis of old, with Beale as the glue, Foley as the iceman and Folau as the X-factor. Beale’s sidestepping, flair, and precise passing (even if he did struggle playing flat in traffic), opened up opportunities for the latter two to pick their chances. For Leicester, Cheika has a reduced version in Pollard-Kelly-Steward that keeps the same archetypes.
Using that core attacking axis of two playmakers and one X-factor in their midfield spine, he has constructed a blinding attack. Even though Pollard may not have the guile of Beale, he and Kelly both have superb long-range passing and sharp decision-making and the ability to knit together plays, with Steward as a focal point strike runner in their attacking set-up.
The below play is core in deciphering Michael Cheika’s attacking playbook. With Beale at first receiver, he threads an excellent pod-splitting pass between his two-man forward pod to Foley, who fixes up the defender and puts away his outside backs.
The 12 takes over many key plays, distributing and carrying duties to open up the 10. With Leicester, this system has been replicated but instead with Pollard taking over all three factors. In some cases, he does the above, like threading the ball through to allow Dan Kelly to pull the trigger from deep and unleash the Tigers wingers.
His new task as the Tiger centurion has seen him marshal their attack and unlock defences with ease with both simple screen plays and other systems built around his unique skillset.
Here, against Gloucester in the Ed Slater Cup, his class play of the night saw his skills in full force. His carrying threat holds defenders off, as you can see the inside defenders plant their feet as he times a good ball to get his forwards over the gainline. He reloads into the second five-eighth position once again, with a double screenplay and a superb pullback by Montoya overloading the midfield as a killer pass by Pollard slices open Gloucester, sending their prime strike runner Steward through to link up with Bassett for yet another try.
The delegation of first receiver roles has helped Pollard to make plays in midfield-which has seen him play his best tactical rugby in a while. While last year under Wigglesworth he had better form with the team built around him, à la Sexton with Leinster, his tactical utility this year in his last season with Leicester Tigers has sharpened the fangs of the attack.
Pollard is not to be counted out in the Bok No.10 jersey race, regardless of the form of Libbok or SFM. His versatility at 10 or 12 has seen him become a world class operator in both, as the structure of the Tigers allows him to make a convincing case for both positions in a Springbok jersey.
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The post How Cheika has sparked the resurgence of Handre Pollard, and put him back in the Boks No.10 race first appeared on Rugby 247.
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Author : rugby-247
Publish date : 2024-10-28 17:02:10
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