The breakdown is one of the most essential elements in rugby.
It’s where teams look to gain and control momentum, with dominance at the ruck providing the platform for teams to get quick ball and enable their attack to fully function.
While the art of jackalling – standing over the ball after a tackle to win a turnover – has evolved over the years, it remains a fundamental skill for any team with silverware in their sights
The Guinness Six Nations has certainly seen many masters of the breakdown grace the Championship over the years, providing crucial interventions for their teams.
Sam Warburton was one of the modern breakdown maestros before hanging up his boots while Maro Itoje, CJ Stander and Alun Wyn Jones have also proven themselves efficient.
And you can expect to see plenty more jackalling jousts when the 2020 Championship resumes this weekend as the outstanding four Guinness Six Nations games are completed.
In fact, the importance of the breakdown will be highlighted by one of the new MatchStats powered by AWS – showing supporters what to look out for at ruck time.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Technology means rugby fans have greater access to insights into the game than ever before thanks to the MatchStats powered by Amazon Web Services (AWS).
New enhanced match graphics and statistics give supporters greater understanding into a range of key in-game events, including scrum analysis, play patterns, try origins and much more.
Among the revised and finessed AWS MatchStats for the resumption of the 2020 Guinness Six Nations is Breakdown Impact – showing fans where the battle lines are being drawn.
For those new to the game, the breakdown in the short period of open play immediately after a tackle and before and during the ensuing ruck in which teams compete for the ball.
The new MatchStats powered by AWS highlight the efficiency at the breakdown when carrying the ball into the ruck, including the total number of ruck and where on the pitch they take place.
Breakdown Impact is split into rucks in own half and rucks in the opposition half, while the graphic also shows how many and where rucks have been lost on a team’s own ball.
Essentially, the stats visually establish where a team is securing the ball or where a team is more or less effective on the field – providing a much deeper insight to those watching the action.
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
The breakdown proved to be one of the most important elements of the game when England faced Ireland at Twickenham in Round 3 of the 2020 Guinness Six Nations.
With Andy Farrell’s men winning their opening two games of the Championship, they arrived at England HQ confident they could see off the hosts’ destroyers at the breakdown.
But the bruising encounter ultimately ended in a 24-12 victory for Eddie Jones’ men, with Itoje, Sam Underhill and George Kruis all making their presence felt at the breakdown.
While Ireland won a lot of rucks, the visitors also lost possession repeatedly – conceding 15 turnovers in the 80 minutes – meaning they struggled to build momentum.
Disruption was the aim of the game for England and the ruck and turnover locations showed how the Red Rose targeted the tackle and breakdown as key battlegrounds.
The final four games of the Championship will be sure to throw up many more breakdown contests and the MatchStats powered by AWS will be on hand to provide yet more insight
‘MatchStats’ powered by AWS are built using detailed historical rugby data from Stats Perform, who bring decades of experience in collecting and analysing data – including the utilisation of AI – to bring new understanding to those in media, betting and team performance.
For more information about MatchStats powered by AWS, visit the website.
