Meanwhile, In Sweden......

We at Ruck Tales Suomi have been interested to learn how other Nordic nations have integrated rugby into their culture and what sort of benefits and problems they have faced. We chat with Eric O'Neill of Karlstad Rugby Club to find out the Swedish perspective (with a hint of Irishness).

Ruck Tales (RT): How did you get into rugby in Sweden?

Eric O'Neill (EO):  I was playing football in the same field as the rugby players some years back and the French rugby coach heard me speaking English. He asked where I was from when I replied Ireland he insisted I join the rugby team and I was a shame to my nation (or something like that) if I didn't - it's hard to say no to a man who is 6ft 6 and weighs 120 kilos when he makes such demands. But i was also attracted to social element as at my age you play sport for the fun of it and as a hobby and football had lost its appeal.

(Courtesy of Karlstad RC - a small club working hard to promote rugby in the Swedish community)

RT: How is the game viewed in Sweden?

EO: It depends: in our city we are forver mistaken for the local american footballers. Those who come to watch are bemused and in awe. The country as whole really doesn't know much about it through poor marketing, lack of funding, lack of able and willing bodies and no network television coverage. But locally those who know about the game really enjoy it and the parents of our youth section are totally sold on the sport and the ethics of the game.
 

RT: How easy is it finding new players and what does your club do to bring in new people?

EO: It's not easy, in fact its the single greatest problem we have. As of last year we have refocused all our efforts to starting from the bottom and recruiting at the youngest level and rebuilding the club on new foundations with the ultimate aim that in 10 years the club has its own conveyor belt of talent. We achieve this through a kids rugby set-up at the club and also through school visits. We will also try some local marketing to attract people who may have tired of hockey/hanball etc and who fancy something different later in their sporting life.  We also year on year hope some returning Karlstad ladies bring with them some rugby boys from around the globe. We have not and cannot do what 2 clubs in this country are rumoured to do and that is spend obsene money on decidedley average imported players to win what is, in effect, one of the worlds lowest rated competitions. We have in the past had a few wandering students stay at the club and play in the summer whilst they enjoyed the local wildlife.




RT: Rugby is generally associated with higher levels of team spirit than other sports – how does this apply with Karlstad?

EO: We market it as the greatest team sport in the world. Then of course you have the social aspect. When I arrived 5 years ago this was non-existent at Karlstad; most people left straight after a game. It was my first serious involvement in the background with another guy, Marcus, who is now the vice president. We set about organising parties after home games and other events and initiatives to encourage a little more socialising - you can never have enough socialising. This is now part of the fabric of the club again.

RT: Your club has some potentially massive distances to travel (an away game against a Skåne team is 8 hours plus!) – How does this affect your squad?

EO: Certainly it's not a positive thing - for the club coffers it's a nightmare with each game costing the club €2500 in travel [!!!!!]. The players are legends about it and tolerate the journeys. Last year, through attrocious and borderline-inept competition planning we landed in a league with 3 Southern teams and ourselves. It was both a costly and energy sapping experience, needless to say we never won away. This season we play within our own region and although all away games are approximately 600km round trips it is manageable and the reality is the players are adapted to it.

(Photograph courtesy of Karlstad RC. Rough trip: long distances don't diminish the physicality in Swedish games)

RT: In your opinion, which aspects of the game (skills-wise) are done well in Swedish rugby and which aspects are lacking?

EO: Most of the good developments come from abroad. This is not a stab at the Swedes, it's just a simple fact. On a national level the new driving force in youth development is an Irish guy who in turn has brought the Munster/IRFU development model here. At our club we have a Swedish backline coach and an Irish coach plus we have a French coach. The Swedish coach was capped at national level, the French and Irish coaches have been capped at international U21 level, so internally we are gifted with knowledge and coaching talent. In my opinion, the Swedes surprise the outside teams with their physicality and willingness to get stuck in. Karlstad has a strong, agressive pack mostly made up of Swedes, but skills-wise the Swedish national side would just about get by or possibly struggle in the Irish second division. What has been lacking has been any real directive in coaching and retaining kids, but this is now in development so we should see some results in the next 7-10 years. The national side is made up of  ”naturalised” or home-grown players. The home-grown players normally come to game later in life, lacking the general skills and knowledge that are garnered at a young age so they have raw talent but lack that 'je ne sais quoi' that say an English or Irish player has who played the game since they were 8 or 9.

RT: Sweden is riding quite high in the European Nations Cup - how easy it is for your players to break into the National side?

EO: It's not easy and for many reasons: the coaches never have any scouts, the camps are never clearly advertised and the general logic is that you (a club) must force the national side to look at your players. Then you have the insistances of selecting run-of-the-mill blow-in (naturalised) players as opposed to taking the plunge and giving home-grown talent a shot. The national side's success probably comes from the same stagnancy that prevents new talent emerging: they (the national squad) have been together for so long they have the same spirit and knowledge of each other as any good club side has. However, to avoid being accused of being bitter, I can also acknowledge right now that we at Karlstad have one player who is potentially capable of playing at national level and he has now moved to France to play semi-pro over there, so when/if he returns he will hopefully be ready for national call-ups. One argument in defence of the national coaches is that we don't compete at the highest level week in, week out. For ladies and U18’s we don't have enough players to field teams, nevermind elect people for national sides.

RT: How would you improve the state of the game in Sweden?

EO: As the world's greatest a******e, Donald Trump, once said: "it needs money, money and more money plus some fabulous promotion". The funding is poor and poorly managed. Right now there is a big push towards sevens olympic qualifcation which is nice but unrealistic, pouring away money that doesn't exist into a pipe dream. Moreover, the purists who run the clubs don't value sevens. To me, sevens is to rugby what futsal is to football: a sideshow of limited value. Yet for some bizarre reason the good people at the IOC were more fond of this bastardised version of the sport than the real deal.
The clubs need funding and staff otherwise it will be the same vicious circle. We here have contacts coming out of our ears and opportunities to do 40-100 hours each week of schools coaching but we don't have the people to do it and we don't have the funding to secure a specialist position within the club.
But most importantly if we focus on one discipline at development and club level, for me it has to be 15’s. We market the sport around team spirit and it being open to anyone from big to small - that isn't true of sevens.  But the Irish lad I spoke of earlier has a solid development plan which is easily adaptable for clubs, but this needs more support and more funding, as he is only one guy and the clubs need constant guidance in the early years of these projects.  So development from the bottom up and I would strongly favour dropping the wasteful wooing of the Olympic Comittee and 7’s rugby.

Rugby: Under Construction

Miika Valo sends word of some important initiatives being driven forward in the Finnish rugby community.

1. School rugby development project

An interesting development is taking place with junior rugby in Finland, with an IRB supported school tag-rugby initiative.  SRL clubs have been invited to deliver rugby lessons at schools, provide tag-rugby coaching to PE-teachers as well as to kick-start their own age group rugby training this autumn.  The project has been carried out successfully, albeit with limited exposure and follow-up,  in Helsinki region in the past - the project now aims to build on the good work of Juuso Siren (Warriors RC). The project is generously funded by the IRB and we hope that clubs make a good use of this exiting opportunity!

School sports are not exactly big in the Finnish culture, and PE lessons are often conducted with kids running in jeans and not taking the lesson too seriously (although not at the few sports orientated schools). Furthermore, rugby is a much unknown territory to Finns and if the teachers are not provided with good training and follow-up support, there is a risk of doing more harm than good (bad connotations, playing mixed aussie rules/ American football/ soccer with the ball) - the responsibility to get this right and provide a positive push for the sport in the country lies on the shoulders of the organising clubs. PE teachers cannot be left alone after the initial training, like in rugby, continuity and support brings rewards!  I look forward to seeing how this plays out :)

In support of this initiative, SRL has organised few free Gold-memberships to a solid IRB affiliated coaching website RCD (http://rugbycoachingdrills.com/) - the aim is to put the quality drills to a widest possible use with the federation. Hope to see all SRL clubs, coaches and players register with this outfit (details from Miika, youth.development@rugby.fi).

 

2. Touch rugby initiative

The SRL is preparing a touch-rugby competition for the winter of 2012-13. The objectives of this project include providing a competitive and exciting challenge for clubs during the otherwise dead off-season, developing individuals, unit and team skills, motivating new players and increasing potential recruitment. 

 

More details to follow.

How Not To Use Your Tackle

Last week’s Hit of the Week videos caused some dispute on a what is becoming an increasingly common issue in rugby: what constitutes a dangerous tackle? It’s a fair question: where does one draw the line and how easy is it for the ref to make these close calls in real-time? RT looks at some examples of dangerous play in the tackle.

The high tackle:

Covered by Law 10.4(e): ”A player must not tackle (or try to tackle) an opponent above the line of the shoulders even if the tackle starts below the line of the shoulders. A tackle around the opponent’s neck or head is dangerous play”.

The professionals are often guilty of these – check out this head hunter by Xavier Rush on Courtney Lawes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfVfR4mh3DQ&feature=related

......And this one by Michael Hobbs of the Blues on the Crusaders' Ryan Crotty:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jjve4nxaWnA

The spear tackle:

The IRB actually explain the law like this:

”Lifting a player from the ground and dropping or driving that player into the ground whilst that player's feet are still off the ground such that the player's head and/or upper body come into contact with the ground is dangerous play”. (Law 10.4(j))

Have a look at this video of Welsh wing Aled Brew up-ending Canadian back DTH Van Der Merwe (from 1:13 onwards):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZozgcQ2tUA

Particularly from the camera angle behind Brew, this seems to be one of the more open and shut cases of a spear tackle: Brew clearly lifts Van Der Merwe, tilts him past the horizontal plane and then actually drives him downwards in that position.

Now compare that with one of last week’s highlighted hits from Jyväskylä vs Helsinki:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUAe9Snx_3c

Does that hit fall under the foul play law? In the strictest interpretation of the law, perhaps it does.

Non-use of arms/shoulder charge:

IRB laws state that ‘a player must not charge or knock down an opponent carrying the ball without trying to grasp that player’.

The dangers of shoulder charging were seen in Super Rugby this year, including this example from the Sharks v Chiefs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVC0LvMsfJQ

For another example, have a look at the second half of this clip (from 0:22 onwards), where All Black wing Rene Ranger makes no effort to use his arms in knocking down a Bok:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1lY2miD3cg

 

The stiff arm/swinging arm:

“A ‘stiff-arm tackle’ is dangerous play. A player makes a stiff-arm tackle when using a stiff-arm to strike an opponent”.

A classic example of this careless type of tackling was captured by photographer Rod McCracken during the Finland v Bulgaria game this year in Turku:

For a more recent example in Finnish rugby, you can download the recent game between Helsinki RC and Warriors RC from www.rugby.fi - check out 21:29 for a questionable use of an arm in the tackle.

For further information and video examples of ther IRB laws on dangerous tackling, have a look at their website and scroll down to dangerous tackling from this link:

http://www.irblaws.com/EN/laws/3/10/95/during-the-match/foul-play/dangerous-play-and-misconduct/#clause_95

Junior Camp - the round-up

Miika Valo give us an account of the rest of the action from the international junior camp, hosted here in Finland between our juniors and guests from Estonia.

DAY 3

Two practice matches, held on Day 2, gave valuable information on the laws, personal skill levels and match awareness to the coaching staff and the programme was adjusted based on the video analysis of the matches. 

Contesting possession, going forward and support play were the basic principles of rugby in focus on Day 3.  The attendees contested fiercely for possession around the tackle area, and once the tacklers and tackles mastered the calls of "tackler release!!” and “roll away!!....IMMEDIATELY!!” support began pouring in, unfortunately from all sides - until the referee-instructors sorted the mess out :)

Most of the day was spent tackling, with a side order of tackling and then some more tackling until all the players got up nicely, glowing and possessing bright red knees from the astroturf.

A much awaited Sauna evening was a pleasant break for everyone. Nothing like a hot sauna to work on sore muscles!

DAY 4

With tackling laws safely under the belt, the head coach felt it was time to 'get down to business', with rucks and mauls - Support, Support and Support!  Rucking skills were at a relatively high level to begin with, which was a positive surprise and enabled the coaches to centre on more tactical issues, such as how much support, why and when (in particular, when not to get involved).

Mauling proved to be difficult to master, with the ball popping out from all directions but the correct one. Even playing with 6 against Zaza (Estonian coach/ prop-forward) was not always enough to keep possession, let alone go forward! However, the concept was understood with plenty of homework to do back with their clubs.

The assistant coaches got a last minute assignment and each spent the afternoon with their groups on open play items of choice, namely communication and defensive pressure.

Day 4 ended with another mixed team match and 19 tired participants.  

Sauna evening 2 crowned the day, and this time it was the long-awaited lakeside sauna that saw plenty of youthful silliness (Chris was selected the all around man of the match and the master blaster!)

DAY 5 - final day

It was time to tie things together and conclude the week with open play on XV rugby. In order to have all the elements for a match, the forwards first hit the scrum machine, whilst backs worked on kicks and counter attacking from deep kicks.  This was followed by a short line-out session and finally it was time to play 15's on the full pitch. It took a good few dropped balls, wrong calls (forwards closing space, instead of creating it for the backs) until the full side managed to get through the 5 padman defenders, but once they did it, the penny dropped and more tries followed. 

There was electricity in the air as the day was to bring about the key event of the week (no, not another sauna): Finland v Estonia, the 2 test series.  Due to injuries it was decided to play sevens and each coach was given time to prepare the team.  Based on the individual performances during the week, the Finns were clearly the underdogs, with lesser handing skills and match fitness (most of the Estonians play in the senior league at home) and many expected the superior Estonian backs running rampant through the Finns. Accordingly, the game plan was focused on denying space and old-England style forwards play...and it worked!  The boys played the game plan to the letter and won the match 3-0. 

The afternoon session was a continuation of XVs open play and then again time for the coaches to prepare the lads. The week’s strain was beginning to show on the boys: fitness was an issue. Straight after lunch the Estonian were seen on the pitch, practising running lines and kicks...it was to be a contest!  

The match started with the Estonians striking hard, and scoring a beautiful individual try from a grubber, Shane Williams-style and clouds were starting to gather on the Finnish end. The next try was for the hosts, however, and it was all-even at half time.  The captain used his prerogative to change the defensive system from staggered back to league style rush defence but the superior fitness of the visitors was beginning to show - few dropped balls, gaps inside saw the visitors taking a 2-1 lead.  Our lads spent most of the remaining time in the opposition 22, trying time after time to penetrate the Estonian wall, but to no avail.  A great show of courage and grit, from both sides, 3 times the ball was held up according to the ref ...if only they dived in a touch lower and with support!  The last try went for the visitors just before full time, and they collected a deserved win. We should take much pride from the aggregate 4-3 win of the series - well done!!

I think the week can be called a success, most definitely based on the comments from the participants and the coaching staff.  A lot of rugby was played, a tangible step up in knowledge for all.  Our sincere thanks goes to George Bargaunas (FIRA refereeing educator) and Thierry Demoulin (camp director) for sharing with us from their vast knowledge and experience of our great game, likewise, I would like to offer profound thanks to Stevan Thorne, Zaza Dzidzadze and Jaakko Kanniainen for their valuable coaching input. Thank you to all the players for your contribution and enthusiastic participation - it was a pleasure to host you at Eerikkälä. Finally, I would like to express my appreciation on behalf of all the participants, to SRL and FIRA for enabling this event to be conducted.  It is through events and activities such as this one, I believe, that we motivate our youth greatly and hence advance age group rugby in our region. Many more to follow!

Junior Camp mini-blog: Day 2

Junior rugby guru Miika Valo will be updating us on Finland's juniors from Eerikkälä throughout the week:

Day 2:

The juniors have tested the mettle of their opposite numbers with the first contact session now behind them. The coaching staff are very pleased, in particular with the level of skill and the attitude - the lads have made a clear statement of intent to play serious rugby during the week.

The main focus areas selected for the next session are: support, continuity and pressure.  The morning 10-on-10 match was played with mixed teams, league-style (no set-piece) and modified contact (bear hug tackles). This afternoon will focus on the items above and tomorrow morning it will finally be full steam ahead into tackle situations & rucks, with limited set-piece work to follow.

The Estonian players have shown good handling skills (with 1-3 years of more experience under their belts). However, our lads (and lass!) are challenging the visitors with generally good pressure and alignment.  The laws of the game remain another important focus area for the coaches and George will take the players ever deeper into understanding them..."the better  you understand the laws, the better player you will ultimately become - look at Richie McCaw"!

More to follow :)

Time For Oranges!

It has been an action-packed first half of the season, full of surprises and plenty of crowd-pleasing rugby on show around the country.  Ruck Tales takes a step back to assess what’s been going on and what we might expect to see in the next two months leading up to Finals Day.

Ladies’ Championship:

Ruck Tales has had the pleasure of watching several ladies’ games this season and we are pleased to report that numbers are up and, despite some thumping score lines, there is some fantastic rugby being played by all sides.

(Photo by Hanne Yli-Parkas - Making an impact: new teams has meant new talent on the ladies' scene)

At the midway point, Jyväskylä’s ladies top the table after strong performances against Pori Lollers, Tampere Ladies and Helsinki Ladies, but they were edged out by the women from Warriors, who are just one point behind in the table with a game in hand.  Tampere, Helsinki and Pori are a long way back at present, but with the possibility of bonus points and ever-growing confidence from the newcomers, the ten ladies’ matches that remain have the potential to turn things upside down if any team gets complacent.

RT predictions: Warriors’ ladies to finish top to play the final against Jyväskylä.

(Photo by Ann-Marie Dahlqvist - No shrinking violets: ladies' matches have proved every bit as physical)

Division 1:

There is plenty to be happy about when looking at the developing teams in Finland. Plenty of brand new players are being blooded into rugby and many are making big impacts. Most importantly, the spirit of the competition has generally been well respected, with teams swapping players to help out oppositions who are short on numbers to get the full benefit of matches. In the East, Helsinki’s 2^nd team have produced consistently strong performances to top the table, showing the club’s strength in squad depth, while newcomers Old Town Shamrocks from Porvoo (coached by former NT coach Bro Bannatyne) also took a tournament win.
In the West, Rauma have continued their Division 1 dominance by winning all three tournaments to date, but the competition is starting to catch up. Pori Bombers have proved that on their day they have punish teams and several of their players have earned themselves places in Tampere’s championship team. Meanwhile Eagles’ second team and Linna Rugby of Hämeenlinna have both provided the opportunity for new players to get a taste of the game, and both teams have second place finishes for their efforts.
Up North, last year’s finalists Vaasa Wolves have struggled: despite recently thumping Jyväskylä’s 2^nd team by almost 50 points, they had previously suffered losses to Kuopio, OYUS (Oulu) and JRC 2nds. Though JRC lead the table, problems with player availability may open the door for a strong OYUS team to sneak ahead and clinch that all-important semi-final spot.

RT Predictions: Rauma Ice Pack, Helsinki 2^nd XV, OYUS and JRC 2nds will be the four semi-finalists. Rauma are sure to make the final, but the other spot is wide open.

(Photo by Ann-Marie Dahlqvist - Shaking things up: JRC's 2nds have knocked Vaasa from the Div 1 North top spot)

Mens’ Championship:

Eagles RFC from Turku have changed their fortunes to top the table at the midway point. Though they stand undefeated after four games, it must be said that all but one of their wins have lacked conviction and they will need to do plenty of work if they want to finish the job. Strong individual performances have seen NT regular Ilkka Tuomaala and newcomer Sean Shields score three tries apiece so far, while the tackling of centre Pieter Le Roux has given morale a massive boost and halted plenty of attacks.

(Photo by Rod McCracken - Catch me if you can: Eagles have thrown down the gauntlet but have a long way to go)

Warriors in second place have recovered from their opening defeat to put on three strong performances and earning two bonus points. Captain Tumppi Finell has raced to the top of the points rankings with consistently strong kicking performances and a brace of tries, while wide men Juuso Siren and Jim Rhoné have found their way to the line three times each.

Tampere RC have been struggling with absentee players, but have nevertheless given their usual bruising performances. Some wise usage of Pori's fresh talent has seen U20 wing score them two tries in as many games. Number 8 Petri Virrankoski scored four tries in two games to steal the top spot on the try scoring rankings, while centre Mikko Luopio is hot on Tumppi’s heels in the overall points rankings.

Helsinki may consider themselves unfortunate not to be higher after controlling their match against Eagles only to fade badly in the final 10 to concede the game. However they finally earned not only a win but also a bonus point to keep themselves in the running for a semi-final place.

Jyväskylä RC have pushed hard and expanded away from just their traditional forward play, but have failed to come away with a win, despite earning themselves a bonus for scoring four tries in their defeat to Warriors. National Team regulars Ari Tikkanen, Mauno Konttila and Aaro Katainen have been the driving force, scoring seven tries between them.

The second half of the season is bound to be determined to a great extend by player availability for crucial games. With the holiday season in full swing and some very physical matches claiming the usual list of injuries, squad depth and the impact of reserve players is likely to decide the tight games. One very positive note is that there have been no outright destructions of a team as seen with 60-point win margins in prior years, meaning that standards are well the rise and competition for those National Team jerseys is going to be fierce.

RT predictions: Eagles to take the league win (but only just), with Warriors and Tampere knocking the hell out of each other in the semi-final.

Junior Camp mini-blog: Day 1

Junior rugby guru Miika Valo will be updating us on Finland's juniors from Eerikkälä throughout the week:

Day 1:

FIRA junior camp started today @ Eerikkälä. Finnish and Estonian future talents have gone through the opening stages of the camp, dinner & program presentations with flying colours.

The line-out includes 5 scrum-halves, so at least the competition for the number 9 shirt will be fierce! 
FIRA match official educator, Mr. George Bargaunas withstood the barrage of technical tiny details of various law issues, like the Gibraltar - solid....the same cannot be said about the reception of the counter fire, and few lads were sent to bed with homework from irb.com/laws.

Tomorrow morning the boys (and one brave girl) will be facing their first test under the scrutiny of the head coach, Mr. Thierry Demoulin: 45 minutes of warm-up, followed by a practice match, which will be recorded for group analysis.

A great start - lot's of enthusiasm all around!

Now Pay Attention, Son!

With another thrilling Super Rugby final on our door step, Ruck Tales steps back and looks at what Finnish rugby should learn from the Southern hemisphere pros. It may seem like a strange thing to look at: Super Rugby players are some of the best on the world stage, supplying players to the top 3 teams in the IRB rankings.  However, putting aside the advantages of professional training, here are some of the key areas to adopt into your own game.

Jackaling -

The art of stealing the ball at the breakdown. You know the key men: Richie McCaw and David Pocock have turned the turnover into a fine art, employing a combination of perfect timing and rock-steady boy positioning – but it is becoming a popular and valuable skill. Have a look at some of this video explaining the different aspects of the jackal situation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6A78esc-Zo

Best exponents in the Finnish game: Rob Hussey (JRC), Crispin Mäenpää (Tampere), Jaakko Vilen (Warriors)

Expansive play -

Playing on the wing in Finland can be somewhat lacking in excitement and action after watching Habana, Savea and Ioane. Presently wings account for less than ¼ of the tries scored in the Finnish Championship, whereas the Super Rugby try rankings are dominated by wings and fullbacks (with Chiefs prop Sona Taumalolo the exception). We have a need to break the cycle of underusing our wide men and build more confidence in our speedsters.  For a look at some great expansive rugby, check out these highlights from the Crusaders v Cheetahs in round 5 of this year’s competition:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxfJ323QsYY

Best exponents in the Finnish game: Warriors have developed a consistent ability to drag opponents accross the field while re-aligning their backs to send it out wide the other way. Elsewhere plenty of wings and fullbacks have shown individual potential but are not getting the opportunities they deserve.

Body position in contact -

Knee and ankle injuries are common enough hazards in rugby as it is, but seemingly even more so on the Finnish scene compared to the pros. We would suggest that a key cause of this problem is the body positioning of both the tackler and ball carrier when going into contact situations. Far too often are tacklers disinclined to fully commit their body to the tackle, preferring instead to reach out and grab opponents. From there, the tackle becomes half wrestling, half human hammer throw – where players are swung and dragged rather than being taken down directly, meaning far more stress on knees and ankles. Now notice the difference with the pros: more direct running by ball carriers and better body committment by tacklers results in more ’classic’ tackle situations.

Here are some of the best hits from 2012 Super Rugby (just ignore those cheeky illegal hits that are dotted in there....):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XG-WcumxIc

Best exponents in the Finnish game: as a tackler, Eagles’ centre Pieter Le Roux has made (please excuse the pun) quite an impact this year with textbook low tackling.  As ball carriers, check out ex-pats Fred Harrison and Dawie Van Der Walt (Tampere) and Isaac Visser (Eagles) as well as home-grown juggernauts Ari Tikkanen (JRC) and Juhani Majanen (Helsinki RC).

Half-back control -

Think about the most successful half-back pairings of rugby.  With the exception of Gareth Edwards and Barry John, they’re all from the Southern Hemisphere: Gregan and Larkham, Farr-Jones and Lynah, van der Westhuizen and Stransky.  Success has come from the scrum-half’s ability to quickly organise the ruck, whilst also listening for his fly-half’s call.  Last season we have seen how the quick establishment of control has allowed Will Genia and Quade Cooper to take advantage of oppositions.

Best exponents in the Finnish game: while there is plenty of promise among Finnish half-backs and some strong individual performances, the problem with inconsistent line-ups makes for slow development of silky partnerships.

Pack cohesion -

The pack as a unit is the real engine of the team. Watching the recent Super Rugby semi-final contest between the Chiefs and Crusaders, the role played by flanker Liam Messam was crucial: frequently making himself available as a support runner and earning himself a fantastic try and generating plenty of forward momentum. Chiefs prop Sona Taumalolo has racked up 9 tries predominantly from capitalising on rolling close-range opportunities. Meanwhile the traditional skills of South African back rows has resulted in the Boks having a group of players who can mix and match and still complement each other on the field. Have a look at the highlights from some pack-dominated games: Crusaders v Chiefs in round 17 and the Reds v Chiefs in round 12 (contrast Taumalolo’s 8th try with Genia’s brilliant individual score).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZ82mT89Zc4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZ82mT89Zc4

Best exponents in the Finnish game: JRC have built a gameplan around rolling pack play, but 2012 has also seen great pack performances from all 5 teams.