The contemporary fangs of the Leicester Tigers splattered cherry juice after a spirited tussle with a roaring lion on the Ed Slater Cup. Michael Cheika has began to fireplace once more like a prime gaffer, for the primary time definitively since 2015. With the rise of coach-based recreation plans within the final twenty years, corresponding to Warrenball (Welsh Golden period), Cheikaball was a lot maligned regardless of success within the type of a World Cup ultimate and wins over Eire. Nonetheless, Cheika and Pollard have given one another a resurgence on the Leicester Tigers.
After a stable however underwhelming season for the Leicester Tigers within the 2023/24 season, Handre Pollard was tormented by accidents and benched in the course of the Rugby Championship. Nonetheless, Leicester’s attacking recreation has shifted, virtually in an analogous method to the Springboks’ evolution beneath Tony Brown. This has benefitted each the membership, who get a bang for his or her buck on the planet’s costliest participant, and Pollard himself within the tight jersey race within the Springbok squad.
With the rise of extra agile and supposedly ‘extra inventive’ and flair-based options with an analogous degree of kicking recreation and the uncooked breaking risk that fits the transition kicking recreation of the Springboks, Pollard has had his personal place within the beginning line up of the Springbok workforce referred to as into competition. The much-criticised and shoehorned fly-half was pressured into a brand new problem: adapt or part out. The 30-year previous has discovered extra selection as his kick-to-pass ratio has transitioned from 3 or 4-to-1, to now about virtually a 1-2 kick-to-pass, beneath a dynamic Sringboks attacking construction.
South Africa’s Handre Pollard. (Photograph by Hannah Peters/Getty Pictures)
Tony Brown’s new assault has maintained the previous foundations that noticed the Courageous Blossoms blitz previous a a lot superior Springbok aspect that might give the All Blacks a run for his or her cash in 2015, leading to all three fly-halves simply racking up spectacular performances. All three fly-halves might arguably be rated on the planet’s prime ten, with all-round skillsets.
On 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. Nonetheless, Damian de Allende’s incapability to constantly play cutout vast passes has prompted theories Pollard could possibly be used as a future No.12, or take Willie le Roux’s place within the bomb squad. I elaborated on the evolution within the Bok assault in a earlier article, and it occurred to me that Pollard was taking Willie’s place as a inventive midfielder of the regista, a deep-lying playmaker linking play from tight to vast areas of the pitch, taking strain off the No.10 so their inventive trequartistas can play their commonplace recreation. Whereas previously, Willie took the function of each regista and trequartista (soccer analogy), Pollard has swapped the trequartista function for a centurion within the Springbok assault, typically directing the pods round and marshalling wave after wave of crash-ups at optimum angles to develop the rumbling biltong-powered drive.
His future within the squad relies on his capacity to keep up a excessive standing in each the ten and 12 jersey, particularly if he’s to turn into the following No.23. The phasing of le Roux into Frans Steyn’s previous function, might now go to Pollard as Rassie seeks to accommodate the Stormers trio of Libbok, SFM, and Willemse in the identical 23 or beginning line-up.
This implies he should search to duplicate the sparking performs of Lukhanyo Am, the dynamic drive of de Allende, in addition to revive the X-factor buried beneath years of World Cup-winning recreation administration.
Below Michael Cheika, now we have seen a return to the Handre Pollard of previous, the one which straightened up and waltzed via All Black defences; maybe a bit slower and sharper this time spherical.
Within the latest exhibiting towards Gloucester, it was evident a lot of the attacking gameplan was constructed round him, as Leinster-like performs had been being designed with numerous revolving doorways and sliding items, overwhelming the midfield edges between totally different zones within the area. Pollard, ever the chimera, appeared much more adept as this inventive hybrid 12, flourishing from the second five-eighth spot with the flexibility to make the killer performs in each passes and breaks.
In one of many tries that sparked Leicester’s comeback, the ahead pack lined up in a six-man group, with a again doing a No.10’s function of holding the ball up as Pollard flashed round, dummied and darted via to proceed the Tigers surge.
This quick-tap play has turn into a Leicester staple inside 5 or ten metres of the try-line – a simplified model of the Leinster performs with Jack van Poortvliet, a world-class No.9, giving crisp ball and correct go picks which permit Pollard a platform to work off. The brand new dynamic assault of Michael Cheika is neither possession-based nor territorial; as a substitute, it revolves round fast strikes, seizing alternatives, and executing to a tee. That fits the various internationals and stable gamers inside the Leicester squad, mixing talent and energy right into a scintillating machine to deconstruct defences and proceed particular person creativity.
Relating to their typical vast assaults, Michael Cheika has sought to emulate the Beale-Foley-Folau axis of previous, with Beale because the glue, Foley because the iceman and Folau because the X-factor. Beale’s sidestepping, aptitude, and exact passing (even when he did wrestle taking part in flat in visitors), opened up alternatives for the latter two to choose their probabilities. For Leicester, Cheika has a diminished model in Pollard-Kelly-Steward that retains the identical archetypes.
Utilizing that core attacking axis of two playmakers and one X-factor of their midfield backbone, he has constructed a blinding assault. Although Pollard might not have the guile of Beale, he and Kelly each have very good long-range passing and sharp decision-making and the flexibility to knit collectively performs, with Steward as a focus strike runner of their attacking set-up.
The beneath play is core in deciphering Michael Cheika’s attacking playbook. With Beale at first receiver, he threads a wonderful pod-splitting go between his two-man ahead pod to Foley, who fixes up the defender and places away his exterior backs.
The 12 takes over many key performs, distributing and carrying duties to open up the ten. With Leicester, this technique has been replicated however as a substitute with Pollard taking on all three components. In some circumstances, he does the above, like threading the ball via to permit Dan Kelly to drag the set off from deep and unleash the Tigers wingers.
His new job because the Tiger centurion has seen him marshal their assault and unlock defences with ease with each easy display screen performs and different methods constructed round his distinctive skillset.
Right here, towards Gloucester within the Ed Slater Cup, his class play of the evening noticed his abilities in full drive. His carrying risk holds defenders off, as you possibly can see the within defenders plant their ft as he instances ball to get his forwards over the gainline. He reloads into the second five-eighth place as soon as once more, with a double screenplay and an excellent pullback by Montoya overloading the midfield as a killer go by Pollard slices open Gloucester, sending their prime strike runner Steward via to hyperlink up with Bassett for yet one more attempt.
The delegation of first receiver roles has helped Pollard to make performs in midfield-which has seen him play his finest tactical rugby shortly. Whereas final yr beneath Wigglesworth he had higher type with the workforce constructed round him, à la Sexton with Leinster, his tactical utility this yr in his final season with Leicester Tigers has sharpened the fangs of the assault.
Pollard is to not be counted out within the Bok No.10 jersey race, whatever the type of Libbok or SFM. His versatility at 10 or 12 has seen him turn into a world class operator in each, because the construction of the Tigers permits him to make a convincing case for each positions in a Springbok jersey.
