I stood behind the posts as Jonny Wilkinson, one of the greatest fly halves ever, practiced his goal kicking. I was at the British Lions training ground as a spectator in 2001 and studied his every move. Never quite in his league, but having studied fly half play for decades, this is my guide on how to play fly half with help from former England fly half Danny Cipriani.
As a rule, a fly half should scan the opposition defense constantly to spot: gaps for himself or outside runners to run into, mismatches where they can get a back running against a forward, or areas of open space that could be kicked into, to gain territory. When not in possession they need to be a solid tackler and marshal the defensive line.
Of course, there is a bit more to it than that and we are going to try and break down how to play fly half into three different sections. The fly halves role in attack, defense and as a kicker. But first of all let’s be clear on what a fly half actually does in rugby.
What does a fly half do in rugby?
A fly half is the primary decision maker for a team and wears the number 10 jersey. They decide whether to kick, run or pass the ball depending on the speed of the ball they receive from their forwards, where they are on the pitch and the situation of the game. These decisions dictate a team’s style of play and chances of winning.
It is a tricky position to play as the success of the entire team largely rests on the ability of the fly half to not only make the correct decisions but to then also be able to execute the skills required with precision and consistency whilst all the time being targeted by the opposition backrow players.
A fly half needs to be able to cope with different game and weather conditions and adapt accordingly. For example, one week they may be playing on a hard surface and be receiving fast ball from their forwards ideal for running and passing with, but the next week they be playing on a heavy muddy pitch and be receiving slow ball from their forward pack.
In the first scenario they will spend most of the game on the front foot, taking the ball flat, at speed and delivering a variety of passes to their outside backs whilst also probably attempting to make a few breaks for themselves.
In the second scenario they will spend most of the time on the back foot receiving slow ball and will have to then either deliver short balls to ball carriers running off them to try and generate quick ball, or be putin in long kicks in an attempt to put pressure on the opposition back three to make mistakes and gain territory.
A fly half needs to be able to perform both roles effectively and mix and match between them as conditions change within a game as they see what is working for them and what is not.
How To Attack As A Fly Half With Ball In Hand
Assuming your forwards are producing fast ball for you to run onto then you have 5 basic running lines which you can opt for:
Square on – With hips square and facing towards the opponents goal line the fly half receives the ball at pace and takes it up the opponents defensive line before then offloading just before contact. The aim is to fix the opposition defense and then select a runner who has picked a good line to pass to.
Square to in – This option is to first fix the opponent marking them by running directly at them square on but at the last moment swerve to the space on the inside of this defender. If the inside defender comes across to tackle you then you off load to a precalled inside runner, often the blindside winger or a back row player.
If they do not fully commit to the space and have half an eye on the inside runner then you may be able to offer the dummy and break straight through with the inside runner still in support.
Square to out – This is similar to the last option but you are trying to get outside the man marking you by running at pace with the ball and drifting across the pitch out of reach of the first defender and across the pitch just enough to interest the next defender in the defensive live.
If you can interest the second defender then you have already created an overlap and your job is to then give the pass to the outside backs to capitalize on this. Alternatively, if you get outside your opposite number and the next defender does not allow themselves to become committed to you then you may well be able to dummy and get through the gap between the defenders.
Square to wide – This option is for when you have received a call to say there is space on the outside for the backs to run into, possibly an overlap even. In this case, the fly-half takes the ball a touch wider and a touch deeper if possible, but still square on to fix the defense.
Then, instead of running with the ball they simply receive and pass it in one fluid motion usually on a nice flat and hard trajectory.
Back door running – This final option has become more and more popular over recent years as the ball handling skills of forwards have become better. In this scenario, a forward receives the ball as first receiver with ball runners either side of them coming on for a shot crash ball.
The receiver allows these players to run past them and passes behind the outside of the two runners to the fly-half on a deeper wider line. This can be very hard to defend especially with quick agile fly halves.
Watch Danny Cipriani explain his square to out running line below.
How To Kick From The Fly Half Position
Along with the scrum half the fly half jointly takes responsibility for maneuvering the team around the pitch and applying pressure to the opposition through their range of kicking. We;ll look at the six main types here and what the fly half needs to do in order to execute them effectively.
Touch kicks
basic touch finders which usually take the form of a spiral/torpedo kick or an end over end kick. These are usually performed from within your own twenty two metre area. To execute these effectively, the fly half needs to position themselves deep enough to give themselves time to catch the ball and get the kick away before it is charred down by the opposition.
Standing deep, or ‘in the pocket’ as it is own gives the player more time as does positioning blockers to the side of the ruck, maul, or even scrum to slow down the players charging down the kick. The fly half can kick straight into touch from inside their twenty two but must bounce the ball into touch from outside of their twenty two.
If a team is confident in their kick chasers (wingers) then the fly half may simply aim to put the ball in the tramlines, i.e. in between the 10 metres lines and the touch line.
If they can get the ball to stop there then it is very difficult for the team fielding the ball to get a good kick away because of the poor angle and the chasers have an opportunity to force the player into touch, or force some other type of error. This can lead to a very healthy net game of metres.
Cross kicks
Often after a few phases of play the opposition defence can become narrow or short of numbers outside. If the fly half spots this, or is made aware of this by outside backs and the open side winger has positioned themselves on the touchline then the cross kick can yield a try scoring opportunity.
The fly half should execute this as an end over end kick to make it easier to catch for the winger and they are looking to drop it straight into the arms of the winger running forward. With practise this can become a lot easier than it sounds and is a great way to open up defences.
Grubber kicks
These kicks are generally short range kicks whereby the ball is kicked a short distance along the ground behind the onrushing defensive line.
Its purpose is to put doubt into the minds of the defensive line so that they might not rush up as quickly in the future and therefore give more time to the fly half and other backs. Furthermore, it can be used as a direct attacking weapon. The ball can be poked through the up rushing defensive line.
The fly half should wait until the defenders are as close to them as possible before sliding the ball between the opposing midfield players and hopefully with the correct weight for the winger or outside centre to run onto and catch the ball in space.
The side, or top of the boot can be used and the kick timed so that contact is made just before the ball hits the ground.
It is particularly effective when close to the opponents goal line as the winger may only need to fall on the ball to score the try. The ten could also aim to hit one of the post uprights and thus cause a scramble for the ball under the posts which can undo even the most organised of defences.
Up and unders – Early in games it is almost traditional for the fly half to launch the ball high into the air, ideally either side of the full back so as to make the fullback or winger have to gather the ball whilst running. Should the back three seem uncertain under the high ball then it is a useful tactic for the remainder of the game or when weather conditions are wet and windy.
Recommended reading: A Buyer’s Guide To Rugby Balls
Drop kicks
Two keep the scoreboard ticking over, or to score against a very tight defence drop kicking the ball between the posts will secure three points. The preparation for this is vital:
Firstly, the forwards must work the ball through a series of phases, usually through short runners and pick and gos into an area of the pitch the fly half feels they can drop kick the ball over the posts successfully from.
When in position, the fly half needs to drop deep into the pocket and try and position other players in front of them so that they ‘delay’ on rushing defenders and give them a fraction of seconds extra to catch the ball, aim and hopefully drop kick the ball through the posts. Hours and hours of practise may be needed to get this play nailed on.
Restarts
Set plays such as this have become increasingly important in the modern game as a way of executing an exit strategy or in launching an attack. Opposition team will undoubtedly have prepared with forwards in position to catch the ball often with lifters and blockers surrounding them.
For this reason, a good fly half will vary their dropouts to keep the opponents guessing or attempt to get as much ‘hang time’ on the ball as possible to allow their own chasers to put pressure on the catchers.
To get the hang time on the ball you need to try to get underneath the ball by allowing the ball to bounce up slightly higher than for a drop kick at goal, and you need to generate a slightly scooping motion with the kicking leg so that direction of the boot is going from as close to the ground as possible upwards as quickly as possible. Jonny Wilkinson is really the clear master of this skill.
Be sure to not worry about getting the skill right only to land it straight onto the opponents best jumpers. It would be better to execute to kick poorly but land it away from jumpers creating less clean ball for the opposition.
Kicks at goal
Often the responsibility of the fly half who is usually the most talented kicker in the team. Three steps back and three to the side, 20 seconds of visualising the ball going between the uprights and deep breathing was my drill for goal kicking.
Sadly, I was terrible under pressure and would slice or hook my kicks if I knew my dad was watching! Needless to say when I played senior rugby I was only really the back up goal kicker.
You might also want to read about why there is so much kicking rugby, here, or about all of the different types of kicks in rugby, here..
How To Defend As A Fly Half
Zelka Obradovic, widely considered as the greatest European Basketball coach of all time famously quoted:
“If you play good attack, you win games but if you play good defence you win championships”
Zelka Obradovic
Whilst a fly half is better known for their attacking, kicking and game management prowess, if they can’t play their role in the defensive line effectively then they will struggle to get selected on a continuous basis.
The reasons for this is that firstly, they will be defending in a channel that receives a lot of direct ball runners from number eight pickups, center crash balls, or back row players piling through in phase rugby.
The fly half channel will get hit with big rugby players and so they have got to have great technique and bravery to bring ball carriers down. Owen Farrell and Jonny Wilkinson have both led the way in showing how to do this in recent years.
Secondly, if it is found out that a fly half is a weak tackler then the opposition will run at them and target them all game which in turn will just make things worse and worse for the player in question. Their confidence will tend to drop as they start dropping off tackles and their teammates will start to lose faith in them.
If this becomes a known frailty across the league, then teams will target that fly half from the first whistle. Charlie Hodgson (whom I played against in a North of England V Midlands game once!) and Danny Cipriani, both probably had times where the reputations as solid tacklers was in question which may have been one of the reasons both of these players did not get the hundreds of caps their talent deserved.
So, how should the fly half defend, well there are three main systems that are employed, the man man system and the drift defense. With the drift defense the fly half relies upon the open side flanker to tackle their opposition fly half which allows them to drift across on to the inside center.
Unless the inside center takes a hard line crash ball, which they may well do on first phase, the fly half should have a nice side on tackle to make.
The aim of the drift defense is to make the attacking team run out of space and essentially allow the opposition to pass the ball across the line but forcing their shoulders to face the touch line which will mean they are constantly using up the outside players space.
Eventually, this should lead the winger to have very little space to work with on the touch line and be easily tackled in to touch leading to a lineout to the defending team. Great if it works! It is a bit of an old fashioned system though and less popular these days.
On the other hand, in the man on man defense the role is simply that. The fly half will watch and defend the player directly opposite them, usually the opposition ten from set plays. However, if the opposition ten runs a move whereby they drift across the pitch the fly half will at some point have to stop following them and stay in their initial zone.
This is done in order to mark the runners likely targeting their space. If they simply followed the player across the pitch then any player running a cut line would have a nice hole to go through, so really this is a man to man zone defensive system.
“That ultra competitive switch in me gets flicked when a ball-carrier looks at me as if to say I’m going to run straight over you.”
Jonny Wilkinson, Autobiography
The final system the fly half may have to defend within is the out to in system. The fly half will stand wider than their opposition number and then rush up to hit their outside shoulder. This is tough for the attacker as they are facing towards the ball coming from the opposite direction, so the idea is to catch the attackers blind spot.
At first receiver though, the fly half usually has enough time to get the pass away and it is normally the outside center who may receive ‘man and ball’ and a tackle is made.
So to work in any of these systems the fly half needs to be an excellent communicator, communicating when players need to rush up and which players they are marking.
Furthermore, in broken play they need to be moving players laterally across the defensive line and swapping them around so that there are no instances where an agile back will be running at one of their front row forwards.
For more in depth details about defensive system you can read this guide written by a a Rugby Australia Performance Coach here.
Let’s now round this guide off with a popular FAQ.
What makes a good fly half?
A good fly half needs to be able to execute the full set of skills, including: passing over short and long distance with the right weight and timing, execute different types of kick depending on the situation, and be able to play a strong role in the defensive whilst making effective decisions for the team.
You may also be interested in reading about the most difficult position in rugby.
Photo Credits
Nick Evans Kicks a penalty v Bath in the premiership in 2009 Andy Welsher from Bath, UK, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
