High-risk blitz puts England in charge

THERE'S nothing not to like about England's blitz defence. It's bold, gutsy, and good to see because it makes rugby exciting. A blitz defence is all-or-nothing - there's no half-way, no 'just about'.

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It's about stopping the carrier dead in their tracks, and even turning ball over, or at least slowing it down.

If there's a half-measure in the blitz the attacking side will find a dog-leg and succeed in getting over the gain-line.

Another big pitfall in the blitz is if the defensive winger doesn't follow the rush led by the outside-centre. If the winger hesitates you're in trouble. All players in the defensive line have to understand that the blitz is the battle of the gain-line, and you have to be all-in and co-ordinated.

The aim of a side operating a blitz is to move the gain-line back towards the attacking side, the further the better, and stop them getting into the outside channel. The outside-centre is the key, pushing up to spearhead the defensive line with the aim of forcing the opposition attack to come back inside.

The reason it is so crucial for the defensive wing to follow the 13's lead, so that they are aligned, is to block or intercept a long overhead pass reaching an attacking player in open space towards the touchline - or, if it does get through, to tackle them immediately. If the winger ends up in no-man's-land and the attack gets away, the blitz is undone.

It's the most exciting form of defence because of the risks involved, and the aggression, timing, and communication required. A drift defence, which uses the touchline as the last defender, is a much more gentle model.

The way Henry Slade has adapted to the blitz introduced since defence coach Felix Jones' Six Nations arrival has been impressive. What we saw from him in the first Test against New Zealand in Dunedin last weekend was encouraging because of the way he pushed up and trapped All Black midfielders man-and-ball. To do that you have to go in hard and committed, or you will be bumped.