Basic Defensive Policies

This page will give some basic principles for defending in the game of touch. While it may seem obvious to some that a simple 1v1 defending principle would make sense, in practice this is not the strongest and most efficient means of defending. There are different defensive principles for different areas of the pitch.

DON'T CHASE IN - CHASE OUT

A fundamental defensive principle is that you should never allow a score on the wing, especially from open field play. When the ball goes to the winger, it is tempting to just claim that the responsibility for making the touch is with your defending winger. And it is, but only if the attacking wing tries to get on the outside. The job of the defending winger is to force the attacking winger back in field. If the attacking wing does this, he/she is no longer the responsibility of the defending wing. The defending link then takes responsibility. This principle is summed up by the words don't chase in - chase out.

The entire defence should work together, constantly moving to close up any gaps in the field, as if they're all attached by an elastic band. Don't assume that just because the ball has gone to the other side of the field that you can now stand around and rest. You should be constantly backing up the next player to you in the defensive line, reassuring them that you "have their back" and reminding them to push out and cover the next gap. While it is quite a clear issue for the winger, the principle holds the same for the other positions too. If the attacking link is trying to get outside the defending link, the defending link should try to force them back towards their defending mid, etc...

SQUEEZE AROUND THE BALL

In attack, you want to spread the team right across the field in an attempt to try to open up the defence. However, in defence, you want to squeeze in around the ball carrier so that there are no gaps in the middle to get through. This does leave large spaces towards the wings which appear undefended, but generally, the defence can push across to cover the gaps as fast as the attacking team can either run or pass the ball, as long as team communication is good.

THE "PISTONS" DEFENCE

The first defensive mode is called the "Pistons" defence. This is a move designed to shut down, or limit the damage of, a drive. As described on the driving page, the drive aims to get the ball up the field as quickly as possible. A good drive against a passive defence can make 50 metres on a set of six touches - almost the entire length of the pitch. Using the "pistons" defence can drastically reduce the effectiveness of this mode of attack, and force the opposition to use more complicated moves to get the ball up the field.

The downside to the pistons defence is that it can be very tiring.

The principle basically has the defensive team split into two teams of three. One set of three go forward to make the touch while the other set of three hang back ready to rush forward after the touch is made to shut down the next drive. The team split should be every other player, so if the players were labelled 1 to 6 across the field, 1, 3 and 5 would go forwards while 2, 4 and 6 hang back.

The players hanging back should try to judge where the touch will be made so that they are already onside at that point and can move forwards as soon as the half touches the ball.

An effective pistons defence can easily reduce a 50m drive to 20m or even less, keeping the attacking team away from the scoreline.

THE "CORNER/SHUT" DEFENCE

This defensive mode is designed to shut down a line attack move. It relies on a principle of protecting the short side, then shutting down any move to the open side. The "short side" is the side with the fewest players, while the "open side" is the side with the most players.

For example, if the attacking team is trying to run the basic "quickie" move (see the "Basic Line Attack" page), the mid who goes forward to make the touch is on the short side, as he/she has only two players to the right, while he/she has three players to the left.

The short side players all "corner". This means pulling back diagonally to the line, squeezing up the gaps on the right side of the field (from the attacking player's point of view). This leaves large gaps to the left side of the field. This is where the "shut" comes in.

The open side players all "shut down" on one player inside their position. So the defensive winger shuts down on the attacking link, the defensive link shuts down on the attacking support mid, and the defensive mid shuts down on the attacking strike mid. The attacking wing on the open side is left unguarded, simply because the chance of the attacking team being able to get the ball to this winger is very low, and if they can, then you just have to applaud their skill!

When running the shut, the defence must sprint out onto their target and shut down the space to not give them any time to get a pass away. If the shut isn't good enough and the attack is allowed space, they can very easily get the ball away to the unmarked winger to score. Done correctly, the corner/shut defence is very effective, but it relies on a lot of work and practice to get right consistently.