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defensive maestro

Analysis: What does Jared Payne do for Ireland?

The 29-year-old centre is a superb defender and underrated attacker.

JARED PAYNE’S FAVOURITE centre when he was a young’un growing up in Tauranga and dreaming of playing for the All Blacks?

Christian Cullen. It’s quite apt really.

IrelandÕs  Jared Payne Payne is from the Conrad Smith school of centres. Billy Stickland / INPHO Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO

Cullen was a fullback, arguably the best there ever was, but he was shifted into the 13 shirt for the 1999 World Cup. The ABs had Jeff Wilson, Jonah Lomu and Tana Umaga in their back three; Cullen was moved away from his natural position and into the midfield.

A manufactured midfielder, one could say.

Payne, who turned 14 during that World Cup, watched as the Kiwis went on to be beaten by France in a famous semi-final at Twickenham. He was in awe of Cullen’s intelligence, athletic ability, darting breaks and his more subtle skills in defence.

Fast forward almost 16 years and Payne has been through a similar shift to the one Cullen undertook. From his favoured habitat at fullback, Payne has become Ireland’s outside centre in what Joe Schmidt himself calls a “manufactured midfield.”

Payne’s intelligence, ability to read the game, solidity going forward, willingness to work hard and sacrifice himself for the collective, as well as his hugely impressive adaptation to defending the 13 channel, have made the move a success.

It’s worth underlining that Payne had played at outside centre on a number of occasions before Schmidt’s masterplan formulated – as had Cullen before ’99 – but he was better known as a clever fullback.

Ireland’s Jared Payne Payne has been effective for Ireland on the ball.

While Cullen was back in the 15 shirt by the time the 2000 Tri Nations rolled around, scoring eight tries in four games, Payne looks to be in the centre to stay for Ireland.

If you can’t defend in midfield, you’re not good enough to play Test rugby. No matter how much quality a centre brings in attack, if they are consistently making errors or forcing teammates to cover their arse when defending, it’s time to make a change.

Payne has been exceptionally good in defence for the majority of his 10 Ireland caps at outside centre, combining good decision-making with effective actions.

Schmidt identified the Ulsterman’s rugby intelligence as a key reason he could be an ideal centre option for this World Cup campaign, while his frame of 6ft 2ins and close to 100kg makes Payne physically robust too.

Ireland’s head coach has placed a primary focus on defence since he took over in 2013, and conceding the fewest tries in the 2014 and 2015 Six Nations was pivotally important in both championship successes. Defence is even more crucial at this World Cup.

Defence

Payne isn’t much of a big hitter – though he does connect with solid shots when the opportunity arises – but that doesn’t make him a weak defender. So many of his important contributions without the ball are about covering lateral space.

Let’s take the above as an example, one that encapsulates some of Payne’s best qualities.

Canada are attacking from a midfield scrum close to the halfway line, a hugely advantageous area to strike from. Initially, out-half Nathan Hirayama is a running threat for Payne to consider.

His hope and expectation is that scrum-half Conor Murray gets across to tackle Hirayama, but he cannot simply take it for granted and drift out past Hirayama too soon.

Drift

Hirayama ensures Payne has to keep his eyes on him initially, meaning he can’t drift off straight away. The Ireland centre covers him, covers him, then acknowledges that Murray has arrived and only then drifts on to Ciaran Hearn.

The key is how Payne keeps his feet moving underneath him all the time, even when Hirayama is attracting him. Watch the clip above again and note how Payne never ‘sits down,’ his feet are always chopping underneath him, leaving his body ready to react.

Also vital is the way Payne keeps his body open and towards the touchline, allowing him to burst onto the drift when Hirayama passes. Ireland’s 13 is coiled as he watches Hirayama, a typical defensive hunting body shape for Payne.

Screen Shot 2015-09-30 at 10.37.02

The actual burst of pace from Payne to get across to Hearn once Hirayama releases the pass is impressive too. That ability to accelerate is essential for a centre in professional rugby.

Having kept his body open, Payne can drift hard onto Hearn and get into position to make what is ‘his’ tackle on the Canada centre. Lots of players would commit themselves into the hit highlighted above, dropping to the deck with Hearn.

Payne, however, recognises that he can affect the actual ball carrier on the wide edge after Hearn has passed.

Payne

It shows Payne’s work rate and sense of ownership that he is hungry to get to the final tackle. The easier thing is to finish what looks like being a tackle on Hearn, particularly with Dave Kearney and Rob Kearney having DTH van der Merwe covered.

Instead, Payne shifts on past Hearn and actually becomes the primary tackler on van der Merwe after the exceptional Canada wing steps inside Dave Kearney.

What we can’t show in this example, or any other one very effectively, is Payne’s communication. It’s perhaps the most important skill defensively for a centre and it’s not just about being the loudest player or shouting incessantly.

More important is providing clear, concise information to teammates. That may simply be ‘hit’, ‘I’m on ball’, ‘drift’, ‘chop’, ‘eyes up’, or ‘I’ve got back door’. One word or phrase is often enough, but the timing and conviction of the delivery is key in ensuring teammates are confident enough to trust the communication. Payne is very strong in that area.

He has been Ireland’s busiest tackler in both World Cup games so far, leading the team charts overall against Romania despite playing less than 60 minute. It’s worth underlining that his defensive effectiveness and work rate has been across all of his 10 Ireland caps, not just against two of the weakest teams at the World Cup.

Payne has proven himself as one of the best defenders in this Ireland squad. All the while, his breakdown threat and effectiveness has been improving too.

Payne

A lack of breakdown appetite in midfield is a serious weakness for any team, given that so many tackles happen in and around the centre pairing. Ireland have historically thrived in this area, with their midfielders so often acting as auxiliary back rows.

Payne has accepted the challenge laid down by Joe Schmidt to make more of a breakdown impact and that is evident in how he reacts post-tackle now. Above, we see that modern-rugby rarity of a player making both the tackle and a clean poach.

Cave

The work of Darren Cave in filling that space beyond the ball and blocking off the first Romanian player arriving to ruck cannot be underestimated but Payne’s tackle, bounce off the ground and steal are exceptional.

We’ll say just once more that the poor quality of the opposition must be considered here, but the signs for some months have been of Payne looking to scrap and compete at the breakdown whenever possible.

Whatever the view on Payne’s attacking ability, his defensive strength is a huge factor in his favour. If Ireland are going to win this World Cup, or at least earn a first-ever semi-final, a miserly defence will be as, if not more, important than a clinical attack.

Payne has been delivering in this area since his debut against South Africa in 2014.

It’s on the attacking side of the coin that doubts around Payne’s effectiveness exist, and that makes him emblematic of this team in some ways. Ireland have been hugely successful under Schmidt, but their attacking game has been questioned at every possible opportunity.

Payne doesn’t fit the mould of the outside centre that so many people appear to crave.

Like Ireland’s game plan, Payne’s role changes from game to game. At times, he is used as a direct carrier in the early phases of a mapped-out set-piece attack, a role he admits is not natural for him but one he has performed effectively.

Carry

The hard carries in midfield are probably not something the 14-year-old Payne dreamed of doing when he was watching Cullen play, but he performs the duty without fuss and with a good deal of impact.

He’s by no means the most powerful centre in Test rugby, but Payne usually makes it to or beyond the gainline if there is any scope to do so. As we see above, his ball presentation is usually superb and that’s a big plus when Schmidt is your coach.

Payne so rarely ends up in a bad position after a collision, possessing as he does that intuitive awareness of where and how his body is falling. It’s a subtle art, but one that the Ulster midfielder does well.

Offload

Payne is at his very best when he gets just a little extra time either before or after he receives the pass. Above, we see him read Tommy Bowe’s switch intentions, ideally time the change of angle and then offload after taking the tackle on his terms.

The outside centre is one of the few Ireland players who are comfortable at offloading, whose instinct it is to look to keep the ball alive.

From the time Brian O’Driscoll retired up to immediately before the World Cup, there were just three Ireland tries that involved offloads in the passage of attack directly building up to the score.

The players to successfully release those offloads were Ian Madigan, Jamie Heaslip and Payne.

Offload 2

As we are all aware, offloading is far from a central focus for Ireland under Schmidt but possessing a player like Payne who can naturally utilise the skill may be a game-changer in the tighter games in this tournament.

Payne’s upright running style, almost like a peacock strutting, allows him to get his hands through the tackle when defenders are drifting across the pitch, as in the two examples above. 

The second offloading clip also shows that Payne does have strong footwork, as he goes back inside a defender and then straightens his line back up the pitch with a countering step off his right foot.

Payne

The clip above comes from this year’s Six Nations defeat to Wales, when Payne was possibly Ireland’s most effective attacking player. He beats Jamie Roberts with a sharp step off his left foot, again straightening back up once he gets into the hole.

Payne is more than capable of beating defenders, but Ireland’s game plan in the last two weekends at the World Cup has more often called for him to pass the ball.

Schmidt asked his backline to attack the wide channels against the narrow Canadians and Romanians, meaning Payne has often been looking to adhere strictly to that formula.

Loop

He has sometimes been used as the hub for Ireland’s loop plays, a duty he has performed excellently. The skill we see above is simple but impressive, as Payne takes the ball extremely close to the defence and pops a perfect pass back into Johnny Sexton’s path under pressure.

Payne’s handling skills are generally excellent, although there have been signs of understandable rust early this season, notably once or twice against England in the World Cup warm-up clash when his passes were just behind the intended target.

One of Payne’s main roles against Romania again last weekend was to ensure that the ball was moved out to Ireland’s wings, but the 29-year-old will probably look back on a few instances where he could have performed the task a little more cleanly.

Straighten

The outcome for Ireland in the case above is successful of course, but Schmidt is likely to have asked Payne is he could have straightened his line even slightly for a split second before releasing the pass to Simon Zebo.

Line

Payne doesn’t want to get into a situation where he is passing off his outside foot, but even the most delicate of straightening lines here could have forced the two Romania defenders to briefly hesitate, making Tommy Bowe’s finish easier.

There were one or two other incidents similar to this one against the Romanians involving Payne and others, with Ireland looking a little lateral as they pursued the stated game plan of going to the wide channels when possible.

Moving forward, Payne and his teammates will look to improve their efficacy in doing so by adding in those subtle straightening lines to ask greater questions of far better defences.

It would be fascinating to note the reaction to Payne’s recent form had he not opted to kick the ball on a handful of occasions in Ireland’s last two games. The kicks Payne has produced at this World Cup have been poor.

Advan

The kick above came on penalty advantage and was certainly worth a punt. It’s an extremely difficult skill to pull off, but Payne overcooks it and Ireland come back for the penalty. It’s not something he would have tried without the advantage, move on.

Kick

The kick above will have been more frustrating for Payne, even though it comes with Ireland playing penalty advantage again. Craig Jobert hadn’t actually vocally indicated the advantage here, but his hand was out so we can presume Payne was aware.

Close

Payne attempts his grubber to the right corner from relatively close to the frontline defence, therefore reducing the amount of time and space between defenders available to him.

It’s actually a pair of locks in front of Payne in this instance, perhaps presenting him with a chance to keep the ball in hand, tie down at least one of those slow-moving forwards and move the ball out to Cave and Tommy Bowe to attack up that right touchline.

Indeed, as we see below Bowe wasn’t too happy with the decision to kick.

Bowe

It’s impossible for us to say whose decision or call it was for Payne to kick here. It may have been a pre-programmed play to exploit the clear pocket of space deep on the right, it may have been Payne’s decision alone, or it might have been Cave outside him calling for the kick option.

Either way, the execution is weak and it’s certainly something Payne will look to improve in the coming weeks.

DTH

The fact that something very similar happened against Canada, a game in which Payne also kicked the ball into touch on the full, suggests that this might be a trend in his kicking game.

However, if we go back as recently as the England warm-up game, we see a good grubber kick behind the defence from Payne.

Grubber

Interestingly, Payne did not kick the ball at all for Ireland during this year’s Six Nations. He has tended to be a superb kicker from fullback for Ulster in recent seasons, but kicking from that position is very different to kicking amidst the clutter of the frontline.

Given that Payne was not used as a kicking option for Ireland in the Six Nations, we can deduce that it’s either something his own analysis work has identified as another possible string to his bow, or it’s an element Schmidt has pushed him to contribute.

Whatever the reasoning, Payne will be striving to improve in this area of his game. He has kicked with both left and right foot in the past two games, but neither has brought success.

Robbie Henshaw was a kicking option for Ireland during the Six Nations, often with this type of grubbered effort, so it will be interesting to note whether Ireland’s 13 relinquishes the duty when the Connacht man returns.

Overall, Payne and so many of his Ireland teammates will feel they have many improvements to make in the coming weeks. As Schmidt has so recently proven with Devin Toner, very few players in his team are safe from being dropped.

Any coach who is not constantly looking for ways to improve his team is a losing coach.

IrelandÕs  Jared Payne Payne can certainly improve his kicking game. Billy Stickland / INPHO Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO

That said, Schmidt has invested huge amounts of time, during games and on the training pitch, into the Henshaw/Payne partnership. Payne has generally been excellent within that pairing and his defence skills are hugely important for Ireland.

He might not produce the searing linebreaks that many want to see, but international rugby has changed since we remember former greats doing as much.

Payne is not a like-for-like replacement for what has gone before him, but his ability to draw and pass effectively, carry securely, defend with supreme effectiveness, offload in the tackle and organise others around him should not be underestimated.

His ability to win aerial contests and his contributions in the ruck when Ireland attack are other green ticks alongside his name.

It might be that Schmidt gives Luke Fitzgerald a run in the 13 shirt this weekend perhaps, but Payne looks like an important cog in the XV for the pool clash against France.

Sometimes you wonder if Payne, like Cullen all those years ago, hungers for a return to fullback. Indeed, it’s been somewhat surprising that Schmidt hasn’t given him even a hint of game time in that role since his debut last year.

Since that first international bow, Payne has been concentrating on the outside centre role and has adapted to the position wonderfully well. He will back himself to peak as the tournament progresses, as will Ireland.

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