IN THE LAST two World Cup finals, the influence of Pieter-Steph du Toit has been instrumental in the Springboks’ successes.
The 31-year-old is simply a brilliant rugby player but his role in the South African team allows his skills to come to the fore in the perfect fashion.
Du Toit is the ultimate second row/blindside flanker hybrid.
He’s just over 6ft 6ins tall and weighs around 115kg. He played lots of his rugby in the second row when he was younger, including a pair of starts in the engine room against Ireland in the 2016 series. Du Toit still occasionally slots into the second row for the Boks during games but these days, he’s their first-choice blindside flanker.
Du Toit still brings the athletic and technical qualities of a lock, particularly in the lineout, but he also offers the dynamism, work-rate, and big moments that you expect from a back row player.
Having watched du Toit thrive in the World Cup final again this year, it has been interesting to see two lock/blindside hybrids excelling in Irish rugby recently.
Ryan Baird has been superb in Leinster’s number six jersey, while Tom Ahern has been outstanding in the same slot for Munster since moving there last month.
24-year-old Baird is already a 15-cap Ireland international and while 23-year-old Ahern has yet to win a senior cap, he is very much on Andy Farrell’s radar as he pushes for inclusion in the Six Nations squad.
Baird first broke through as a lock with Leinster and Ireland but his province started to use him in the back row much more last season, a trend that was replicated in the national squad.
Ahern had played all of his professional rugby in the second row up until last month but his switch to the blindside flank has been extremely successful in the ongoing absence of Peter O’Mahony.
At 6ft 9ins and around 116kg, Ahern looks like a classic lineout lock but he is remarkably explosive, agile, and quick having played in the backline during his youth.
Baird is listed at 6ft 6ins and 113kg so has the dimensions of a second row but again, he is exceptionally dynamic.
So when Leinster and Munster use Baird and Ahern in the back row, they get lots of their second row qualities but also harness all that explosive power as flankers.
Baird and Ahern are both springy lineout jumpers and we get an example of the latter’s defensive quality below as he makes a strong read of the Leinster lineout and gets off the ground dynamically to win the ball.
Ahern was calling the Munster lineout on St Stephen’s Day despite playing in the back row. That’s unusual in Irish rugby, although a back row player leading the lineout is common in French rugby.
For this clash with Leinster, the Munster second row was made up of Edwin Edogbo and Gavin Coombes, two players who don’t call lineouts, so it made sense for Ahern to be in charge.
There were a couple of losses on the Munster throw that he would have been frustrated about, with Baird picking one off late in the game.
Clearly, having players like Ahern and Baird in the back row hugely adds to a team’s lineout given that there are still two other second rows in the set-piece, as well as any of the other back rows who can jump.
This applies to the maul too, with the likes of Baird and Ahern strong at disrupting the opposition in that area. With their long arms, they’re typically a nuisance when it comes to defending mauls.
One of the other departments in which Baird has increasingly excelled recently is defence. South Africa’s du Toit was a key defensive weapon under Jacques Nienaber, putting relentless pressure on opposition playmakers, and it appears that Nienaber is now encouraging Baird to take on a similar role for Leinster.
In the du Toit-esque example below against La Rochelle, Baird identifies centre Ulupano Seuteni early and makes an aggressive read beyond the unconvincing decoy forward to make a big gainline win that also opens up a turnover chance for Leinster.
Given Baird’s acceleration and agility, as well as his power in contact, it’s sensible for Nienaber to back him to make plays like this one.
Ahern’s explosiveness and balance can certainly help to make him an important defender for Munster but those athletic qualities have been more obvious in an attacking sense since his recent shift to the number six shirt.
One of the roles for Munster’s blindside flanker is to hold width in the 15-metre channel when they’re attacking, meaning Ahern has been able to show off his devastating athleticism in more space than has been the case when playing in the second row.
Shorn of the requirement to be a ball-carrier in more central positions, Ahern has been producing moments like the one below against Exeter.
Ahern gathers Jack Crowley’s well-judged diagonal kick on the bounce as he swerves past one Exeter defender, then gets up to full tilt to take him well clear of the potential covering defender.
We know that Baird can produce headline athletic moments such as this too, although it’s worth stressing that both of these players are well capable of mixing it in the trenches.
It seems likely that both players will also continue to feature in the second row, particularly Ahern, but their emergence as genuine hybrid blindside flankers gives their provinces greater flexibility when selecting their forward packs.
Baird has already featured for Ireland in the number six jersey and Ahern clearly has the potential to play at Test level.
