CHIEF AMONG THE threats for Leinster this Saturday will be Italian centre Nacho Brex, who is a key figure in the Toulon team.
The Argentinian native was something of a late bloomer when it came to standing out at the very top level of the game, but he is now respected as one of the best centres around.
The 33-year-old will be a handful for Leinster, many of whose players are well-used to doing their best to keep a handle on Brex’s skills when he stars for Italy against Ireland.
“He can play 12 as well, but he’s a pretty pure 13,” says Leinster and Ireland outside centre Garry Ringrose.
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“There’s intricacies in terms of how he reads the game defensively, which I admire. Similar to how I personally would have defended previously, within a system with the opportunity to kind of make reads and shut the attack off. And he does that exceptionally well, one of the best in the world, I reckon, and misses very few tackles, if any.
“And then on attack, in the last few years he’s taken this game to a new level, certainly in Toulon because he’s a really good distributor and ball player for Italy and Treviso. Now he’s taking on the line and making line breaks and putting kicks through. So yeah, he’s unbelievable.
“There’s lots of his parts of his game that I admire and I guess try and learn off and copy sometimes as well.”
Brex is a specialist when it comes to one of the most popular attacking plays in rugby.
Normally, this play involves a scrum-half passing to a number 12, who has the number 13 running short, with the number 10 swinging out the back. This means the number 12 at the heart of the play has options to carry themselves, pass short to 13, or go out the back to 10. When executed well, it’s difficult to defend.
Despite usually wearing the number 13 jersey, Brex is brilliant in the 12 role in this play.
He regularly times late short passes to centre partners like Italy’s Tommaso Menoncello, or swings the ball out the back to his out-half. In Toulon’s quarter-final win over Glasgow, Brex dummied and carried the ball himself, scoring a wonderful solo try.
“It’s a bit of variety on it, I guess,” said Ringrose. “He sometimes does the no-look [pass].
“Sometimes he takes it, digs out the line and plays it late. Other times, he’ll play it early.
“So there’s variety, I guess, in how he does it, which can be difficult to manage defensively.”
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'He's unbelievable' – Italian centre Brex a big threat to Leinster
CHIEF AMONG THE threats for Leinster this Saturday will be Italian centre Nacho Brex, who is a key figure in the Toulon team.
The Argentinian native was something of a late bloomer when it came to standing out at the very top level of the game, but he is now respected as one of the best centres around.
The 33-year-old will be a handful for Leinster, many of whose players are well-used to doing their best to keep a handle on Brex’s skills when he stars for Italy against Ireland.
“He can play 12 as well, but he’s a pretty pure 13,” says Leinster and Ireland outside centre Garry Ringrose.
“There’s intricacies in terms of how he reads the game defensively, which I admire. Similar to how I personally would have defended previously, within a system with the opportunity to kind of make reads and shut the attack off. And he does that exceptionally well, one of the best in the world, I reckon, and misses very few tackles, if any.
“And then on attack, in the last few years he’s taken this game to a new level, certainly in Toulon because he’s a really good distributor and ball player for Italy and Treviso. Now he’s taking on the line and making line breaks and putting kicks through. So yeah, he’s unbelievable.
“There’s lots of his parts of his game that I admire and I guess try and learn off and copy sometimes as well.”
Brex is a specialist when it comes to one of the most popular attacking plays in rugby.
Normally, this play involves a scrum-half passing to a number 12, who has the number 13 running short, with the number 10 swinging out the back. This means the number 12 at the heart of the play has options to carry themselves, pass short to 13, or go out the back to 10. When executed well, it’s difficult to defend.
Despite usually wearing the number 13 jersey, Brex is brilliant in the 12 role in this play.
He regularly times late short passes to centre partners like Italy’s Tommaso Menoncello, or swings the ball out the back to his out-half. In Toulon’s quarter-final win over Glasgow, Brex dummied and carried the ball himself, scoring a wonderful solo try.
“It’s a bit of variety on it, I guess,” said Ringrose. “He sometimes does the no-look [pass].
“Sometimes he takes it, digs out the line and plays it late. Other times, he’ll play it early.
“So there’s variety, I guess, in how he does it, which can be difficult to manage defensively.”
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Game respects game Garry Ringrose Leinster Nacho Brex Respect Toulon