AS IRELAND PREPARED for the aerial contests against South Africa earlier this week, they pulled up a clip of how things used to look the last time these two sides met in July 2024.
Back then, teams were allowed to ‘escort’ kick chasers, essentially blocking them from running straight upfield. The escorting players would form what Ireland used to call a ‘cradle,’ giving their receiving team-mate more time to field the high ball.
“There were about six lads protecting a dude trying to go up and win a high ball!” said Ireland wing James Lowe as he reflected on what used to be allowed.
Everything changed in November 2024, however, with World Rugby instructing match officials to clamp down on kick escorting.
All of a sudden, the game was altered rather drastically, with the return of far more one-on-one contests in the air, given that chasing players were allowed unhindered access.
As they face into a huge aerial battle against the Springboks this evening [KO 5.40pm, RTÉ/TNT], Ireland took the time earlier this week to remind themselves that it’s going to be very different to the last time in Durban.
“It’s brought a bit of a different dynamic to the game,” said Lowe, “and it’s incredibly tougher now. Obviously, every contestable kick, there’s a collision in the air that you’ve got to worry about.
“There’s trying to not knock it on, trying to win it clean. I think we only won one high ball clean on the weekend just gone [against Australia] and it was the first one, so that was Mack [Hansen].
“And then the other two where they could have been clean, me and Mack dropped it cold.
“Sure, look, it’s the way the game’s gone. I thought when it was first brought in that you couldn’t cradle that it would create more bad collisions in the air, but it hasn’t. So yeah, I think it’s here to stay for the near future anyway.”
Advertisement
Ireland wing James Lowe. Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
Ireland do a lot more live aerial contests in training these days because they have to replicate what’s to come in games.
Assistant coach Johnny Sexton has led Ireland’s work in this area. His remit involves a focus on Ireland’s kicking game, and the details around catching the ball or winning it on the ground when it comes down are important.
Ireland had Dublin footballer Brian Fenton into camp during this year’s Six Nations to give his insights into high ball work.
“They [Gaelic footballers] always talk about, you know, thumbs together [before fielding the ball] and they actually talked about like a bend in the elbow as well,” said Lowe.
“So it’s just little things that I would never have thought of. I just see the ball in the air, go and try to catch it, sort of thing.”
When Sexton was in Australia with the Lions, he visited the AFL’s Adelaide Crows to study their high ball work in Aussie rules.
Sexton presents to the Irish players about what he has learned and they get to work on the technical details.
“95% of the time, there’s going to be a collision in the air, so timing of the jump is massive, trying to get knees higher than theirs, arms higher than theirs,” said Lowe.
“Offensively, if I’m not going to get in and be able to get two hands, I’m going up with one hand trying to tap it back, and so is every other winger in the world. It’s tough.
“It’s probably taken that skill set further and further and a lot of it’s actually not just the battle in the air, it’s a battle on the ground as well – how many people can you get around it?
“‘Fingers pointing at the ground’ is one that we picked up from the AFL boys. And making sure you’re low and ready to dive on scraps. I think even Furlong got one of the scraps on the ground [against Australia].
Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
“It just shows everyone’s alive for it because the ability to ‘kick on kick’ is huge. You know, you’re bringing backfields up and then all of a sudden everyone’s got to reset and get back. Jamo was able to expose it once [with a 50:22 against Australia], almost twice with a kick to Tommy which got charged down.
“But look, it’s a massive facet of the game now and she’s getting tougher and tougher.”
Anyone who watches Lowe in today’s warm-up will see him working on his overhead catching, another technique that has become increasingly important.
Hansen’s first high ball take last weekend was an excellent overhead catch.
“We’re actually going up more hand over head trying to catch it, like the AFL boys do,” said Lowe.
“The NRL boys are very, very good at it as well. And a lot of it’s timing. You don’t want to be a sitting duck. You don’t want to be standing under it knowing you’ve got a Canan Moodie or a Cheslin Kolbe or someone leaping on top of you.
“So being able to get the timing of going back to then generate momentum and go forward. But a lot of it’s the collision in the air.
“They’ve got some pretty impressive athletes on their side, so hopefully we can come out on the right end of that.”
It could be a busy evening in the sky over the Aviva Stadium.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
3 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
How James Lowe and Ireland have adapted to aerial contests
AS IRELAND PREPARED for the aerial contests against South Africa earlier this week, they pulled up a clip of how things used to look the last time these two sides met in July 2024.
Back then, teams were allowed to ‘escort’ kick chasers, essentially blocking them from running straight upfield. The escorting players would form what Ireland used to call a ‘cradle,’ giving their receiving team-mate more time to field the high ball.
“There were about six lads protecting a dude trying to go up and win a high ball!” said Ireland wing James Lowe as he reflected on what used to be allowed.
Everything changed in November 2024, however, with World Rugby instructing match officials to clamp down on kick escorting.
All of a sudden, the game was altered rather drastically, with the return of far more one-on-one contests in the air, given that chasing players were allowed unhindered access.
As they face into a huge aerial battle against the Springboks this evening [KO 5.40pm, RTÉ/TNT], Ireland took the time earlier this week to remind themselves that it’s going to be very different to the last time in Durban.
“It’s brought a bit of a different dynamic to the game,” said Lowe, “and it’s incredibly tougher now. Obviously, every contestable kick, there’s a collision in the air that you’ve got to worry about.
“There’s trying to not knock it on, trying to win it clean. I think we only won one high ball clean on the weekend just gone [against Australia] and it was the first one, so that was Mack [Hansen].
“And then the other two where they could have been clean, me and Mack dropped it cold.
“Sure, look, it’s the way the game’s gone. I thought when it was first brought in that you couldn’t cradle that it would create more bad collisions in the air, but it hasn’t. So yeah, I think it’s here to stay for the near future anyway.”
Ireland do a lot more live aerial contests in training these days because they have to replicate what’s to come in games.
Assistant coach Johnny Sexton has led Ireland’s work in this area. His remit involves a focus on Ireland’s kicking game, and the details around catching the ball or winning it on the ground when it comes down are important.
Ireland had Dublin footballer Brian Fenton into camp during this year’s Six Nations to give his insights into high ball work.
“They [Gaelic footballers] always talk about, you know, thumbs together [before fielding the ball] and they actually talked about like a bend in the elbow as well,” said Lowe.
“So it’s just little things that I would never have thought of. I just see the ball in the air, go and try to catch it, sort of thing.”
When Sexton was in Australia with the Lions, he visited the AFL’s Adelaide Crows to study their high ball work in Aussie rules.
Sexton presents to the Irish players about what he has learned and they get to work on the technical details.
“95% of the time, there’s going to be a collision in the air, so timing of the jump is massive, trying to get knees higher than theirs, arms higher than theirs,” said Lowe.
“Offensively, if I’m not going to get in and be able to get two hands, I’m going up with one hand trying to tap it back, and so is every other winger in the world. It’s tough.
“It’s probably taken that skill set further and further and a lot of it’s actually not just the battle in the air, it’s a battle on the ground as well – how many people can you get around it?
“‘Fingers pointing at the ground’ is one that we picked up from the AFL boys. And making sure you’re low and ready to dive on scraps. I think even Furlong got one of the scraps on the ground [against Australia].
“It just shows everyone’s alive for it because the ability to ‘kick on kick’ is huge. You know, you’re bringing backfields up and then all of a sudden everyone’s got to reset and get back. Jamo was able to expose it once [with a 50:22 against Australia], almost twice with a kick to Tommy which got charged down.
“But look, it’s a massive facet of the game now and she’s getting tougher and tougher.”
Anyone who watches Lowe in today’s warm-up will see him working on his overhead catching, another technique that has become increasingly important.
Hansen’s first high ball take last weekend was an excellent overhead catch.
“We’re actually going up more hand over head trying to catch it, like the AFL boys do,” said Lowe.
“The NRL boys are very, very good at it as well. And a lot of it’s timing. You don’t want to be a sitting duck. You don’t want to be standing under it knowing you’ve got a Canan Moodie or a Cheslin Kolbe or someone leaping on top of you.
“So being able to get the timing of going back to then generate momentum and go forward. But a lot of it’s the collision in the air.
“They’ve got some pretty impressive athletes on their side, so hopefully we can come out on the right end of that.”
It could be a busy evening in the sky over the Aviva Stadium.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
High Ball Ireland James Lowe South Africa