LIKE ANY OPENSIDE flanker coming through when he did, Josh van der Flier used to study the great All Blacks captain Richie McCaw.
The teak-tough New Zealander captained his country to World Cup success in 2011 and 2015 and was one of the best-ever skippers in rugby.
But he was also a phenomenal openside, whose mastery of the game was a big part of the All Blacks’ success during his 148-cap career.
So it’s no surprise that van der Flier, who starts in Ireland’s number seven shirt against the All Blacks at Eden Park on Saturday [KO 8.10am Irish time, Virgin Media], looked to learn from the great McCaw.
“I remember getting into the academy in Leinster and it might have been John Fogarty, who would have been one of the academy coaches, telling me to watch players in your position,” says van der Flier.
“Richie McCaw was obviously the best at the time, certainly as a number seven.
“So I used to get full recordings of games from a wide view and just follow his movements and everything. I would have done that with a lot of players and a lot of lads would do that.
“But he was an unbelievable player in fairness to him. And yeah, I tried to learn a few things from that. You do it with different players who do different things well and try to learn from them. He would have been one I would have watched particularly.”
What was it that van der Flier picked out about McCaw’s game?
“I hear people sometimes saying ‘Camera 1’ because we’d have our video analysis and ‘Camera 1′ is always the zoomed-in one, so you can see the big moments – the turnovers or any time they’re around the ball,” says van der Flier.
“But then with a lot of good players – Richie McCaw would be one of them – [with the wide angle], you see the support lines he runs off a lineout or how he ends up being on the end of linebreak.
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“It’s easier to see the route they took or how hard they work off the ball or how they like to position themselves in the field.
“Sometimes you pick up nothing, sometimes it’s kind of the system of the team. But I find from a wide view, while you don’t get the detail in terms of technique, you get a bit of a view on how they manage themselves through the game and get themselves in the right positions.”
Paul O'Connell and Richie McCaw. Billy Stickland / INPHO
Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO
Van der Flier is asked if he ever cheats, which it’s jokingly suggested that McCaw was well able to do.
“I try not to cheat, no,” says van der Flier with a laugh.
Van der Flier is 33 now, and he’s a former World Rugby player of the year, an award that McCaw won three times, but he continues to study other players in a bid to get better.
This season, he has been trying to work on his defensive breakdown skills, so he examines how others operate in that area.
“You can look at technique or how good players get in those positions,” says van der Flier.
“Even chatting to Tadhg Beirne, he’s obviously brilliant at picking and choosing when he competes at breakdowns, so you can pick up a lot from watching players like him or even seeing him in training.”
This is an interesting area of the game right now, because attacks have been on top in international rugby recently.
There is an impression that referees are a little slower to reward jackals at the defensive breakdown.
“I’d say so, definitely,” is van der Flier’s sense.
“I was chatting with Paul O’Connell the other day about how the rules used to be, that you could make a tackle and you didn’t have to release the ball and could just stay on the ball, which is completely crazy when you think about it now.
“If you look at it that way, it’s got way, way more difficult.
“But I’m sure refs don’t want to have to stop the game. They want the attacking team to be on top if they’re dominant so yeah, it’s probably gone a bit more attack-oriented.”
Ireland could do with a few trademark Beirne breakdown poaches today at Eden Park, while van der Flier will be aiming to chip in too.
He will bring his usual energy, accuracy and physicality for Ireland as they attempt to make history in Auckland.
Van der Flier in Auckland this week. Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
“You’ve got to be at your best,” says van der Flier of what it takes to beat the All Blacks.
“They’re obviously a very good side and no matter how they fluctuate in form, they’re always very good, there or thereabouts, and it will be no different this weekend.
“But you have to be more fully on your game. If you keep going after them – I think staying on it all the time is a big thing as well. The same with any good side, you see the same with France, you think similarly about them.
“If you lapse in concentration and give them a little opportunity, they’re very good at taking those.
“So that’s probably the big thing that I’ve taken from playing against them. When we’ve done well, we’ve managed to be pretty much on it and pressuring them throughout the game.
“When we haven’t done so well is when you have those lapses and they take their opportunities.”
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The Richie McCaw clips that Josh van der Flier used to study
LIKE ANY OPENSIDE flanker coming through when he did, Josh van der Flier used to study the great All Blacks captain Richie McCaw.
The teak-tough New Zealander captained his country to World Cup success in 2011 and 2015 and was one of the best-ever skippers in rugby.
But he was also a phenomenal openside, whose mastery of the game was a big part of the All Blacks’ success during his 148-cap career.
So it’s no surprise that van der Flier, who starts in Ireland’s number seven shirt against the All Blacks at Eden Park on Saturday [KO 8.10am Irish time, Virgin Media], looked to learn from the great McCaw.
“I remember getting into the academy in Leinster and it might have been John Fogarty, who would have been one of the academy coaches, telling me to watch players in your position,” says van der Flier.
“Richie McCaw was obviously the best at the time, certainly as a number seven.
“So I used to get full recordings of games from a wide view and just follow his movements and everything. I would have done that with a lot of players and a lot of lads would do that.
“But he was an unbelievable player in fairness to him. And yeah, I tried to learn a few things from that. You do it with different players who do different things well and try to learn from them. He would have been one I would have watched particularly.”
What was it that van der Flier picked out about McCaw’s game?
“I hear people sometimes saying ‘Camera 1’ because we’d have our video analysis and ‘Camera 1′ is always the zoomed-in one, so you can see the big moments – the turnovers or any time they’re around the ball,” says van der Flier.
“But then with a lot of good players – Richie McCaw would be one of them – [with the wide angle], you see the support lines he runs off a lineout or how he ends up being on the end of linebreak.
“It’s easier to see the route they took or how hard they work off the ball or how they like to position themselves in the field.
“Sometimes you pick up nothing, sometimes it’s kind of the system of the team. But I find from a wide view, while you don’t get the detail in terms of technique, you get a bit of a view on how they manage themselves through the game and get themselves in the right positions.”
Van der Flier is asked if he ever cheats, which it’s jokingly suggested that McCaw was well able to do.
“I try not to cheat, no,” says van der Flier with a laugh.
Van der Flier is 33 now, and he’s a former World Rugby player of the year, an award that McCaw won three times, but he continues to study other players in a bid to get better.
This season, he has been trying to work on his defensive breakdown skills, so he examines how others operate in that area.
“You can look at technique or how good players get in those positions,” says van der Flier.
“Even chatting to Tadhg Beirne, he’s obviously brilliant at picking and choosing when he competes at breakdowns, so you can pick up a lot from watching players like him or even seeing him in training.”
This is an interesting area of the game right now, because attacks have been on top in international rugby recently.
There is an impression that referees are a little slower to reward jackals at the defensive breakdown.
“I’d say so, definitely,” is van der Flier’s sense.
“I was chatting with Paul O’Connell the other day about how the rules used to be, that you could make a tackle and you didn’t have to release the ball and could just stay on the ball, which is completely crazy when you think about it now.
“If you look at it that way, it’s got way, way more difficult.
“But I’m sure refs don’t want to have to stop the game. They want the attacking team to be on top if they’re dominant so yeah, it’s probably gone a bit more attack-oriented.”
Ireland could do with a few trademark Beirne breakdown poaches today at Eden Park, while van der Flier will be aiming to chip in too.
He will bring his usual energy, accuracy and physicality for Ireland as they attempt to make history in Auckland.
“You’ve got to be at your best,” says van der Flier of what it takes to beat the All Blacks.
“They’re obviously a very good side and no matter how they fluctuate in form, they’re always very good, there or thereabouts, and it will be no different this weekend.
“But you have to be more fully on your game. If you keep going after them – I think staying on it all the time is a big thing as well. The same with any good side, you see the same with France, you think similarly about them.
“If you lapse in concentration and give them a little opportunity, they’re very good at taking those.
“So that’s probably the big thing that I’ve taken from playing against them. When we’ve done well, we’ve managed to be pretty much on it and pressuring them throughout the game.
“When we haven’t done so well is when you have those lapses and they take their opportunities.”
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Ireland New Zealand rugby championship VDF