Alan Tait admits ruling will cause him a few headaches

Jun 30 2009 by Nick Purewal, The Journal

WHILE many rejoiced at the return of the maul, one man simply shuddered at the prospect.

Rugby purists and traditionalists from the Northern Hemisphere breathed a triumphant sigh of relief when the IRB binned the particular ELV that allowed mauls to be pulled down.

The international law-makers dispensed with that trialled variation, much to the delight of those that feel the maul and all its driving might plays an integral role in rugby union.

So the masses have been pleased, with only the backline-heavy Australians really still putting up a fuss, trying to extend still further the argument they started for purely selfish purposes in the first place.

But we must add one more name to those worried Antipodeans, in the shape of Falcons assistant coach Alan Tait – not that Tait is complaining, but he does admit defensively it will provide a headache or two.

“The return of the maul will be a nightmare to be honest,” said Tait. “It is very tough to defend and it means we have to do a lot of work to counteract it.

“But it is not as though it is a new challenge we as rugby players and coaches have to face, so we know what we need to do and now is the time for the hard work to be put in place.

“It certainly means we have to change our defensive patterns – every side will – because you saw last season teams would simply fan out a flat line and employ very Rugby League-based systems.

“Of course league has coloured the union defences for some time, but last year was even more the case because you only had two or three real attack methods to cover. But with the return of the maul, now you have to cover that as well as potential pick-and-go drives, runners off nine and 10 and the obvious backs moves or tactical kicking.