Catch and Pass
Why do you need ball-playing forwards to create width on attack?
Ball playing tight forwards are the ones creating space in which their backs can flourish. Analyst Nick Bishop detail...
Contributor
Nick Bishop
Here's what Nick thinks...
About Nick Bishop
Nick has worked as a rugby analyst and advisor to Graham Henry (1999-2002), Mike Ruddock (2004-2006) and latterly Stuart Lancaster (2011-2015). He also worked on the 2001 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia and produced his first rugby book with Graham Henry at the end of the tour. Since then, three more rugby books have followed, all of which of have either been nominated for, or won national sports book awards. The latest is a biography of Phil Larder, the first top Rugby League coach to successfully transfer over to Union. It is entitled “The Iron Curtain”. Nick has also written or contributed to four other books on literature and psychology.
“He is currently writing articles for The Roar and The Rugby Site, and working as a strategy consultant to Stuart Lancaster and the Leinster coaching staff for their European matches.”
Nick Bishop's latest articles
Leadership & Management
What can ‘tactical periodization’ mean in a game of Rugby?
‘Tactical Periodization’ is becoming a popular phrase in the sporting vocabulary. What is it? How is being effectivel...
Set Piece
Why the modern lineout peel is back to front
The times they are a-changing, and peels from the lineout are no longer confined to the open-side of the field. Nick ...
Attack
How to locate and exploit the low-energy defender
Nick Bishop depicts how Teams like to use multi-phase attack to exploit the low-energy defender.
Catch and Pass
Why ‘lefty-righty’ is so important on attack
Nick Bishop highlights the attacking value of distributors who can offer superior quality with their left-to-right pa...
Catch and Pass
When is a knock-on not a knock-on?
If the ball goes forward off, it is a knock-on and a scrum to the opposition, right? Well not always the case as Anal...
Breakdown
What does economy at the cleanout really look like?
The new ruck guidelines have accelerated the blurring of boundaries between ball-winners and ball-users, contact ‘gru...
Defence
Why does defence look so different in the modern era?
Why is there a need to keep pace in the observation, and explanation of the game of Rugby? Many of the understanding...
Breakdown
Why Rugby is creeping into the grey area at ruck and maul
Professional coaches spend an awful lot of time looking for loopholes, or grey areas within the rugby lawbook which t...
Position specific
Who won the joust of styles at number 9 in Paris? – Part 2
In Part 2 of how the different No 9 styles can work in harmony with the new breakdown guidelines, Nick Bishop examine...
