Articles
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
The where and when of ‘how to offload’The offload can be one of the most exciting and rewarding skills in the game of Rugby Union. Analyst Nick Bishop explains how offloading is a particularly valuable skill for teams who know that they will not go into most games with an advantage in physical size and power over their opponents.
What is Creativity? – the curious case of Beauden Barrett versus South AfricaIf the notion of creativity can be summarized in one word, that word would be ‘vision’. Better peripheral awareness and depth perception lead to better decision-making, and from this perspective Beauden Barrett’s game in the recent match between New Zealand and South Africa in Wellington was of interest from start to finish. Analyst Nick Bishop reflects on Barrett’s performance in his latest article.
How the All Blacks dismantled the Wallaby lineout in SydneyIn his latest article analyst Nick Bishop uses Victor Matfield’s excellent Lineout series to helps illuminate the problems the Wallabies experienced in the first All Black test last week.
How the Crusaders lineout defence stood up to be counted in ChristchurchLineout defence is one of the most important single aspects of defence as a whole. Analyst Nick Bishop explains how the Crusaders defused the vaunted Lions Lineout and primary attacking weapon in last weekend’s Super rugby final.
The importance of ‘reloading’ and understanding spaceHow do you find the spaces which Townsend claims are always there, at times when the defence is still likely to be cohesive and well-organized? Analyst Nick Bishop illustrates how important accurate ‘reloading’ from a stopping point can exploit ‘re-positionings’ mismatches and create space on the field.
How to make good choices after the breakWhat happens in the time and space after a break has been made is just as important, if not more so, than the initial breach. In his latest article, analyst Nick Bishop looks at the effect of right and wrong options after line breaks during the recent Crusaders vs Highlanders super rugby match.
Attacking the 13 channel – the All Black way!In 2nd of the current pair of articles, Analyst Nick Bishop highlights how the All Blacks adjusted their attack to breakdown a well ordered French defence out wide.
Por qué los Jaguares están usando una línea biarticular en el Súper RugbyEn la ronda 11 del Super Rugby 2018, los Jaguares alcanzaron su primera victoria histórica en suelo neozelandés, y lo hicieron gracias a un tremendo esfuerzo en su scrum contra los Blues. Bajo el mando del nuevo entrenador Mario Ledesma (otro de la gran brigada del juego que basa el scrum con el talonador), se ven señales claras de que el equipo está recuperando el mojo de su fortaleza tradicional – el scrummaging. El analista Nick Bishop analiza las razones por las que esta técnica ha sido tan efectiva contra los Blues y contra otros grandes equipos.
Defending the 13 channel – the modern wayIn the recent 1st test of the series, the contest between New Zealand’s wide attack and the French defence of the same area promised to be one for connoisseur, and so it proved. In the current pair of articles, Analyst Nick Bishop first examines how France’s defence in the 13 channel succeeded initially. In next week’s second articl the reasons why the All Blacks’ attack wrested control.
How back-line communication helps ‘spot’ attacking opportunitiesIn the modern professional era, it is no longer enough to rely on one or two players – typically the numbers 9 and 10 – to see and make all of the attacking play. Analyst Nick Bishop looks at how teams are building their backline ‘game intelligence’
