Flat attack takes years to master, claims Ella

By WYNNE GRAY

Wallaby great Mark Ella taunted the All Blacks with a flat-line attack but he says it took him about 10 years to master it.

That lengthy tuition is one reason Ella wonders whether the All Blacks and the formation are compatible.

Ella claims Justin Marshall and Carlos Spencer are not suited to the flat attack and says, if the All Blacks persist with it, they have to channel their attacks from second five-eighths.

The concept was used first by the Waratahs in the 1920s when their backs lined up close in a shallow formation and attacked the defence rather than trying to outflank it.

The scheme lay dormant until it was taught to kids at Matraville High School where Ella, his brothers and many of the national schoolboys side played. Many of that backline went on to the Randwick club then the Wallabies.

"I was brought up to play that way," Ella explained. "It was second nature for me because I was taught, when I was 11 or 12, that was the way to play.

"New Zealand are trying to teach a guy to play a game which is totally alien to him. It is hard to do and he is not even hitting the line at pace.

"Carlos is taking the ball still. I only had the ball in my hands for about two metres at the most but Carlos is taking the ball and not moving on to it.

"There is no emphasis on the go-forward to hold the defence, no pressure on the openside flanker or opposing five-eighths to go near Carlos, because the All Blacks are shuffling across."

Ella is a huge fan of Spencer, he admires his flair. But he thinks Spencer and flat-attack are mismatched.

If the All Blacks would not budge on their plan then Andrew Mehrtens was a better choice.

But the key person to make any flat attack work was the second five-eighths rather than the All Black concept based around the first five-eighths.

It was the second five-eighths' job to commit the defence.

"Michael Hawker was the key to it with us much more than I was," Ella said. "My job was to give momentum to the backline, the inside centre took the ball to the defence.

"All of our plays, the timing of them were dependent on the second five-eighths. [Daniel] Carter is the key but he is just finding his way in international rugby."

Ella said Marshall's style was unsuitable too. He was an aggressive halfback, he played like an extra loose forward.

However for a flat-line attack to succeed, the halfback had to deliver fast ball and that was not Marshall's forte.

"His instincts are to have a look then pass rather than passing to give the five-eighths enough time to transfer the ball to the inside centre who swings everything into action," Ella said.

"I am an old believer in the idea but the defensive lines have changed. Whether it works in the modern game, I dunno, unless you run it yourself," Ella said.