Justin Marshall's Chalkboard: Highlanders tactic a stroke of genius

What the Highlanders did against the Sharks was a stroke of genius, writes Justin Marshall. Photo / Getty Images

You look at tomorrow's game between the Hurricanes and Sharks and, given their respective positions on the table, think it should be an easy win for the home side.

I'm not so sure. The Sharks team is full of Springboks, from the Du Plessis brothers in the front row, to Willem Alberts in the loosies and backs like Patrick Lambie, Frans Steyn and impressive halfback Jacobus Reinach. They are a dangerous team who are underperforming.

With the Hurricanes resting TJ Perenara and being without the services of the hugely influential Beauden Barrett, I just wonder if they are vulnerable tomorrow. This is a game they will not want to lose, having established themselves at the top of the table, but the Sharks should see this as an opportunity for a big upset.

If they are to create a boilover, they're going to do it up front and they're going to do it by going to one of their core strengths: the lineout drive. The Hurricanes need to be aware of this and prepare as brilliantly and as cleverly as the highlanders did last week.

The Sharks looked to utilise their lineout drive at key points during the Highlanders match, but the home side's mould-breaking approach to defending the lineout flummoxed them.

In this Chalkboard column I will illustrate, 1. The traditional way to defend the lineout drive and, 2. The Highlanders variation.

1. The fundamental base for defending the lineout drive is to get low body position. When the attacking team is jumping you brace, get low body position and drive almost from underneath.

You try to drive them straight back towards their own tryline to negate any forward momentum and make sure you don't give up the blindside. Then you change your emphasis and try to drive them towards the touchline. You are trying to give the attacking team the sensation that they are being squeezed for room and need to use the ball quickly.

This is the traditional way at when it's done properly, it works. But every team knows this is coming and they have subtle and not-so-subtle ways of shifting the point of attack to stop being pinched and hemmed towards touch.

2. What the Highlanders did, which I thought was a stroke of genius, was they ignored tradition and started driving the Sharks infield. You normally don't want this, because you open up the blind and give the attacking team too many options if and when they release the ball.

The Sharks were unprepared for this break with convention. They expected the normal resistance when they tried to work infield, so instead when they got assistance, the maul actually gathered too much sideways momentum and disintegrated. They couldn't control the rhythm or the pace of the maul and didn't have the wherewithal to adjust in-game.

I hope other teams, including the Hurricanes, watched what the Highlanders did because it was legal and could have a huge impact on the effectiveness of the driving maul.

Instead of the defending team having two options to apply pressure - driving straight back and driving towards touch - they now have more options and the attacking team will not be able to concentrate their resources in one direction any more.

It is something I will be watching closely for tomorrow.