The 10 Loops, The 11 Scores

Starting position

Lineout twenty metres out. The throw goes in, the 4 takes it cleanly in the middle of the line and gives it to the 7, who feeds the hooker: the pack closes around him and drives. Nothing spectacular, and that is exactly the point. While the forwards occupy everybody along the touchline, the backline sets up a long way behind. The 9 clears it, and the ball goes wide. It travels through the hands to the 13 — and while that happens the 10 does not stop. He loops, runs behind his centre and comes out the other side, seven metres deeper. The 13 gives it back. The 10 arrives at pace into space nobody is watching, because the defence followed the ball and not the runners. Ten metres later he fixes the last defender and feeds his winger. The 11 has thirty metres to cover down the far touchline, the opposition 14 sets off in chase and arrives too late. Try in the corner, at the exact opposite end from where the lineout was thrown: sixty metres of width swallowed in a single possession. The 10's loop does not create the space — it creates the doubt, and the doubt is enough.