For seemingly decades, the rugby fullback position in rugby union remained somewhat static and unchanged: it was seen as the last line of defence as well as the basis from which to launch counter attacks and that’s about it. There were a few other duties depending on what team you played for, with additional support play from set pieces or kicking duties added to the two fundamental functions of the position. Of course, simply because of the structure of the game, those two main roles haven’t changed a whole deal. Nowadays though, to become a truly world class fullback, it is a prerequisite that you bring more to the table than had been expected in the past.
Tracing this evolution back to its potential origins, 2010 seems like a pivotal season in the moulding of the modern fullback. As with most innovations made in the sport in the 21st century (at least all the fun ones…) the development of the position begins in Australia and New Zealand.
2010 seemed like a possible crossroads year for Kurtley Beale. Still only a 21 year-old, Beale had been destined for stardom for years, becoming perhaps the first teenage star in rugby history thanks to YouTube highlights and an invitation to train with the Wallabies aged just 17. Despite the early hype, Beale’s Super Rugby career had been chequered until 2010, with brilliant solo tries and moments of inspiration mixed with bad game management and poor defence. In an attempt to get the most out of the immense talent Beale clearly possessed, then coach Chris Hickey moved the starlet to fullback with instant results. The pressure was no longer on Beale to set the tempo and lead the team, giving him added freedom to show off his exceptional running ability.
However, in attack Beale would occasionally gravitate back to his old home at standoff and act as a second playmaker, often on the blind side of the attack. This ability to pick and choose the spots where he would act as a secondary fly half also allowed him the freedom to drift around the field as a support player and link man off the fly half (a precursor to the inside centre position he now inhabits), rather than keeping him rigidly within the team’s structure, unlike when he lined up at 10. As if to validate the move, Beale helped open up the Waratahs attack to the point that in 2011 it led Super Rugby with 46 tries in 16 games. Furthermore, he also won the John Eales Medal that year (an award given to player of the year in Australian rugby) and was an integral part of the Australia team that won the Tri-Nations and got to the World Cup semi-final. Four years later, Beale still shines when on the field, now playing inside centre for the reigning Super Rugby champion Waratahs after ceding the 15 jersey to another futuristic fullback in Israel Folau. His way into the starting XV for Australia is less clear, with Folau almost certainly the starter at fullback for country as well (with a potential move to outside centre looking less and less likely), Beale’s immense attacking talents will have to be weighed against his defensive liabilities to decide whether he is worth the gamble at 12 when compared with safer (though still impressive) options like Matt Toomua or Christian Lealiifano. Either way, if he is allowed to return to the position that turned him from uber-talented teenager to rugby superstar, he will join several other brilliant players who have followed his lead in playing the position as a secondary playmaker and quasi-fly-half, adding further variety and options to the teams they represent.
That same 2010 season marked the breakout of another young fullback with an unorthodox style, with Israel Dagg making his All Blacks debut that season. It was Dagg’s first try for the All-Blacks that perhaps highlights this best: with Dan Carter forced to help clean out the previous ruck, Dagg seamlessly steps in to the line at first receiver and, using the support outside his to draw the defence, goose steps his way through the line before sliding past a few more defenders to score. Since then, when Carter (or more recently Aaron Cruden and Beauden Barrett) has been taken out of play, Dagg has more often than not stepped in to that void to keep the attack ticking over. In addition, both at club and international level, Dagg occasionally lines up as the first receiver on the blindside of the attack with the fly half at first receiver on the openside such as in this clip. Here an initial half break is made in the England defence and, in trying to recover and arrange their defensive line; they commit too many men to the openside where Carter is lined up. Seeing this, Dagg moves into the first receiver role on the blindside and calls for the ball which Aaron Smith then delivers. Taking advantage of the fact that this is a recovering defence that will, as a result, have no line speed, Dagg snakes diagonally across the line before putting Kieran Read in the corner with a beautifully timed and executed pass. Of course, Dagg is a more conventional fullback and player than Beale in a lot of ways, but adding this extra element to his game has allowed his to sit among the game’s elite at his position for four years now.
Since those two in some ways laid the blueprint for how to further utilize the fullback position in attack, we have seen several others find success in a number of roles. Following their example more closely are players like Willie Le Roux, Brice Dulin (one of the few Northern Hemisphere fullbacks to significantly add to his game past he more traditional responsibilities) and more recently Nehe Milner-Skudder, who have been electric for The Hurricanes this season after an excellent 2014 ITM Cup campaign. All three usually adhere to Beale’s role as a secondary receiver and playmaker off of a fly half, but can equally (particularly in Le Roux’s case) be the fulcrum of an attack and dictate play.
What’s more, more recently players such as Israel Folau and Ben Smith have found a different way of adding to the teams attack in addition to their traditional responsibilities. Utilising their brilliant running and offloading abilities, the pair will often line up in the outside centre channel for their respective teams (with The Waratahs in particular using this formation more and more creatively this season), allowing them to attack defenders one-on-one and in space while having support on both side. This starting position also means that if there is a line break either side of them, they are in an ideal position to support the man with the ball and given that both are brilliant support players anyway, lining up closer to the attack only amplifies this ability. In fact both have scored a large number of their tries through supporting play from that position. It is no surprise therefore that both have been considered at 13 at various points in their careers. Ben Smith played their extensively for the All Blacks in 2013 and Folau is now being potentially groomed for the role at both club and international level by Michael Cheika (a process which may be accelerated given both Adam Ashley-Cooper and Tevita Kurandrani are injured at the moment).
Since Dagg and Beale’s emergence at the start of the decade, attacking rugby has changed a lot, with second phase play, integration of forwards and backs and structures that involve fly halves standing at second receiver behind a line of forwards before receiving the ball becoming common place to try and counteract increasingly aggressive and organised defences. The pair have helped usher in this new age attacking fluidity with their ball playing skills and superior decision making. With that change they have also helped to revolutionise the fullback position, where once it was a more isolated role with a specific job and skill set, it can now be inhabited by players from more diverse backgrounds. Whether that be Beale or Folau with their education in Rugby League as well as different union positions, or Dagg who played a lot of sevens in his teenage years. All have brought added their own unique elements to the ever-expanding role and all have been a joy to watch as a result.
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