ONE OF THE fun things about rugby is that the past so often inspires the present.

This extends to power plays from set-piece, a crucial part of any team’s plan.

It’s rare enough that we see anything completely new in this part of the game. Often, coaches and players copy ideas from elsewhere, either directly pasting them into their own playbooks or editing them to suit their strengths and/or opposition weaknesses.

The hugely effective strikes that Ireland used from goal line drop-outs against South Africa in July are a case in point.

Ireland scored tries from very similar plays in both Tests, adding an extra layer the second time around to flummox the Springboks and help them to win in Durban.

You probably remember this effort from the first Test, with Finlay Bealham’s inside pass on second phase of a goal line drop-out return releasing Rónan Kelleher, who starts in a hidden position behind Cian Healy.

Healy is the immediately obvious recipient of an inside pass from Bealham but Kelleher comes from the disguised position behind Healy to make the linebreak.

Once in behind, Kelleher finds scrum-half Conor Murray to finish a clinical try.

The premise is that Healy fully attracts the defender inside Bealham. We can see above how that works perfectly as South Africa’s Gerhard Steenekamp [number 17] bites on Healy, who makes a dart infield to open up the space for Kelleher to burst into.

In the second Test, Ireland used the same hidden inside pass from a goal line drop-out return, although it came a phase later on that occasion to shift the picture once again for the Springboks defence.

As we see above, it’s out-half Jack Crowley who plays the inside pass this time, with Kelleher appearing to be the receiver until fullback Jamie Osborne bursts up into the space from his hidden starting position behind Kelleher.

As with Healy in the first Test, Kelleher darts back towards the ruck to ensure Springboks prop Frans Malherbe fully commits and leaves space for Osborne to accelerate into.

Once in behind, Ireland finish clinically as Osborne offloads and Robbie Henshaw hits Murray inside.

As we discussed at the time, forwards coach Paul O’Connell comes up with Ireland’s plays from goal line drop-outs, which have become a calling card for Andy Farrell’s team.

In this instance, O’Connell would have seen Munster using this hidden inside pass on a lineout play a few months earlier against the Bulls of South Africa.

This comes on second phase of an attack from a lineout on the left-hand side, with out-half Crowley looking set to pass inside to wing Shane Daly before flanker Alex Kendellen bursts from that hidden position into the space Daly vacates with his dart infield.

Munster themselves took inspiration from others as they planned that play against the Bulls.

And in no great surprise, Ireland’s use of the play appears to have inspired others to try their own versions of it since.

This is an example of how things can work in rugby – we don’t see something for a while, then someone tries it again and others mimic it.

Let’s go back in time before we look at some of the examples since Ireland used the play against the Springboks.

Several players from the 2009 Leinster team had a moment of recognition when they watched Ireland in July, having used a play called ‘The Rocky’ in their famous 2009 Heineken Cup semi-final win over Munster.

It was designed to use explosive back row Rocky Elsom as a strike weapon in midfield and worked a treat, cutting Munster apart for a big linebreak.

This comes after Leinster have mauled from the initial lineout on the right. Wing Shane Horgan is the man who provides the initially obvious inside pass option for out-half Felipe Contepomi.

We can see how Horgan shifts his line infield to fully attract Munster loosehead Marcus Horan into tackling him as Elsom accelerates into the space.

Of course, O’Connell was captain of that defeated Munster team.

It’s always hard to know exactly where and when a play originated but, like many other classic moves, this one appears to link back to Australian rugby. The early 2000s Brumbies side of Stephen Larkham, Joe Roff, and several other talents were innovative, while the Randwick club in Sydney – where Michael Cheika came from – are often credited with creating some of rugby’s most-used moves. Rod Macqueen, who was in charge of the Wallabies from 1997 to 2001 is renowned as another innovator.

The play has popped up here and there over the years since ‘The Rocky,’ with Ireland among those to have used it.

We see Keith Earls making a linebreak for Joe Schmidt’s Ireland against the US in 2017 in the instance above with the same play on second phase of a lineout attack.

Out-half Joey Carbery shapes to pass inside to flanker Rhys Ruddock initially before Earls appears late from the disguised position behind. Earls then passes wide to the left for Jacob Stockdale to score an Irish try.

There are other examples out there and it’s always hard to trace direct lines between different teams’ use of it, but it’s certainly no coincidence that Ireland’s success in SOuth Africa during the summer has encouraged others to try similar.

Below, we get an example of Schmidt’s current Australia team using the hidden inside pass against the Springboks only a month after Ireland’s success.

This is on second phase from a left-hand-side lineout as out-half Noah Lolesio shapes to pass inside to back row Rob Valetini before blindside wing Dylan Pietsch bursts into the space in between them.

The Springboks recognise what’s happening this time and though Handré Pollard misses Pietsch, Kwagga Smith turns in from Lolesio to land a firm tackle on the Wallabies wing. 

Argentina – head coached by Contepomi, who now works alongside well-regarded attack specialist Kendrick Lynn – recently used a similar play against Schmidt’s Wallabies, this one coming on first phase from a right-hand-side lineout.

A maul break sees Pumas scrum-half Gonzalo Bertranou head out over the 15-metre line and he passes to outside centre Lucio Cinti, who has lots of options even as he moves at speed.

Cinti can obviously carry the ball himself [red above], he can pass short to Santiago Carreras [yellow] on his outside, or pull a pass out the back of Carreras to out half Tomás Albornoz [pink].

The obvious inside pass is to midfield partner Santiago Chocobares [highlighted in black] but as Chocobares suddenly darts infield, Cinti drops the ball off for fullback Juan Cruz Mallía [orange] thundering into that space.

Wallabies wing Marika Koroibete gets a read on the play and tackles Mallía but he gets well over the gainline before he’s brought to ground, teeing the Pumas up for a good chance of scoring.

It’s not only international teams who have been using this disguised inside pass recently. Some club sides have been exploring the same space.

Below, we get an example from Northampton Saints in their recent pre-season game against Leinster.

Northampton might reflect that their execution was a little off, the initial inside pass option possibly darting too early, but Leinster do a fine job of reading the play as hooker Gus McCarthy makes a strong tackle.

In the instance below, New Zealand side Manawatu have a big success with the play as they cut Tasman open.

This effort from Manawatu comes on second phase after receiving a goal line drop-out so there are very strong similarities with what Ireland did against the Springboks.

With defences having become almost uniformly aggressive, getting high on the edge, attack coaches are looking at the spaces closer to rucks and this play is just one example. The late, disguised nature of the inside pass means it’s difficult to recover if defenders commit to the initially obvious option on the inside.

Defences have been put on alert so it will be fascinating to follow the trajectory of the play from here.

One thing that rugby has shown us many times before – this won’t be the last we see of it.