Role
Flankers are the players with the fewest set responsibilities and therefore the position where the player should have all round attributes: speed, strength, fitness, tackling and handling skills. Flankers are always involved in the game, as they are the real ball winners in broken play, especially the No. 6. Blindside flankers tend to be bigger (so they can stop the opposite number 8 off the back of scrums) but not as fast as their partners on the openside who tend to be the smaller. They are light and faster than the stockyer players.
In open play, flankers will often stand behind the back line 'supporting' them in open play. If any ball is dropped by the backs, the flankers' job is to clear up messy ball and start a new phase of play. Because they are always close to the ball, they are often first to the break down.
Flankers do less pushing in the scrum than the tight five, but need to be fast as their task is to break quickly and cover the opposing half-backs if the opponents win the scrum. At one time, flankers were allowed to break away from the scrum with the ball but this is no longer allowed and they must remain 'bound' to the scrum until the ball is out. Flankers also have to defend at the back of the scrum if the opposition wins the ball and the opposing number 8 decides to pick and go (i.e. pick up the ball from the back of the scrum and drive forward with it).
Flankers usually protect scrum-halves during scrums from the opposing scrum-half following around and tackling him/her. The two flankers do not usually bind to the scrum in a fixed position. Instead, the openside (occasionally known as the strong side) flanker will attach to the scrum on whichever side is further from the nearer touchline, while the blind-side (occasionally known as weak side or closed side) flanker attaches himself/herself to the scrum on the side closer to the touchline.
Since most of the back play is usually on the open side, where there is more space, it is usually the openside flanker's job to be the first to any breakdown of play and to get his/her hands on any loose ball (or to cause a breakdown by tackling the ball carrier or otherwise hurrying him into error). At a scrum where the ball has been won by the opposition, the openside flanker often has the best view of when the ball is out and is able to break away and close down the opposing ball-carrier, reducing the time available for a pass or kick. Openside flankers are often smaller than their blindside counterparts.
The blindside flanker has the job of stopping any move by the opponents on the blind (or 'narrow') side from a scrum. This flanker is slower than the openside. Blindside flankers are often responsible for cover defence from set pieces and may play a more physical role at the line-out, where they may well be used as a jumper they can also be used for breaking their opposition line in open play using their speed and strength to break tackles. They are generally larger than openside flankers.
Most countries prefer a quicker openside flanker with the ability to get off the scrum quickly so that he can scavenge for the ball. In South Africa, however, they prefer their blindside flanker quicker. The reason for this is that it is the blindside flanker's duty to carry the ball, meaning they prefer the person running with the ball being quicker rather than the person trying steal it. They want an openside flanker to rather know and have anticipation skills of where the next ruck or maul is going to be, therefore they don't disrupt defensive lines by rushing up to a ruck.
Flankers are not always assigned specific roles as opensides and blindsides. For example, flankers Finlay Calder and John Jeffrey (Scotland) played left and right, rather than open and blind. French teams tend not to make a distinction between the two roles, and their flankers also usually play left and right rather than open and blind: thus, Serge Betsen (France) wears the number six (which in most teams denotes a blindside flanker) but may pack down on either the open or blind sides of the scrum, and will often harass the opposition fly-half in the manner of an openside; like Calder and Jeffrey for Scotland, he and Olivier Magne formed an outstanding left-right partnership for France. South African teams generally use openside and blindside flankers, but play the more agile 'fetcher' in the number six shirt, while the larger and quicker (blindside) flanker wears seven. George Smith is a notable flanker who sometimes played on the blindside, but nowadays plays on the openside.
Read more about this topic: Flanker (rugby Union)
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