Brumbies defensive coach Peter Ryan hatches plan to stop Waratahs’ man-mountain Will Skelton

WHEN it comes to stopping giant Waratah Will Skelton on Friday night, Brumbies defensive coach Peter Ryan advocates a “do as I say, not as I did” approach.

Waratahs v Rebels (7.55pm) ANZ Stadium

WHEN it comes to stopping giant Waratah Will Skelton on Friday night, Brumbies defensive coach Peter Ryan will advocate a “do as I say, not as I did” approach to his players.

Rivals weighing 145kg don’t come along everyday but Ryan — the former Brisbane Bronco and Brumbies flanker — once had the job of felling some prey close in size. An African Ox, to be precise.

“I remember trying to tackle Os Du Randt one day and he was 140kg,” Ryan said on Tuesday.

“I didn’t even make a dent in him, he swatted me like a fly.”

Ryan was a noted hitman in his playing days and now passes on the lessons of his NRL and Super Rugby career to the Brumbies as a “contact coach”, including the lesson learned in failing to stop a huge Springbok prop.

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When it comes to negating the impact of a man-mountain like Skelton on Friday night, or even backs with dancing feet like Israel Folau and Kurtley Beale, the key is making the first tackle stick.

“Skelton has been a great player for that team for the last couple of years and they have built a lot of their game around his ball-running skills, and his ability to offload after the contact as well,” Ryan said.

“From our point of view, and it’s probably the same with Izzy or Beale or anybody else, we just have to make sure we make good first-up contact. If that produces a good tackle we are then a chance of going over the top of the ball and being aggressive with that.”

The tactic to stop the Tahs’ dangermen before they get wound up will be all-encompassing defensive strategy for the Brumbies, who sheeted much of the blame for their defeat to NSW at Allianz Stadium in March to poor first-up tackling.

Peter Ryan tussles with Chris Whitaker.

Ryan said the Brumbies had learned they had to contain the hype of a massive match with traditional rivals, after it hurt them in the Sydney loss.

“We had too many turnovers and missed tackles left, right and centre,” Ryan said.

“I think we had 20 or 30 missed tackles. It was so uncharacteristic of our group, it was out of the norm. The lead-up and the game itself, in the anticipation of the intensity, it probably took a toll on the players and some of them had already played their game before they’d got there, with nervous energy.

“They are the only team that’s put on more than 20 points against us, in any game. That’s why our focus will on ourselves this week, and executing every little area of the game.”

Waratahs assistant coach Daryl Gibson said round two would be determined in the same zone.

“The game is going to be won at the contact zone, and every time we have played the Brumbies it is very competitive there,” he said.

“I’d imagine, if anything, who wins that battle will determine the outcome of the game.”

While the Brumbies focus will be internal, the external threat of Folau is still hard to ignore.

Ryan appreciates the athleticism of Folau in a unique way; the pair are among a small group containing Brad Thorn, Sonny Bill-Williams and Will Chambers who have also won NRL and Super Rugby Grand Finals (Broncos in 1993 and ACT in 2001).

“We have to focus on making our first-up tackles, and with that will come a better shape so that there’s more people in front of him,” Ryan said.

“If we have those two things in front of Israel, he’ll be tackled like everybody else. That’s not to take anything away from Israel, he is an amazing footballer and has the ability to skip across players and then jump inside someone at a whim almost. It’s all about us working hard for each other and not dropping off at any point.”

Brumbies prop Ben Alexander said the threat of the Waratahs as an off-loading team meant they couldn’t rush up for a mistimed hit.

“They’re big guys and skilful guys at that. You can fly out and try to hit a guy but you’ve got guys like Will Skelton, who’s got really good hands, Cliffy Palu, Taf Polota-Nau,” Alexander said.

“All their big ball carriers have got the ability to offload. They’re the top offloading side in the comp. It really is a team effort in defence. One, you get a good shot on them, but you’ve got to stop their offloads.”

Originally published as Brumbies defensive coach Peter Ryan hatches plan to stop Waratahs’ man-mountain Will Skelton