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Difference between inside and Outside centres?

mmrugby

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Harlequins
what is the difference between an inside centre and an outside centre. im struggling to understand? i hear people saying "he makes a good inside centre but not outside"???

help!
 
Insides role can be to replace the 10 if hes stuck so generally are the better distributes where outsides are generally the harder runners and bigger than the inside centers (some differences if you look at Roberts) and are relied on in defense a bit more.

or to quote BBC's "laws & equipment" with a part on positions

"But as a rule the outside centre tends to be quicker, but not maybe as big as an inside centre. England's Mike Tindall, who has played most of his international rugby at outside centre, has the ideal build for the number 13 shirt.
He's a hard, straight-running centre who tackles well, who takes the ball into contact well, which perfectly complements the skills for a number 12. "

 
At inside centre you have less time to make decision so usually he's a player who can think on his feet quickly or someone who can truck it up. In defence you make a lot of front on tackles.

At outside centre in most defensive systems you have to hold your line and drift in defence.
In attack you are the link between the inside backs and the outside backs, but you also have more time to make decisions and more space to run at 13.

It depends a lot on the combination of the centre's and the rest of the players in the backline on how you use them though.
 
what is the difference between an inside centre and an outside centre. im struggling to understand? i hear people saying "he makes a good inside centre but not outside"???

help!


It can also be confused by the type of tactics or game setup that teams use.

In New Zealand and Australia, there is only ONE player called centre; he plays in the No. 13 Jersey, he mostly plays outside the No. 12 who we call "2nd 5/8". This is why we tend to have players who mostly play in the specialist position, for example Conrad Smith hardly ever plays in the 12 Jersey, Aaron Major hardly ever played in 13.

In the NH this is often done differently. You will sometimes hear a commentator say that a particular team plays the "inside-outside" centre arrangement. This usually means that the team plays 12 on the left and 13 on the right, and either player ends up playing "inside" or "outside" centre depending on which way the ball in being passed. This can lead to those playing on those positions becoming a bit more versatile than their SH counterparts, being able to play both positions equally well; a great example of this is the former England centre Jeremy Guscott, IMO one of the best players to ever play the 12/13 position. He would have been equally comfortable in the 12 or 13 Jersey in a NZ setup.
 
I think it's given away in the name - in a backline setup, the inside center stands closer to the flyhalf than the outside center. Some inside centers (eg Billy Twelvetrees) play almost as a second 10. They pretty much take on the responsibilities of a 10 but further down the line. They may take on kicking duties eg when the flyhalf doesn't have enough time to get a kick away. But mostly they need to be good distributors. Don't see these guys much at 13.

Ball-crashers (eg Tuilagi, Roberts) can play in both positions. Since defenses are more organised the closer to a ruck you get, and help in recycling comes faster as well, it seems to me as if ball-crashers who play 12 are mainly used to create space on the next phase by taking the ball with speed, running straight, hitting the gainline, and tying up defenders. Since at 13, the gaps between the defenders get wider, tacklers start to find themselves more likely to be one-on-one, and a good ball-crasher at 13 will often use their strength to flatten players, hand-off players, draw players and then pass it down where more space has opened up etc., to create an attack on the current phase. Because ball-crashers at 12/13 primarily use their strength, they seem to be somewhat exchangeable.

Similarly, faster/more intelligent players can achieve the same results as a ball-crasher at 13. They'll often run at an angle around the outside of a player, especially if that player is trying to hit the inside shoulder (the shoulder of the attacker closest to the ruck), and if they do it quick enough, they can get around that player. It's about tying/drawing defenders to them so that their wingers have more space, and I figure them to be the back that will punish defenses the most. These guys don't seem to play 12 much, but often have secondary positions in the back 3.
 

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