Redzone set plays

[Standardprocedure]

Hi, new poster to this forum, so be gentle!!

Watching England on Sat made me think that teams don't spend enough focus on rehearsing or developing set plays in the red zone. The catch-and-drive seemed to be the only thing that we were prepared to try out - does anyone know if this is an unfair comment?

I'm also thinking of the AP game between Bath and Exeter earlier this season - Exe spent 10/15 mins camped inside Bath's 22 (with Hipkiss in the bin) and yet despite battering away at the line with a series of pick-up and drives from the base of a ruck, they made no progress. If they'd had a play of two up their sleeves (some clever running lines/overlaps), I'm convinced they could have created the space to break through, but then I wonder if I'm taking a too simplistic view.

 

[usausa]

It is tough to run plays in the red zone. Especially because ball gets slowed down and the defense is organized and ready to fire. The best tactic is to pick and drive or crash same way a couple of times gaining territory then get quick ball out wide. But when ball is slow and defense has a chance to fan out, scan, and organize, it's difficult to run set plays.