One of rugby’s major misconceptions is that the line-out is decided solely in the air. Just as important is the race for space over the ground, which is shaped by dummies, deception and meticulous planning for pressure moments.
For the first game of a critical Six Nations campaign, against an Ireland team who pride themselves on disruption, England head coach Steve Borthwick has picked a back row comprising the Curry twins and Ben Earl – three men under 6ft 2in – and trusted that his own renowned expertise in this area will come good.
The set-piece tussle might feel daunting, with Ireland opting for the supremely athletic Ryan Baird in the back row behind a second-row partnership of Tadhg Beirne and James Ryan, but we can expect England to deploy a tactic so subtle that television cameras often miss it. The 59th minute of last season’s stirring win over Ireland provides a clue.
Trailing 17-13, with Peter O’Mahony having just received a yellow card, England kicked to the corner and called a six-man set-up.
Sam Underhill had taken a grand total of three line-outs in his 33 Tests prior to this one. The most recent was a hurried routine against Wales three weeks earlier that did not involve a lift...
That made Underhill a highly unlikely target, who would not have been prominent in Ireland’s scouting for the line-out. And here, he was alone at the tail with only Joe Marler for company. In front of him, between two potential lifters in Ollie Chessum and George Martin, Maro Itoje appeared set to spring.
However, milliseconds after the ball had left the hands of replacement hooker Theo Dan, Earl stepped forward to join Marler in lifting Underhill. Earl had begun in the receiver or “plus one” position, two metres back from the line-out where scrum-halves occasionally stand. That player is allowed to join line-outs once a throw has been released.
Underhill plucked the ball with one hand and England’s forwards established a maul against an unsuspecting Ireland defence...
... eking out a penalty advantage. A few phases later, on the back of his contribution as an “insert lifter”, Earl scored.
Insert lifting, a practice that England implemented while Borthwick was forwards coach under Eddie Jones and was particularly prevalent last November, is sure to feature at the Aviva Stadium this weekend.
“For many years, it’s been a weapon,” one elite coach told Telegraph Sport. “The ‘plus one’, who is the forward not in the line-out, is allowed to enter while the ball is in the air... but it’s so rarely reffed that you can even win the ball towards the five-metre line.
“In a five-man [line-out], for example, you might make it look like you’re going to the back with three forwards running there, but you leave a prop and a jumper at the front. Then your insert steps in as the back lifter of the jumper at the front.
“Basically, you sell that you’re going to go up somewhere and it looks impossible to a defence that you are going to go up somewhere else because there aren’t two lifters. It’s just about creating that extra man.”
England need to box clever. Neither Earl nor Ben Curry has taken a single line-out in Premiership or Champions Cup action this season for their respective clubs. This, from the loss to New Zealand two months ago, is the only line-out that Ben Curry has taken in his six appearances for England...
Earl, bound for a 38th cap on Saturday, has taken six in his Test career to date. The last two were this close-range trick play against Ireland a year ago, from which he also started in the ‘plus one’ slot...
... and this over-the-top throw against the Springboks in November. Siya Kolisi saw him coming...
While Tom Curry is more recognised as an auxiliary jumper, taking five line-outs in the 59-14 victory over Japan alone, Borthwick appears to have compromised a major source of possession by shunning the option to start Chessum, Chandler Cunningham-South or Ted Hill at blindside flanker. Even stationing Tom Willis at No 8 would have provided hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie with a 6ft 4in outlet to complement Itoje and Martin.
England have averaged 13 line-out throws per match under Borthwick and cannot really avoid them, even if they keep their own kicks in-field. And, according to Stats Perform, Ireland won back possession from 14 of the 67 opposition throws they faced across their five matches of the 2024 Six Nations; a rate of 21 per cent that was higher than any other side.
However, England’s autumn campaign offered hints that insert lifting would be prevalent for the Six Nations. Over the 29-20 loss to South Africa, they used an insert lifter at four of the 19 line-outs they had in the game, securing possession each time.
Here, in the 25th minute, Earl steps in to hoist Cunningham-South at the front of a five-man set-up. The Springboks have not marked that area at all – Ox Nche is isolated – and England simply take the space. Underhill then bounces out to threaten the gain-line with blindside wing Tommy Freeman...
In the second half, watch how Eben Etzebeth and RG Snyman are loitering towards the front. Itoje is at the tail without a back lifter, and therefore not a threat until Underhill joins the set-piece to help the jumper into the air...
A week later, with Borthwick having fielded a starting back row of Tom Curry, Underhill and Earl, England bagged their first try from a five-man line-out that was won with an insert lift. The movement before the throw seems to isolate Itoje, with just Ellis Genge behind him before Underhill steps in. England’s maul builds up steam because they have thrown to an area Japan were not prepared to defend...
Earl, out in midfield as he will be against Ireland, supports Ollie Lawrence to score...
Insert lifting does not only facilitate surprise jumpers. It also allows teams to locate recognised jumpers, such as Itoje, in unexpected areas. As England’s recent loss to the Springboks underlined, gaining possession from a line-out is no guarantee of a good attacking platform. Late on, South Africa marked the back of the line-out and effectively forced England to attack from the front, which can be limiting because it is harder to link with the back line.
There are other aspects to be mindful about when it comes to insert lifting. Naturally, going off the top and feeding a back line following an insert lift is almost impossible because the receiver has already joined the line-out. Insert lifts are used mostly to initiate drives or peels. Even then, the ball is not secured as quickly as it would be if the plus one stayed out of the line-out and moved forward to clamp on.
New laws will affect the line-out as well. There will be a 30-second countdown for each one and skewed throws will be permitted, provided the defence does not lift a jumper. Another source anticipates that these tweaks will cause defending teams to stay down and prioritise maul defence, but also stressed that there would be more scrutiny on how line-outs are set up.
Although one experienced coach admitted that they had never seen a free-kick awarded for an insert lifter joining the line-out too early, one suspects that England will have to be squeaky clean with this intricate tactic. They must be careful that they wait for their hookers to release the throw, which will place greater onus on the insert lifter’s timing as well as the trajectory that Cowan-Dickie and Dan put on the ball.
The semi-final of the 2019 World Cup against New Zealand was a masterpiece of collaboration between Borthwick as forwards coach and Itoje as the line-out caller. Another exhibition would go a long way towards justifying a back row of two Currys and Earl, which is ideal for a fast-paced encounter full of broken-field situations.
Plenty of five-man line-outs from England, with Earl and maybe Genge in midfield, is a safe bet. Chessum, Cunningham-South and Willis on a six-two bench gives Borthwick a safety net. He can quickly react and rearrange things if Ireland are causing havoc.
A plea to television directors; do not let replays obscure any movement before England’s throws – the battle on the ground before anyone gets airborne. Because insert lifting at line-outs could be a subtle yet highly significant aspect of the game.
