Over the last few years Will Genia has earned the title of the world’s best halfback. However, recently his form has been well below the standards we’ve seen him set and he was clearly outplayed in the last two matches by Aaron Smith.

So has the real Willy gone missing or is it the attention oppositions are focussing on him that’s stifling him?

There are four main issues people raise regularly regarding Genia’s performance:

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1. Slowing the ball down at the base of the ruck;

2. Taking steps sideways or backwards before passing;

3. Not running enough from the base of the ruck;

4. Poor box kicking and too much of it.

I don’t agree with the claims that he’s been slowing the ball down too much from the base of the ruck. In the last two matches there are only 5 rucks from 187 that I think that occurred.

There were another eight I’ve recorded where delivery was slowed because the player he was passing to wasn’t in position or had no support runners with him, where had he passed the ball people would have been criticising him for throwing the early pass.



Genia does appear to have the balance wrong between passing the ball directly from the base of the ruck and taking steps with the ball in hand before making the pass.

As you’ll see in the video there’s a distinct difference between ‘scooting’ from the base to open up holes for runners and ‘shuffling’ sideways or backwards which does nothing but give the defence more time to come forward.

In the limited game time Nic White has had in the last two matches we’ve seen a much higher percentage of times where he’s delivered the ball directly from the base which lifts the speed of attack. Genia needs to make an adjustment to get his balance more towards fast delivery.

One of the things Genia has done so well in the past is running from the base of the ruck but in the last two matches against the All Blacks we didn’t see him run successfully from the base of the ruck once.

In today’s video I’ve included the example of Genia running where he scored a try in the first test against Wales in 2012. As you’ll see from the overhead footage that opportunity arose primarily because Wales got their defensive shape wrong.

Yes, Genia was excellent in taking advantage of the opportunity and he had help from Digby Ioane but the opportunity wouldn’t have been there if Wales had defended better.

In the last two matches I couldn’t find one example to show you where the All Blacks defence offered Genia even a hint of an opportunity. It was an outstanding performance from the All Blacks to always have the channels beside the ruck covered by one or more defenders.

It was also clear that Aaron Smith’s role was to get in directly behind the ruck so that if Genia was in a position to run he was in position to stop him, rather than sweeping in behind the line as most halfbacks do.



Genia can’t create these running opportunities and if there’s no space in the defensive line I think him running at the line anyway is more likely to lead to a turnover than open up a hole.

Box kicking has never been a strength for Genia and it’s a tactic he overuses. The box kick has a place in the game – sometimes you put a deeper kicker under too much pressure by passing back to them and sometimes, particularly after a turnover, it’s better to box kick quickly than give the opposition time to get players into the back field whilst you throw a pass backwards.

However, I’d like to see the Wallabies change their kicking strategy to place less emphasis on the box kick, regardless of who the halfback is.

Some people are now suggesting that White should start as Genia looks tired. I don’t share the view that Genia looks tired but he’s obviously not in great form.

The last time White started was in the Super Rugby final where he had a really poor match and since that time he’s played eight minutes during which time he’s thrown only nine passes from the base of the ruck.

It doesn’t make much sense to me to base selection decisions on form during such limited time on the field. Hopefully White is given more time off the bench in the coming matches and he continues to show the promise he has – adding some pressure on Genia to step up to retain his starting spot will help him regain form.