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Photo by DARRYL DYCK / Canadian Press files

Canada’s November matches saw defensive struggles in record losses to Fiji and Georgia, with both teams putting up more than 50 points.

Even in the match against Spain in Madrid, Canada had moments of defensive frailty.

One current through all those games was a serious problem in dealing with opposing mauls set up off a lineout. Georgia, the U.S. and Spain all had great success there, winning a clean throw, then setting up a powerful team drive forward, pushing the Canadians back.

“Obviously the scrum and the driving maul is an area (of focus) for us,” Jones admitted. “And also our discipline. We have to have very good discipline against this team.”

A well-organized maul can be a destructive weapon against nearly any team, but there are ways to handle it. First, you can simply get enough weight in the way before it starts rolling. Or you can get creative.

At the 2015 Rugby World Cup, the Canadians recognized how metronomic Italy was in establishing its mauls off lineouts. The Italians would simply assume there would be immediate resistance after the ball was caught and just moved to protect the ball carrier. But the Canadians didn’t engage, simply standing off and waiting until the Italians had formed up, leading to obstruction penalties against the Italians as the Canadians intentionally found an Italian forward standing illegally in the way.

It frustrated the Italians and nearly lost them the game.

A similar option will be for the Canadians to focus on the actual man with the ball as quickly as possible. This is a tactic the Irish have used to great effect in the past, but it requires both quick thinking on the part of the players who are across from where the ball is being caught and a powerful player who is quick to react to the situation, seeking out the ball in the rear.