McKenzie: Don't run into brick walls

Reds coach Ewen McKenzie has stressed the need for variety in the gameplan, as simply running at every opportunity will get you into trouble at Super Rugby level.

McKenzie’s side pulled off an impressive 42-27 victory over the Chiefs, who had been top of the standing a week prior to the match, and the defending champions are still in the hunt for a playoffs berth.

McKenzie said the Reds’ attitude in knocking off the competition leaders and the strategy applied were major positives for the team as they now look to continue narrowing the gap between themselves and  the current Australian conference leading Brumbies.

“We had some thoughts about how to play them and some of those came to fruition,” McKenzie said.

“You’ll have periods of time where you’ll sit there and defend and they’re a slippery team to play against. You can talk to the tight forwards, there was plenty of running in that game but we did enough over the 80 minutes and that’s important.

“It’s the variety in the game which is getting us there. If you’re going to run all the time you are running into brick walls. It is a matter of having some variety to keep the defensive line raged. That’s box-kicking, pick and drive, and shifting the ball. It’s a mixture of all that. The good teams are doing all that.”