In this analysis, we will analyse a try scored by Sale Sharks winger Denny Solomona against Leicester Tigers in the Premiership’s second weekend, back in October.
In this image, we see how Leicester Tigers’ players have all drifted into the centre of the pitch, and this has given Sale the opportunity to pass the ball out to the wing, where we see Solomona waiting. There is only one defender who can realistically still stop the winger from making his way through to the try line.
The clever thing about this try is that the pass is not made by hand, but by foot. The Sharks player in possession in this image plays a grubber pass through to Solomona, and the accuracy is perfect, as it needs to be. The green line shows you how the Tigers have left the space open, and how the task for Solomona is a lot simpler than it should be.
That is not to say that it is completely easy though, because he still has the one Leicester defender who could still stop his run and take him into touch, thus handing Leicester the ball in a lineout.
However, Solomona knows how to ensure that he can get around this obstacle. He plays a high pass over the head of the Leicester player, which is straight in its path, and this draws the Tigers player over towards the touchline a little more, as shown by the green arrow. The ball’s path is marked by the yellow arrow.
The gap that has been created is enough for Solomona, and the way he bends his run around the inside of his opponent (as shown by the red arrow) means that he can get through the defence and meet the ball behind it.
This image shows you how he makes his run on the inside of the Leicester player, through the space he has created, and the black arrow shows you how he runs towards the ball, before sliding in to score the try.
