In his weekly column in The Guardian, Shaun Edwards outlines the way in which players such as New Zealand's Richie McCaw, Australia's David Pocock and Wales's Sam Warburton are proving you don't have to have all the ball to win games - and perhaps the World Cup.
"Wales are going up in the world. No doubt about it. Thursday night's team meal ahead of Saturday's semi-final was at the top of the Sky Tower - a kind of Post Office Tower with knobs on, which dominates the Auckland skyline. You feel like you're 1,000 feet in the air. And the food's not bad either. If this is the price you pay for success I could get used to it.
"Who would have thought you could dine out on defence? But that's the way this tournament is going with attention increasingly on the Jackals - the Richie McCaws, David Pococks and Sam Warburtons of the World Cup, who are proving you don't have to have all the ball to win games. I know; the first time you say it, it's a bit like telling someone that water can flow up hill. But I'm prepared to give examples.
"In 2004 Wasps beat Toulouse and won the Heineken Cup when it seemed as though we only had about 30% of possession. Then in the 2007 World Cup quarter-final in Cardiff, France beat New Zealand by making something like 200 tackles - pretty much a record for those like me who store such stats - but then last weekend Australia beat South Africa without hardly touching the ball the day after Wales blunted Ireland's attack."
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