Penalty Advantage and other minor set pieces

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It's become more or less accepted in the last five years that the restart has become another set piece, along with the scrum and lineout. This means that teams acknowledge that a restart is a moment in a game that carried a more than usual amount of risk/reward, and they strategize and train for specific situations.

One thing that continually baffles me is how headless otherwise great teams become with penalty advantage. This is something that happens several times a game, sometimes many more, and if exploited properly carries zero risk and huge possibility. Yet teams will get the penalty advantage and immediately go to the dumbest 1% pass or aimless kick you've ever seen.

To me it would make sense for teams to practice it heavily. To have definite things that you do in parts of the pitch and different points scenarios. When the referees hand goes up, everyone should know their role, rather than leaving it to individual decision makers who might be on completely different wavelengths.

My question is this: are there any other emerging minor set pieces within the game that a smart team could train for and exploit?

Posted May 28, 2026, 10:37 AM UTC

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