I'm not defending us or Fitz but there are a lot of other teams that don't seem to have a clue in the opposition's 20 and don't seem to have Plan Bs either. I think it is down to many teams working on their defence more in their own 20 and as we have seen in the modern game, sometimes it is bloody hard to crack defences in their 20 as there is not much room and the defence swarm.
The one I notice the most is when a team has done a sweep play across the field and the winger is caught right in the corner on their line. The only plays left then are either a crash play or it comes out to a forward after one pass who really has no place to go as the defence is right up on him at that stage. These look really awkward and can give the impression that the team has no idea what to do next in attack after the original sweep play.
Not sure if coaches have looked at this or are aware of this and have a plan but it doesn't look like it.
This play you are talking about is run to get back to the middle (or another part of the field they want to shift from).
Coaches think a lot about where they want the ball to be across the field. Halves and hooker have specific jobs to run those plays to a certain area or at a certain guy. It may look pointless but it is planned.
They might have a certain plan like “run that play to just right if the uprights and try to make the left second rower make the tackle and get stuck at marker. That will leave 3 defenders on a short side. We stack Nicho on that side which forces their fullback to count numbers and move to that edge. Then Tricky kicks to the other side”. If the second rower doesn’t move, shift to the other side and try the same on the other side’s second rower.
Not necessarily a Sharks example. Just showing that coaches plan for side-to-side field position and manipulating defenders to go where they want them to. What you see as a boring play might actually be essential to what they are trying to achieve… or it might be the setup for the setup.
Similar how teams go three passes to lose 15m from a penalty tap instead of taking a hit up. Getting the ball to a point where they want it (side to side) is more important than the metres.
Slow ptb close to the sideline is the worst possible attacking position.