This thread is to discuss the playing and training of Rugby, specifically for me rugby union. For discussion on professional rugby, check out the Sports & Games forum! First let's get you excited! This is a pre-game war dance one of the perennial top teams in the world, new zealand.
What is rugby? Rugby is a mix of elements from every sport resulting in a test of conditioning, toughness, agility, coordination, strategy, strength, and willpower as 15 people from each team go to do what cracked.com describes as: "a game where large men run at each other and then stomp on each other with spiked boots for 80 minutes."
The closest description outside of that is a game where people run the ball and tackle each other like football(minus the protective gear, forward passing, and blocking), but with the teamwork and non-stop play of soccer. The ball can only be advanced by running with it in hand or by kicking it forward. A quick description of the rules can me found in this video: + Show Spoiler +
The Scoring -A "Try" is scored when a player crosses into the opponents try-zone and places the ball with control in a downwards motion in the try-zone. This is worth 5 points. -Tries are followed by conversions which is a kick from the ground through the upright goal posts. This kick is taken in-line with where ever the ball was placed down for the try, i.e. if you score by the sideline, you kick by the sideline. This ball is placed at a depth of the kickers choosing, usually farther back the farther away from center the ball was scored -Penalty Kick - When the other team commits certain penalties they are given the option to take a kick off the ground from the spot of the infraction. If it goes through the uprights it is worth 3 points. -Drop-kick - Anywhere on the field at anytime the player may opt to drop the ball, let it hit the ground, then kick it through the uprights. This is worth 3 points.
Play restarts
Line-Out When the ball travels out of bounds, the game is restarted with a throw-in called a line out, formed by the two lines of men waiting to receive the ball. Players are allowed to lift their own players into the air in order to receive the ball or try to steal it
Scrum When an infraction has occured sometimes it is restarted with a scrum. This is where the 8 forwards from each team bind together and against the other team in contest for a ball rolled in the middle
Penalty When other infractions occur, the team is awarded a penalty instead of a scrum. The other team must back up 10 yards before they can come up and make a tackle. The team with the penalty may elect to kick it out of bounds and receive a line out in their favor where it goes out, kick for points from the spot of the infraction, or just run a play while the other team is back 10 yards.
So what happens after a tackle? A player has a few options offensively when he is tackled to continue the play since it does not stop like in American football. A player is allowed one movement with the ball after he is tackled then must let go of it. Off-load The player may choose to use this movement to make a pass, which produces some of the best and exciting plays in rugby with great continuity Ruck One of the most important aspects of rugby is rucking to keep possession of the ball. After a player goes down, most often the other team will ruck over, which is when your teammate comes in from behind you to drive away the tackler and protect the ball by standing over it. The back of the ruck is the new line of scrimmage. The other team can fight this by counter-rucking which is when you drive the other team off the ball. This can only be done from straight behind the tackle, not from the side Maul Another option when you are tackled is to stay on your feet, wrapped up, while your team rallies behind you to push/drive you down the field against your tackler. Same rules on where you can come in to stop a maul as in a ruck. The back of the maul also considered an offsides line
That covers the basics, let's see something awesome! Some great up-close offense
Some crushing hits and last ditch tackles
That's all I have for now, if anyone has anything else they'd like me to add to the OP let me know.
Could you talk about recommended gear/stuff that is highly beneficial to do (stretching, lifting) when you are interested in playing rugby? I tried practice three times but it seems impossible to lift properly the next day, there is always something feeling 90%. How do you deal with this?
On November 10 2011 05:35 NeedsmoreCELLTECH wrote: Could you talk about recommended gear/stuff that is highly beneficial to do (stretching, lifting) when you are interested in playing rugby? I tried practice three times but it seems impossible to lift properly the next day, there is always something feeling 90%. How do you deal with this?
Every team i've been with does stretching as part of practice. The only time i take lifting off during rugby season is the day before and after games. Sure you'll be sore but i like to keep my strength levels up in-season. You deal with it by saying PAIN DON'T HURT and keep lifting running and hitting like a boss.
Only gear you need is cleats and maybe a mouthgaurd (stopped using mine a few seasons ago, but i don't recommend this)
On November 10 2011 06:49 decafchicken wrote: Only gear you need is cleats and maybe a mouthgaurd (stopped using mine a few seasons ago, but i don't recommend this)
Unless you're a lock (like me); then you're going to be sorry if you don't tape your ears (or wear a scrum cap I guess).
On November 10 2011 06:49 decafchicken wrote: Only gear you need is cleats and maybe a mouthgaurd (stopped using mine a few seasons ago, but i don't recommend this)
Unless you're a lock (like me); then you're going to be sorry if you don't tape your ears (or wear a scrum cap I guess).
haha very true. Don't have to worry about that out in the backline :D
Missing the last week of my season with the fucking flu. I thought I was over it, because all my symptoms were basically gone. Went HARD in the gym and at practice from saturday -> tuesday as well as drinking a boatload on saturday (drinkup + sorority formal + afterparty) and it seems that I have shot myself in the foot.
Hopefully I'll be well enough to make it to the game on saturday (i'm not doing anything besides going to class, forcing healthy food into myself, taking my vitamin D and sleeping.) but I certainly won't play after missing all but two days of practice this week, against the best team in the division. Oh well - now that it's the off season (alumni game is all that's left) it's time to get back to the regular gym schedule, a dedicated strength program, and put some SERIOUS pounds on my squat and deadlift. I don't have much time to catch up with the other forwards on the team, so it's time to put in some WORK.
As far as the strength program, I think I have all of that down... but does anyone have any tips for power/plyometric work? I really want to work on my speed coming out of a scrum (as openside flanker) on my change of direction, and on my power into a tackle. Next time I have a free day off, I'll go into the gym and try some things out, but if anyone has tips, or things that have helped them then feel free to share! (yeah, decaf, I know - oly lifting.)
I really really want to get in to rugby, but I come from a huge football background. I'm confused on the tackles I watch in those highlight videos. Is there a reason everyone hits really high? Are there rules to tackling?\
On November 10 2011 10:36 emjaytron wrote: I originally thought people were joking when they said there was an injury in rugby called cauliflower ears
yup, this happens a lot in wrestling as well, I'd assume it is prevalent in any sport involving grappling.
On November 11 2011 10:29 Hurricane wrote: I really really want to get in to rugby, but I come from a huge football background. I'm confused on the tackles I watch in those highlight videos. Is there a reason everyone hits really high? Are there rules to tackling?\
On November 10 2011 10:36 emjaytron wrote: I originally thought people were joking when they said there was an injury in rugby called cauliflower ears
yup, this happens a lot in wrestling as well, I'd assume it is prevalent in any sport involving grappling.
Oddly enough cauliflour ear is caused by your own team mates more than anything - with the exception of an ear getting stomped on during a ruck, it's mostly an issue for the second rowers, who spend much of the game with their heads wedged in between their team mate's lower thighs. Quite the friction problem there.
Tackles are actually supposed to be made between the top of the stomach and just above the knee - a little lower than you would typically see them in football. It's the most effective point to hit and stop the runner, and it gives the least risk of injury for both the person being tackled and the one doing the tackling. The reason you see the high hits in the highlight videos is that a normal (legal) tackle doesn't give you that same "oooooooh!" moment from the viewers as the high hits do.
Just for reference, the ideal tackle in football is shoulder just above the hips and wrapping the legs with your arms, so I guess it's the same thing with nfl highlights where the "good" tackles don't get shown, just the ones that make you go "awwwwwwwww shit".
I played for 3 years in high school and enjoyed it way more than any of the other sports I played growing up. Regret not playing in college now that I'm graduating but I just assumed everyone that played in college were like the 1 or 2 giant genetic freaks each team had in high school so I never went out for the team out of fear of getting crushed. Anyone play any college rugby and how was it?
Going to play this year as a senior in high school. Haven't played since freshman year, and wasn't very good, still learning the rules and all. Hopefully it'll be fun.
On November 11 2011 12:58 saltydeeds wrote: I played for 3 years in high school and enjoyed it way more than any of the other sports I played growing up. Regret not playing in college now that I'm graduating but I just assumed everyone that played in college were like the 1 or 2 giant genetic freaks each team had in high school so I never went out for the team out of fear of getting crushed. Anyone play any college rugby and how was it?
I feel like this is a huge misconception about college rugby. Anyone can play! Our starting scrum half is all of 150 pounds. and theres a couple other kids around that weight too. Just takes some hard work a bit of athleticism.
On November 11 2011 13:05 Dalguno wrote: Going to play this year as a senior in high school. Haven't played since freshman year, and wasn't very good, still learning the rules and all. Hopefully it'll be fun.
On November 11 2011 12:58 saltydeeds wrote: I played for 3 years in high school and enjoyed it way more than any of the other sports I played growing up. Regret not playing in college now that I'm graduating but I just assumed everyone that played in college were like the 1 or 2 giant genetic freaks each team had in high school so I never went out for the team out of fear of getting crushed. Anyone play any college rugby and how was it?
I feel like this is a huge misconception about college rugby. Anyone can play! Our starting scrum half is all of 150 pounds. and theres a couple other kids around that weight too. Just takes some hard work a bit of athleticism.
Agreed. I'm definitely still underweight for my height (180/6'3) and none of my tackling issues are because of my size; it's all in your head, and if you want to play and are willing to work hard, anyone is welcome on a pitch. I suggest you try it out!
We're in the middle of alumni weekend right now - I don't think anyone on the team has been sober since roughly wednesday when the alumni started showing up. Played against the old timers, (40+ alumni as well as our coaches) today, and I'm surprised how athletic some of these guys remain. It's encouraging to see that people can play such a demanding sport for many years. They couldn't go a full fourty minutes - but there were enough of them to keep subbing in that it wasn't an issue.
@decaf, one of our recent alumni tells me he plays for the ann arbor mens team, and is an assistant coach for the college team. Small world, huh?
On November 11 2011 12:58 saltydeeds wrote: I played for 3 years in high school and enjoyed it way more than any of the other sports I played growing up. Regret not playing in college now that I'm graduating but I just assumed everyone that played in college were like the 1 or 2 giant genetic freaks each team had in high school so I never went out for the team out of fear of getting crushed. Anyone play any college rugby and how was it?
I feel like this is a huge misconception about college rugby. Anyone can play! Our starting scrum half is all of 150 pounds. and theres a couple other kids around that weight too. Just takes some hard work a bit of athleticism.
Agreed. I'm definitely still underweight for my height (180/6'3) and none of my tackling issues are because of my size; it's all in your head, and if you want to play and are willing to work hard, anyone is welcome on a pitch. I suggest you try it out!
We're in the middle of alumni weekend right now - I don't think anyone on the team has been sober since roughly wednesday when the alumni started showing up. Played against the old timers, (40+ alumni as well as our coaches) today, and I'm surprised how athletic some of these guys remain. It's encouraging to see that people can play such a demanding sport for many years. They couldn't go a full fourty minutes - but there were enough of them to keep subbing in that it wasn't an issue.
@decaf, one of our recent alumni tells me he plays for the ann arbor mens team, and is an assistant coach for the college team. Small world, huh?
Haha ann arbors mens team isn't much to talk about, but i know a lot of kids on UofM's college team including their captain/president.
Alumni games are always a good time, usually total bullshit but those old guys are crafty and dirty as fuck :p I'm about to get ready for out banquet this year (hands down my favorite night of the year) so hopefully i bring back some awards! (cough leading scorer cough)
i dont really understand how to tackle i used to be a pro at tripping people over in highschool but they werent too happy about it my friend is into a local rugby practice/team so i have a small but growing interest when i have some strength and fitness i might have a try of it but in the meantime will try to watch a few matches and read about how to tackle , its interesting
On November 11 2011 12:58 saltydeeds wrote: I played for 3 years in high school and enjoyed it way more than any of the other sports I played growing up. Regret not playing in college now that I'm graduating but I just assumed everyone that played in college were like the 1 or 2 giant genetic freaks each team had in high school so I never went out for the team out of fear of getting crushed. Anyone play any college rugby and how was it?
I feel like this is a huge misconception about college rugby. Anyone can play! Our starting scrum half is all of 150 pounds. and theres a couple other kids around that weight too. Just takes some hard work a bit of athleticism.
Agreed. I'm definitely still underweight for my height (180/6'3) and none of my tackling issues are because of my size; it's all in your head, and if you want to play and are willing to work hard, anyone is welcome on a pitch. I suggest you try it out!
We're in the middle of alumni weekend right now - I don't think anyone on the team has been sober since roughly wednesday when the alumni started showing up. Played against the old timers, (40+ alumni as well as our coaches) today, and I'm surprised how athletic some of these guys remain. It's encouraging to see that people can play such a demanding sport for many years. They couldn't go a full fourty minutes - but there were enough of them to keep subbing in that it wasn't an issue.
@decaf, one of our recent alumni tells me he plays for the ann arbor mens team, and is an assistant coach for the college team. Small world, huh?
Haha ann arbors mens team isn't much to talk about, but i know a lot of kids on UofM's college team including their captain/president.
Alumni games are always a good time, usually total bullshit but those old guys are crafty and dirty as fuck :p I'm about to get ready for out banquet this year (hands down my favorite night of the year) so hopefully i bring back some awards! (cough leading scorer cough)
Haha I'm from Plymouth, Michigan and played Rugby for the Livonia Outlawz, played 14-15-16.
I'm 20 years old now and sadly there's no real time at my college (Schoolcraft) to play for. So I'ma try and play for the Detroit Tradesmen Division 3 team ^^
Starting to take an interest in 7's rugby though after watching the 7's world cup
Wow small world. I played for the northville knights in 2007 and 2008 and my sister went to scraft :-p (i lived a few miles away from there). I know pretty much all the tradesmen and will likely be playing for their D1 team next spring for playoffs. I currently play for michigan state
And 7's is fun I like the contact in 15s better but i have a bunch of good friends that i play 7's with and we do pretty well.
On November 21 2011 06:22 decafchicken wrote: Wow small world. I played for the northville knights in 2007 and 2008 and my sister went to scraft :-p (i lived a few miles away from there). I know pretty much all the tradesmen and will likely be playing for their D1 team next spring for playoffs. I currently play for michigan state
And 7's is fun I like the contact in 15s better but i have a bunch of good friends that i play 7's with and we do pretty well.
I goto Scraft right now xD Been trying to get back in shape. I had a few friends who played for the Northville Knights back in 2010 when I played for Liviona.
I think Northville were D2, we were D1. Lemmie tell you what though, those West Ottawa kids over at Holland, Michigan play dirty ._. so do the Brighton guys.
On November 21 2011 06:22 decafchicken wrote: Wow small world. I played for the northville knights in 2007 and 2008 and my sister went to scraft :-p (i lived a few miles away from there). I know pretty much all the tradesmen and will likely be playing for their D1 team next spring for playoffs. I currently play for michigan state
And 7's is fun I like the contact in 15s better but i have a bunch of good friends that i play 7's with and we do pretty well.
I goto Scraft right now xD Been trying to get back in shape. I had a few friends who played for the Northville Knights back in 2010 when I played for Liviona.
I think Northville were D2, we were D1. Lemmie tell you what though, those West Ottawa kids over at Holland, Michigan play dirty ._. so do the Brighton guys.
haha yeah they are, i coached a brand new high school team that played west ottawa..never seen so many carded players in my life. and i lost to brighton in the state championships my senior year T_T anyways, let me know if you ever need help with anything rugby related in the area!
On December 02 2011 06:56 decafchicken wrote: Haha cute! Wish i could have started at that age. Did you guys play full tackle?
Yeah we did! I specifically remember catching up to a guy from behind and diving only to eat a boot in the face as he tried to run away.
It's a big advantage starting so young. I remember reading someone on TL posting a while back about issues with running and passing, and it reminded me of the hours I spent practicing with my dad when I was six years old. It made me realise that many things which we take for granted might be pretty difficult to pick up at a later age.
Used to be a pretty decent second row/winger (strange combination, I know; started second row until they realised I was actually a back) for my hometown's team but got injured too much and had to give it up.
As such, advice for getting along injury free in rugby:
1) Don't let angry hookers bite into your thumb when you try to tackle them. It stings.
2) Don't let your prop pick you up in training and then drop you. Pulled a muscle in my back, couldn't walk for a week and was recovering for about a year.
3) Don't let your knee randomly collapse under you while playing rugby in a training match. It'll never be the same again, it'll constantly give you pain and you'll never run as fast as you could again. (honestly have no idea what happened, just randomly keeled over and have had a dodgy knee ever since)
It's a good job I didn't really intend to take my rugby any further than what I did, 'cause my body would have soon stopped me. Kinda wish I could still play, it was good fun.
On December 02 2011 12:08 SgtCoDFish wrote: Used to be a pretty decent second row/winger (strange combination, I know; started second row until they realised I was actually a back) for my hometown's team but got injured too much and had to give it up.
As such, advice for getting along injury free in rugby:
1) Don't let angry hookers bite into your thumb when you try to tackle them. It stings.
2) Don't let your prop pick you up in training and then drop you. Pulled a muscle in my back, couldn't walk for a week and was recovering for about a year.
3) Don't let your knee randomly collapse under you while playing rugby in a training match. It'll never be the same again, it'll constantly give you pain and you'll never run as fast as you could again. (honestly have no idea what happened, just randomly keeled over and have had a dodgy knee ever since)
It's a good job I didn't really intend to take my rugby any further than what I did, 'cause my body would have soon stopped me. Kinda wish I could still play, it was good fun.
I hear you.
I've got a bad right knee, from high school basketball/cross country, poor running form, weak hamstrings, and never giving it a break. Acts up far more than I would like it to while I'm playing, but it's not the worst thing in the world. Also got some kind of strain on my illiopsoas muscle; burns like someone dropped battery acid on my leg every so often while scrumming (second rower as well). Doesn't actually affect my playing, or my ability to use the leg/the muscle, but it hurts like a bitch. Lastly my SI joint occasionally slips, and pinches on one of the nerves in my left leg, so everything from the knee down starts to go numb.
I've only been playing one season - most of these are probably the result of muscle imbalance, or old injuries from playing other sports as a kid... But rugby is definitely something that doesn't let you forget where you're hurting. The culture of a team is amazing though - no matter how battered these guys seem to get, I swear it only makes them play harder.
Rugby seems like so much fun to get involved in. I know I can't this year due to school, but maybe next year. The problem is is that I don't think I'm athletic enough, so it is kind of holding me back. That and those dudes are huge. My uni does have an intramural/club team though I think.
On December 21 2011 09:38 Catch wrote: Man just discovered rugbydump.com
Rugby seems like so much fun to get involved in. I know I can't this year due to school, but maybe next year. The problem is is that I don't think I'm athletic enough, so it is kind of holding me back. That and those dudes are huge. My uni does have an intramural/club team though I think.
rugbydump is awwwwwesome. Don't be scared, we have multiple starters on our team in the ~150lb range. I dunno how athletic you are, but you can always go out and give it a shot and see if you have some fun. Pretty much every college has a team and there's always a friendly match after the real game so everyone gets playing time. And most clubs only have practice twice a week for a couple hours which should fit into most schedules.
On December 21 2011 09:38 Catch wrote: Man just discovered rugbydump.com
Rugby seems like so much fun to get involved in. I know I can't this year due to school, but maybe next year. The problem is is that I don't think I'm athletic enough, so it is kind of holding me back. That and those dudes are huge. My uni does have an intramural/club team though I think.
rugbydump is awwwwwesome. Don't be scared, we have multiple starters on our team in the ~150lb range. I dunno how athletic you are, but you can always go out and give it a shot and see if you have some fun. Pretty much every college has a team and there's always a friendly match after the real game so everyone gets playing time. And most clubs only have practice twice a week for a couple hours which should fit into most schedules.
Our D3 team practices 5 days a week for two hours a day, and then has matches saturday. Our D1 practices 7 times a week (two practices thursday and two practices friday) for two hours each time, plus matches saturday. Sundays are "off" to recover. Rugby definitely made me need to work hard to schedule everything that I had to do in a day, and even then I ended up coming late or skipping meals. That was with participation in another club, and a 19 credit natural sciences course load. By the end of the season, I was too worn down and I missed practice about once a week. I just couldn't keep up with it - but it was certainly worth doing.
I do agree about it being available to everyone though. I'm not very "quick" - I've been a runner, and now I just lift, but there's a spot for me on any team (forwards). Some weeks, if enough people show up we even have three matches (D1, then D3, then B-side fun game) so everyone gets to play no matter if they're learning, or a ten-year veteran.
God damn i'm jealous. You guys have so much more of a legit program than us. We practice 2-3 times a week and we're lucky to have a full side show up T_T If we had the dedication/structure to practice 7x a week for our A-side we would have fucking ran train this year with our talent
So, what would you guys recommend for someone starting out playing Rugby? I know only the basics, and I just got on to a semi-professional team. Any tips? I barely know the game, to be honest. :p I have a football background (High school and Semi-Pro, I played FullBack and Middle Linebacker), just trying to figure out how to break my football mindset and what some basic tips are.
Where are you playing at? The biggest thing i see football players too is run side-to-side too much and don't know when to go down in a tackle. Make sure you're running more north-south and look for your support. Also, make sure you wrap up on your tackles, just hitting someone with your shoulder/high tackles are penalties. Mostly it's going to take time/experience.
On December 21 2011 12:12 decafchicken wrote: Where are you playing at? The biggest thing i see football players too is run side-to-side too much and don't know when to go down in a tackle. Make sure you're running more north-south and look for your support. Also, make sure you wrap up on your tackles, just hitting someone with your shoulder/high tackles are penalties. Mostly it's going to take time/experience.
Tackling shouldn't be a tackle. Playing at Linebacker, Wrap Up tackling was my forte`. Shoulder Tackling is a penalty though? You really need to wrap up or it's a penalty?
On December 21 2011 12:12 decafchicken wrote: Where are you playing at? The biggest thing i see football players too is run side-to-side too much and don't know when to go down in a tackle. Make sure you're running more north-south and look for your support. Also, make sure you wrap up on your tackles, just hitting someone with your shoulder/high tackles are penalties. Mostly it's going to take time/experience.
Tackling shouldn't be a tackle. Playing at Linebacker, Wrap Up tackling was my forte`. Shoulder Tackling is a penalty though? You really need to wrap up or it's a penalty?
You at least need to make an attempt at wrapping. If you just shoulder check or clothes line you'll get called for it. Do you mind sharing what team you're playing for?
On December 21 2011 12:12 decafchicken wrote: Where are you playing at? The biggest thing i see football players too is run side-to-side too much and don't know when to go down in a tackle. Make sure you're running more north-south and look for your support. Also, make sure you wrap up on your tackles, just hitting someone with your shoulder/high tackles are penalties. Mostly it's going to take time/experience.
Tackling shouldn't be a tackle. Playing at Linebacker, Wrap Up tackling was my forte`. Shoulder Tackling is a penalty though? You really need to wrap up or it's a penalty?
It's also going to be a HUGE change to you cardio-wise. I've seen statistics that the average pro football lineman covers about a tenth of a mile during games. The average rugby forward covers almost 4 miles at a pro level. There are not expected to be many breaks in play, besides the half time, and immediately following any scores and there are not usually any substitutions.
What position will you be playing on the rugby team, do you know?
Thanks for the advice both of y'all :D I'm going to go check out some of the spring games; I'm not actually sure if the team is still there at my uni. The last time the page was updated was 2008 lol but I'll find out in the spring and I try to attend a game. I'm 184 right now, so we'll see where things go. I'll need to get my cardio up big time though haha.
Having practice only 2x a night would be okay I suppose; I'm not too sure. I am taking anatomy, chemistry, and biology this year though and since I have to keep my scholarship (min. 3.2), I would be putting my academics over athletics. But yo, we'll see. In the mean time, it's time to get strooong.
On December 21 2011 12:12 decafchicken wrote: Where are you playing at? The biggest thing i see football players too is run side-to-side too much and don't know when to go down in a tackle. Make sure you're running more north-south and look for your support. Also, make sure you wrap up on your tackles, just hitting someone with your shoulder/high tackles are penalties. Mostly it's going to take time/experience.
Tackling shouldn't be a tackle. Playing at Linebacker, Wrap Up tackling was my forte`. Shoulder Tackling is a penalty though? You really need to wrap up or it's a penalty?
It's also going to be a HUGE change to you cardio-wise. I've seen statistics that the average pro football lineman covers about a tenth of a mile during games. The average rugby forward covers almost 4 miles at a pro level. There are not expected to be many breaks in play, besides the half time, and immediately following any scores and there are not usually any substitutions.
What position will you be playing on the rugby team, do you know?
I literally have no idea. The season just ended, and spring practice doesn't start until the new year. What would you recommend I try out for?
On December 21 2011 12:12 decafchicken wrote: Where are you playing at? The biggest thing i see football players too is run side-to-side too much and don't know when to go down in a tackle. Make sure you're running more north-south and look for your support. Also, make sure you wrap up on your tackles, just hitting someone with your shoulder/high tackles are penalties. Mostly it's going to take time/experience.
Tackling shouldn't be a tackle. Playing at Linebacker, Wrap Up tackling was my forte`. Shoulder Tackling is a penalty though? You really need to wrap up or it's a penalty?
It's also going to be a HUGE change to you cardio-wise. I've seen statistics that the average pro football lineman covers about a tenth of a mile during games. The average rugby forward covers almost 4 miles at a pro level. There are not expected to be many breaks in play, besides the half time, and immediately following any scores and there are not usually any substitutions.
What position will you be playing on the rugby team, do you know?
I literally have no idea. The season just ended, and spring practice doesn't start until the new year. What would you recommend I try out for?
It's not like football where you go out for a specific position, esp when you've never played before. There's your backs (generally the smaller and faster guys) and the forwards (bigger, slower guys). A lot of the times you can move around positions. A more in-depth description of positions is here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugby_union_positions
Last time I picked someone up and threw them into the ground was almost exactly two months ago. I think i'm going to go crazy. Less than two weeks till i get to run around and hit people. Can't waaaaaait
On December 21 2011 12:12 decafchicken wrote: Where are you playing at? The biggest thing i see football players too is run side-to-side too much and don't know when to go down in a tackle. Make sure you're running more north-south and look for your support. Also, make sure you wrap up on your tackles, just hitting someone with your shoulder/high tackles are penalties. Mostly it's going to take time/experience.
Tackling shouldn't be a tackle. Playing at Linebacker, Wrap Up tackling was my forte`. Shoulder Tackling is a penalty though? You really need to wrap up or it's a penalty?
It's also going to be a HUGE change to you cardio-wise. I've seen statistics that the average pro football lineman covers about a tenth of a mile during games. The average rugby forward covers almost 4 miles at a pro level. There are not expected to be many breaks in play, besides the half time, and immediately following any scores and there are not usually any substitutions.
What position will you be playing on the rugby team, do you know?
I literally have no idea. The season just ended, and spring practice doesn't start until the new year. What would you recommend I try out for?
If you are fast they will make you winger and if you are a good tackler you will probably play as flanker. Those are the less "skilled" role, you can be decent even without having a lot of experience. You won't be doing a lot of passing usually.
Fly-half / scrum half / full back are impossible to play if you are new player. You need to have good passing and a lot of experience. Fly-half and scrum half are the most important players. locks / props / hooker / are also quite technical and dangerous if you have no experience with scrums. Number 8 is technical too. Need a lot of experience to be good ( and you need to be huge lol ). Centres need good passing and good defense.
I just found this thread and am extremely happy. I have been playing rugby for 8 years, if anyone has any question, needs ideas and suggestions or anything, feel free to ask.
On January 13 2012 09:04 Balgrog wrote: I just found this thread and am extremely happy. I have been playing rugby for 8 years, if anyone has any question, needs ideas and suggestions or anything, feel free to ask.
What position/what level? As someone just starting out it's always nice to great from people with experience.
First practice of spring semester today, but I won't be back st school because the weatheris too terrible. Getting in late tonight I'll make practice tomorrow.
Had our first touch practice on tuesday, was good to run around. Sunday we get to play in the indoor-football field our football team uses and we're basically just going to scrimmage for two hours. its going to be AWESOME
Been playing flanker last couple weeks, having a blast running around and hitting people :D So much more to do then playing center. Also got to jump in a lineout, was fun cause i'm pretty tall and long arms makes it easy to steal ball ^_^ Oly lifting definitely helping my ability to truck through people, threw multiple people back ~3-5 yards yesterday.
On January 31 2012 12:22 decafchicken wrote: Been playing flanker last couple weeks, having a blast running around and hitting people :D So much more to do then playing center. Also got to jump in a lineout, was fun cause i'm pretty tall and long arms makes it easy to steal ball ^_^ Oly lifting definitely helping my ability to truck through people, threw multiple people back ~3-5 yards yesterday.
I've wondered why you were a back. Were you noticeably smaller when you started playing? You're certainly a good size for flanker/8 man, and would make a great second row if you were a few inches taller.
Flanker is great, your whole job is to keep your head up in the scrum, watch when the scrum half pulls the ball, and then either get around to hit him before he gets rid of it, or get to whoever the first pass is to. Don't have to worry so much about that pick and go, since all the forwards are bound into the scrum.
Make sure to get your endurance up though, if you expect to be playing a lot of flanker. We're not allowed to be as lazy as the backs.
Haven't played now since I was about 15 or so back in school, for those smaller guys its not impossible. I'm at the moment about 155lbs at 6'0, age 20 now. I guess I would have been around 125-140ish back then? Nonetheless I'd been all over the pitch in terms of positions, mostly full-back and flanker with a stint at center and then winger
On January 31 2012 12:22 decafchicken wrote: Been playing flanker last couple weeks, having a blast running around and hitting people :D So much more to do then playing center. Also got to jump in a lineout, was fun cause i'm pretty tall and long arms makes it easy to steal ball ^_^ Oly lifting definitely helping my ability to truck through people, threw multiple people back ~3-5 yards yesterday.
I've wondered why you were a back. Were you noticeably smaller when you started playing? You're certainly a good size for flanker/8 man, and would make a great second row if you were a few inches taller.
Flanker is great, your whole job is to keep your head up in the scrum, watch when the scrum half pulls the ball, and then either get around to hit him before he gets rid of it, or get to whoever the first pass is to. Don't have to worry so much about that pick and go, since all the forwards are bound into the scrum.
Make sure to get your endurance up though, if you expect to be playing a lot of flanker. We're not allowed to be as lazy as the backs.
When i started playing rugby i was faster than i was bigger. Since then i've put on 50 pounds lol. But i'm currently the only proper center on our team and one of the fastest in general, otherwise i would love to play flanker (would really have to work my endurance :-p)
decaf, I don't know if I ever told you. But a few months back I bought this jersey of the team Ireland 2010 alternate away colors. It's pretty badass.+ Show Spoiler +
On February 03 2012 05:17 MajinMojo wrote: decaf, I don't know if I ever told you. But a few months back I bought this jersey of the team Ireland 2010 alternate away colors. It's pretty badass.+ Show Spoiler +
Sickkkk nasty. My gf got me a stade francais jersey for xmas, it's fucking awesome:
Super 15 just started this week with my fave team the Chiefs beating the Rebels 36-0. All the new zealand teams have put on a massive showing with their opening games. Except for of course the lack luster Hurricanes.
This season I'm expecting an all new zealand final. Last years victory for the Reds was probably the biggest fluke I have ever seen, and the South African teams were nothing short of unimpressive. However, the Bulls and Stormers are always dangerous.
On December 21 2011 12:12 decafchicken wrote: Where are you playing at? The biggest thing i see football players too is run side-to-side too much and don't know when to go down in a tackle. Make sure you're running more north-south and look for your support. Also, make sure you wrap up on your tackles, just hitting someone with your shoulder/high tackles are penalties. Mostly it's going to take time/experience.
Tackling shouldn't be a tackle. Playing at Linebacker, Wrap Up tackling was my forte`. Shoulder Tackling is a penalty though? You really need to wrap up or it's a penalty?
You must wrap your arms around the victim, or at the very least make an effort too.
On February 04 2012 17:01 decafchicken wrote: Can't wait for six nations tomorrow! we actually get it here on BBC
So jealous, my university doesn't carry BBC in their cable package. I would get it if I were home, where we have 700-ish channels, but here I can only catch whatever american sports I'm interested in, and "football". I feel like my best chance to learn would be through watching pros, and it's such a handicapp not to have that.
On February 04 2012 17:01 decafchicken wrote: Can't wait for six nations tomorrow! we actually get it here on BBC
So jealous, my university doesn't carry BBC in their cable package. I would get it if I were home, where we have 700-ish channels, but here I can only catch whatever american sports I'm interested in, and "football". I feel like my best chance to learn would be through watching pros, and it's such a handicapp not to have that.
On February 04 2012 17:01 decafchicken wrote: Can't wait for six nations tomorrow! we actually get it here on BBC
So jealous, my university doesn't carry BBC in their cable package. I would get it if I were home, where we have 700-ish channels, but here I can only catch whatever american sports I'm interested in, and "football". I feel like my best chance to learn would be through watching pros, and it's such a handicapp not to have that.
I'm sure your university has a rugby club.
I play for the rugby club here, we're in spring training. But I mean outside of our practices, I (and the rest of the team) could pick up a lot of valuable knowledge about the game, especially new guys like me, bby watching.
On February 04 2012 16:02 churbro wrote: Super 15 just started this week with my fave team the Chiefs beating the Rebels 36-0. All the new zealand teams have put on a massive showing with their opening games. Except for of course the lack luster Hurricanes.
This season I'm expecting an all new zealand final. Last years victory for the Reds was probably the biggest fluke I have ever seen, and the South African teams were nothing short of unimpressive. However, the Bulls and Stormers are always dangerous.
Can't believe I missed the first day of Super Rugby. Watching the Six Nations highlights now (England vs Scotland), Italy put up a decent fight vs France, just left gaps in their defence.
Phyre, if you want to watch some rugby, there are quite a few torrents available online. Six Nations is already on piratebay, and last season they uploaded all the Super Rugby matches there as well.
Atrocious decision in Scotland vs England not to award the try and then not to give the penalty. Clear downwards pressure from the Scottish player on the ball
On February 04 2012 17:01 decafchicken wrote: Can't wait for six nations tomorrow! we actually get it here on BBC
So jealous, my university doesn't carry BBC in their cable package. I would get it if I were home, where we have 700-ish channels, but here I can only catch whatever american sports I'm interested in, and "football". I feel like my best chance to learn would be through watching pros, and it's such a handicapp not to have that.
I'm sure your university has a rugby club.
I play for the rugby club here, we're in spring training. But I mean outside of our practices, I (and the rest of the team) could pick up a lot of valuable knowledge about the game, especially new guys like me, bby watching.
Yea true. All I can say is just watch the game, you guys could get together in the weekends and just run some plays/drills. It's unfortunate it's such a small game in America.
On February 04 2012 17:01 decafchicken wrote: Can't wait for six nations tomorrow! we actually get it here on BBC
So jealous, my university doesn't carry BBC in their cable package. I would get it if I were home, where we have 700-ish channels, but here I can only catch whatever american sports I'm interested in, and "football". I feel like my best chance to learn would be through watching pros, and it's such a handicapp not to have that.
I'm sure your university has a rugby club.
I play for the rugby club here, we're in spring training. But I mean outside of our practices, I (and the rest of the team) could pick up a lot of valuable knowledge about the game, especially new guys like me, bby watching.
Yea true. All I can say is just watch the game, you guys could get together in the weekends and just run some plays/drills. It's unfortunate it's such a small game in America.
We have two coaches, sixty players, and we practice five or six times a week depending on if we have a match that saturday or not. it's a growing game in the US; especially at the college age. I know ten guys from my graduating highschool class ( graduated with 65 students) that play now.
On February 06 2012 17:03 decafchicken wrote: Second place in my six nations fantasy league :D And yeah daigomi i agree on that shit call. Also, i thought super 15 doesnt start for two weeks ish?
Yeah, I got confused by the other comment. There were some pre-season games last weekend, but the actual season hasn't started yet. Can't wait for it to start though, Super Rugby is my favourite annual tournament. The quality of rugby is great, and each team has it's own style. Tons of fun to follow. Maybe this year my team (Lions) will not end up last again, since we won the Currie Cup (biggest provincial tournament in South Africa) for the first time in 15 years
On February 07 2012 02:27 MajinMojo wrote: Arggg, I haven't been able to find the rugby coverage on TV. What times of day does it usually air? I am on the Eastern US time zone.
it's on BBC america at noon on saturdays i believe. they're playing one match a week. Gonna start up a super 15s fantasy league with my friends and my buddy from south africa is gonna download all the games as soon as they're played so we can watch them ^_^
On February 07 2012 02:27 MajinMojo wrote: Arggg, I haven't been able to find the rugby coverage on TV. What times of day does it usually air? I am on the Eastern US time zone.
it's on BBC america at noon on saturdays i believe. they're playing one match a week. Gonna start up a super 15s fantasy league with my friends and my buddy from south africa is gonna download all the games as soon as they're played so we can watch them ^_^
Meaaan. This season is going to be epic. Go chiefs!
Las Vegas Sevens just finished for the day. South Africa topped their group with a nice 33 - 5 victory over France. USA had a really poor tournament, losing all three their pool stage matches. I usually like supporting the USA as an underdog team, but they didn't play well. Kenya, my other underdog team, kicked ass and topped their group above England and Scotland. I hope they can get some points this tournament
About to head to a song night; think I love the social/camraderie aspect of this game as much as I love hitting people. Really is a great thing to have in college.
On February 12 2012 09:27 phyre112 wrote: About to head to a song night; think I love the social/camraderie aspect of this game as much as I love hitting people. Really is a great thing to have in college.
Yeah...if we get bored at a party (last night) we (20 of us) just start singing rugby songs and smashing beers until we are having sufficiently more fun :D
On February 12 2012 08:24 Daigomi wrote: Las Vegas Sevens just finished for the day. South Africa topped their group with a nice 33 - 5 victory over France. USA had a really poor tournament, losing all three their pool stage matches. I usually like supporting the USA as an underdog team, but they didn't play well. Kenya, my other underdog team, kicked ass and topped their group above England and Scotland. I hope they can get some points this tournament
Yeah south africa played awesome and isn't even playing cecil africa. Was really hoping for USA to come back in that last game against ARG. Kenya has a lot of fast guys...shocking :-p
Pissed that the france vs ireland game that was supposed to be aired in USA today got cancelled due to frozen pitch T_T
On February 12 2012 09:27 phyre112 wrote: About to head to a song night; think I love the social/camraderie aspect of this game as much as I love hitting people. Really is a great thing to have in college.
Yeah...if we get bored at a party (last night) we (20 of us) just start singing rugby songs and smashing beers until we are having sufficiently more fun :D
On February 12 2012 08:24 Daigomi wrote: Las Vegas Sevens just finished for the day. South Africa topped their group with a nice 33 - 5 victory over France. USA had a really poor tournament, losing all three their pool stage matches. I usually like supporting the USA as an underdog team, but they didn't play well. Kenya, my other underdog team, kicked ass and topped their group above England and Scotland. I hope they can get some points this tournament
Yeah south africa played awesome and isn't even playing cecil africa. Was really hoping for USA to come back in that last game against ARG. Kenya has a lot of fast guys...shocking :-p
Pissed that the france vs ireland game that was supposed to be aired in USA today got cancelled due to frozen pitch T_T
But Scotland Wales us supposed to air tomorrow. GET HYPED!!!
Sevens started again. Japan currently playing well against Canada, but I think Canada will take it. USA played well against Australia (much better than they played yesterday), but just couldn't quite win. Does anyone know why Australia is so poor this season? I know they're generally not the best at sevens, but this season they've been way below average.
Looking forward to the later games tonight
EDIT: Gah, shit game vs. the All Blacks. They played well as always, but we played the worst match we've played this tournament.
Never watched the sevens before, think I will this year. First year I'm actually going to play sevens, I've played as no.8 for years but always just switched my focus back to rowing after the season ended. From what I've seen, it looks like it's going to be pretty horrible when you don't have possession.
As for 6 nations... as nice as England's 2 win record so far doesn't reflect the fact they're looking pretty bad. I'm not sure they should have beaten Scotland, but managed it. I like the look of both Wales and France, I enjoy the Welsh team at the moment because it just looks like they're playing really solid rugby and doing all the basics pretty perfectly.
On February 13 2012 03:44 Daigomi wrote: Sevens started again. Japan currently playing well against Canada, but I think Canada will take it. USA played well against Australia (much better than they played yesterday), but just couldn't quite win. Does anyone know why Australia is so poor this season? I know they're generally not the best at sevens, but this season they've been way below average.
Looking forward to the later games tonight
EDIT: Gah, shit game vs. the All Blacks. They played well as always, but we played the worst match we've played this tournament.
Too many players getting snapped up for super 15s maybe? Commentators mentioned the coach usually gets a lot of guys right out of college for a little bit then they get contracted to super rugby.
On the bright side, i'm in first place for my six nations fantasy :D My spring season begins in two weeks can't wait to fuck some shit up.
On February 13 2012 03:44 Daigomi wrote: Sevens started again. Japan currently playing well against Canada, but I think Canada will take it. USA played well against Australia (much better than they played yesterday), but just couldn't quite win. Does anyone know why Australia is so poor this season? I know they're generally not the best at sevens, but this season they've been way below average.
Looking forward to the later games tonight
EDIT: Gah, shit game vs. the All Blacks. They played well as always, but we played the worst match we've played this tournament.
Too many players getting snapped up for super 15s maybe? Commentators mentioned the coach usually gets a lot of guys right out of college for a little bit then they get contracted to super rugby.
On the bright side, i'm in first place for my six nations fantasy :D My spring season begins in two weeks can't wait to fuck some shit up.
Nah, I don't think so. In fact, I didn't see any players missing from our roster. I was surprised to see Stephan Dippenaar playing for the Sevens squad, as he's a regular for the Bulls in Super Rugby. I think our performance this tournament was just a case of you win some and you lose some. We played poorly in the last two games, but not for any particular reason. I was glad to see Kenya and Canada win the Shield and the Bowl though. Great results for both of them.
Also, England almost losing to Italy was a shock. They've won both their games but they haven't looked convincing in either game. As England look now, I would say their remaining three opponents are all favoured against them.
Congrats on your fantasy! I've never played rugby fantasy, how does the scoring work generally?
On February 13 2012 03:44 Daigomi wrote: Sevens started again. Japan currently playing well against Canada, but I think Canada will take it. USA played well against Australia (much better than they played yesterday), but just couldn't quite win. Does anyone know why Australia is so poor this season? I know they're generally not the best at sevens, but this season they've been way below average.
Looking forward to the later games tonight
EDIT: Gah, shit game vs. the All Blacks. They played well as always, but we played the worst match we've played this tournament.
Too many players getting snapped up for super 15s maybe? Commentators mentioned the coach usually gets a lot of guys right out of college for a little bit then they get contracted to super rugby.
On the bright side, i'm in first place for my six nations fantasy :D My spring season begins in two weeks can't wait to fuck some shit up.
Nah, I don't think so. In fact, I didn't see any players missing from our roster. I was surprised to see Stephan Dippenaar playing for the Sevens squad, as he's a regular for the Bulls in Super Rugby. I think our performance this tournament was just a case of you win some and you lose some. We played poorly in the last two games, but not for any particular reason. I was glad to see Kenya and Canada win the Shield and the Bowl though. Great results for both of them.
Also, England almost losing to Italy was a shock. They've won both their games but they haven't looked convincing in either game. As England look now, I would say their remaining three opponents are all favoured against them.
Congrats on your fantasy! I've never played rugby fantasy, how does the scoring work generally?
Basically how much you play (full 80, partial or sub), tries, assists, drop goals, man of the match, and you get 1 designated kicker for points. Cards are negatives.
On February 13 2012 03:44 Daigomi wrote: Sevens started again. Japan currently playing well against Canada, but I think Canada will take it. USA played well against Australia (much better than they played yesterday), but just couldn't quite win. Does anyone know why Australia is so poor this season? I know they're generally not the best at sevens, but this season they've been way below average.
Looking forward to the later games tonight
EDIT: Gah, shit game vs. the All Blacks. They played well as always, but we played the worst match we've played this tournament.
Too many players getting snapped up for super 15s maybe? Commentators mentioned the coach usually gets a lot of guys right out of college for a little bit then they get contracted to super rugby.
On the bright side, i'm in first place for my six nations fantasy :D My spring season begins in two weeks can't wait to fuck some shit up.
Nah, I don't think so. In fact, I didn't see any players missing from our roster. I was surprised to see Stephan Dippenaar playing for the Sevens squad, as he's a regular for the Bulls in Super Rugby. I think our performance this tournament was just a case of you win some and you lose some. We played poorly in the last two games, but not for any particular reason. I was glad to see Kenya and Canada win the Shield and the Bowl though. Great results for both of them.
Also, England almost losing to Italy was a shock. They've won both their games but they haven't looked convincing in either game. As England look now, I would say their remaining three opponents are all favoured against them.
Congrats on your fantasy! I've never played rugby fantasy, how does the scoring work generally?
Basically how much you play (full 80, partial or sub), tries, assists, drop goals, man of the match, and you get 1 designated kicker for points. Cards are negatives.
Interesting. I might give it a try for super rugby this season. I've always found fantasy to be an awesome way to get to know the players. I've only played fantasy twice (for two cricket leagues) but both times I ended up making massive spreadsheets to improve my decisions which ultimately resulted in 2 hours a day spent analysing possible trades. Hopefully that won't happen this time :p
Is there a super rugby version anywhere I can have a look at?
On February 13 2012 03:44 Daigomi wrote: Sevens started again. Japan currently playing well against Canada, but I think Canada will take it. USA played well against Australia (much better than they played yesterday), but just couldn't quite win. Does anyone know why Australia is so poor this season? I know they're generally not the best at sevens, but this season they've been way below average.
Looking forward to the later games tonight
EDIT: Gah, shit game vs. the All Blacks. They played well as always, but we played the worst match we've played this tournament.
Too many players getting snapped up for super 15s maybe? Commentators mentioned the coach usually gets a lot of guys right out of college for a little bit then they get contracted to super rugby.
On the bright side, i'm in first place for my six nations fantasy :D My spring season begins in two weeks can't wait to fuck some shit up.
Nah, I don't think so. In fact, I didn't see any players missing from our roster. I was surprised to see Stephan Dippenaar playing for the Sevens squad, as he's a regular for the Bulls in Super Rugby. I think our performance this tournament was just a case of you win some and you lose some. We played poorly in the last two games, but not for any particular reason. I was glad to see Kenya and Canada win the Shield and the Bowl though. Great results for both of them.
Also, England almost losing to Italy was a shock. They've won both their games but they haven't looked convincing in either game. As England look now, I would say their remaining three opponents are all favoured against them.
Congrats on your fantasy! I've never played rugby fantasy, how does the scoring work generally?
Basically how much you play (full 80, partial or sub), tries, assists, drop goals, man of the match, and you get 1 designated kicker for points. Cards are negatives.
Interesting. I might give it a try for super rugby this season. I've always found fantasy to be an awesome way to get to know the players. I've only played fantasy twice (for two cricket leagues) but both times I ended up making massive spreadsheets to improve my decisions which ultimately resulted in 2 hours a day spent analysing possible trades. Hopefully that won't happen this time :p
Is there a super rugby version anywhere I can have a look at?
Yeah there should be, my friend from south Africa said he wants to do one with us. Check ESPNscrum or Google it. And yeah I've definitely learned a lot more about players between fantasy and playing Jonah lomu rugby on xbox. The Europeans still kknow way more than us though lol
Argh. Hand offs to the face are the bane of my life. I don't really even think they should be legal.
I played well today, but missed one tackle, where I got a hand off to the face. They won their scrum and passed it out through the hands to their centre who was a monster. I'm a no.8 and I'd gotten straight out the scrum and was sprinting across the pitch, their centre steps ours, and I had just made it to him in time thinking "fuck yes", I'm low and am about to go for him and bam, hand off to the face and I'm down. Sometimes I'm quick enough to smack the hand down if they put it up really early, but I'm having trouble with it. Not something you can easily practice either.
Scored one try, it was off a line out on their 5, (in line outs I normally stand inside fly half), the forwards in the line out setup a maul, drawing a load of players in, scrum half to fly half, fly half runs forward and pops it inside to me. Easy push for the floor. First ever try with this team so was big for me. But we lost like 36-25 or something like that, their backs dominated ours. Games like that are hard on the fitness, have to get out to the ball so fast.
Nice deadeight. how old are you/what kind of league do you play in?
Had a tournament yesterday, it was a very social 10's tournament though so we jsut got drunk all day. Woke up so fucking sore today its ridiculous. I play extremely aggressive when i'm drunk lol. Some team (that i've destroyed in a legit 15s game) drove 14 hours to come and beat everyone cause everyone else was hammered.
I'm 22 and just play for my University 2nd team. Our first team is definitely too high a level for me, some of them are on professional clubs already, last year they had someone in England Under 21s apparently.
I find it hard when it drops numbers because the same size pitch with fewer people creates a lot more space. That's why I'm dreading the upcoming 7s season after Easter.
Never played drunk rugby before, but in two weeks we have a friendly with a BBQ and beer that starts before the match, and apparently the hedges haven't been to pleasant in previous years. Rugby players trying to compete on eating meat + beer + knocks to the stomach.
Oh cool, lancaster always used to play rugby league I think but have been pushing towards union in recent years. I also think it's pretty cool that rugby seems to be getting a bit of a footing in US, given that it's got American Football to compete with.
Be thankful it got cancelled. We turned up to a game on an icy pitch once after it had snowed, and the ref and none of the venue staff turned up due to the conditions. Since no one was there to tell us not to play, we went ahead with the game (a friendly) and although it didn't last long it was a bloodbath.
Team is away at a tournament down in pennsylvania; I'm just getting over strep, and missed a week and a half of practice, so I didn't make the roster.
@deadeight it's a big game at the college level - nearly every school has a team. The atmosphere of the game, as well as the social aspect and the roughness of it just mesh really well with university students here. Younger and older than the college level it's still around, you just really have to be looking for it.
Anyone been watching the rugby this weekend? Super Rugby has gotten off to a fairly slow start. Lots of tight games (I think all five losing teams have gotten a bonus point so far), but you can see the teams are still a bit rusty. Crusaders and Blues probably looked the best, while the Brumbies and the Force probably looked the worst. Biggest upset so far is definitely Highlanders beating the Chiefs. Highlanders tend to be bottom of the log in NZ, while Chiefs are fairly strong (Kahui, SBW, etc.). For the South African teams, I guess all we can say so far is that Morne Steyn is most likely still the best kicker in Super Rugby. I think he put three kicks over that were more than 50m and a drop kick. Other than that, the game was fairly boring.
Two good matches are still coming up: Stormers vs Hurricanes and Lions vs Cheetahs. Lions and Cheetahs are usually bottom of the full log, but they both had reasonable seasons last season. Also, Lions won the South African domestic tournament (the Currie Cup) for the first time in 16 years, so hopefully they put up a better fight this season.
EDIT: Last two games turned out to be the two most interesting. Stormers vs Hurricanes was probably the most entertaining game of the weekend for me, although, as with all the teams, the quality wasn't that great. Lions vs Cheetahs was pretty interesting to watch, and damn tense (as a Lion supporter). Some pretty good kicks.
havent been able to see anything besides a bit of highlights from the crusaders and blues...massive stiff arm! Rene ranger looking like a beast as well.
Go the blues! Tough loss to the crusaders (T.T damn that was heart breaking). But then I caught the end of the Reds vs Waratahs game, and I realised that the Waratah supporters must feel even worse LOL.
On February 13 2012 03:44 Daigomi wrote: Sevens started again. Japan currently playing well against Canada, but I think Canada will take it. USA played well against Australia (much better than they played yesterday), but just couldn't quite win. Does anyone know why Australia is so poor this season? I know they're generally not the best at sevens, but this season they've been way below average.
Looking forward to the later games tonight
EDIT: Gah, shit game vs. the All Blacks. They played well as always, but we played the worst match we've played this tournament.
Too many players getting snapped up for super 15s maybe? Commentators mentioned the coach usually gets a lot of guys right out of college for a little bit then they get contracted to super rugby.
On the bright side, i'm in first place for my six nations fantasy :D My spring season begins in two weeks can't wait to fuck some shit up.
Nah, I don't think so. In fact, I didn't see any players missing from our roster. I was surprised to see Stephan Dippenaar playing for the Sevens squad, as he's a regular for the Bulls in Super Rugby. I think our performance this tournament was just a case of you win some and you lose some. We played poorly in the last two games, but not for any particular reason. I was glad to see Kenya and Canada win the Shield and the Bowl though. Great results for both of them.
Also, England almost losing to Italy was a shock. They've won both their games but they haven't looked convincing in either game. As England look now, I would say their remaining three opponents are all favoured against them.
Congrats on your fantasy! I've never played rugby fantasy, how does the scoring work generally?
Basically how much you play (full 80, partial or sub), tries, assists, drop goals, man of the match, and you get 1 designated kicker for points. Cards are negatives.
Interesting. I might give it a try for super rugby this season. I've always found fantasy to be an awesome way to get to know the players. I've only played fantasy twice (for two cricket leagues) but both times I ended up making massive spreadsheets to improve my decisions which ultimately resulted in 2 hours a day spent analysing possible trades. Hopefully that won't happen this time :p
Is there a super rugby version anywhere I can have a look at?
Yeah there should be, my friend from south Africa said he wants to do one with us. Check ESPNscrum or Google it. And yeah I've definitely learned a lot more about players between fantasy and playing Jonah lomu rugby on xbox. The Europeans still kknow way more than us though lol
This is the one that I'm part of. Was in NZ twice for the world cup (was staying in Melbourne for 6 months). I played national level in Korea way back when (hooker) and played for a social touring Expat team after I graduated, captain was South African with some kiwis and aussie and a few American/Canadians as well. I got my right ankle crushed back in 2007and basically ended my career.
But now I'm 37, I'm going to go for a master league next year and get back into shape. My game weight use to be 87kg (I'm 178 cm), but now I'm 109kg (and I was at 118kg up to a month ago). I'm hoping to cut down to 98 or so and give it ago. It has literally taken 5 years for my ankle to somewhat heal, I didn't get an operation on it because there really wasn't one to be had, part of the bone at the front part of the ankle joint has disintegrated so the bone actually slips forward. I have had a lot of physiotherapy on it, so as long as I tape it up, I should be able to play one last glorious season before I'm crippled for life. ^^
So I'm probably going to relocate to Singapore next year and join the club scene there, if I can go for 3rd division I'l try. Beat on some young punks lol.
I'd say, if you guys in America have never watched a lot of rugby, Super Rugby or Tri/Quad Nations is where it is at; the games are just so much more intense and dynamic than northern hemisphere games. Also, I was never a big fan of league, but after living in Melbourne I've come to really like it (still can't get into Aussie Rules/AFL though)- so you guys should check out NRL. Season also is starting now.
I find that getting my fitness up will take about 2 months at my age, body just doesn't adapt the way it use to. But I'm going to just cut my weight down to about 95kg by diet first then just do full length sprints about 70% across the pitch, then walk behind the field goal posts then repeat until I pass out. And I'll just keep doing that until I can get up to 10 lengths without passing out at my max sprint. And I'll mix it up with 10 meters then one push up, 10 meters, one push up for the length of the pitch.
I don't know if this is too old school, anyone got any tips to getting back into rugby fit? lol.
I really thought beforehand England were going to get rolled by Wales. Wales had looked really good in their previous two games and I hadn't been impressed with Englands play, even though they'd won both their games. England did well to step it up and I could have sworn were going to win, but then it just got snatched at the end
I really thought beforehand England were going to get rolled by Wales. Wales had looked really good in their previous two games and I hadn't been impressed with Englands play, even though they'd won both their games. England did well to step it up and I could have sworn were going to win, but then it just got snatched at the end
Yeah, wales and england was the only game i was able to catch, damn close one down to the end! (still dominating my six nations league, sexton and tommy bowe really helped out ^_^
And holy shit shipperly was fast as hell for the Reds last weekend.
Wales looked GREAT, but England seems to have plenty of good up and coming players (Farrell !!!)
France vs Scotland was pretty good too. Dusautoir making big plays as always. Italy was a bit disappointing but Ireland played really well in the second half.
Overall i think that it is a very good year, we get to see TONS of new young players and this is pretty exciting :p Wales is the obvious favourite but i wouldn't be too surprised if France wins.
On February 13 2012 03:44 Daigomi wrote: Sevens started again. Japan currently playing well against Canada, but I think Canada will take it. USA played well against Australia (much better than they played yesterday), but just couldn't quite win. Does anyone know why Australia is so poor this season? I know they're generally not the best at sevens, but this season they've been way below average.
Looking forward to the later games tonight
EDIT: Gah, shit game vs. the All Blacks. They played well as always, but we played the worst match we've played this tournament.
Too many players getting snapped up for super 15s maybe? Commentators mentioned the coach usually gets a lot of guys right out of college for a little bit then they get contracted to super rugby.
On the bright side, i'm in first place for my six nations fantasy :D My spring season begins in two weeks can't wait to fuck some shit up.
Nah, I don't think so. In fact, I didn't see any players missing from our roster. I was surprised to see Stephan Dippenaar playing for the Sevens squad, as he's a regular for the Bulls in Super Rugby. I think our performance this tournament was just a case of you win some and you lose some. We played poorly in the last two games, but not for any particular reason. I was glad to see Kenya and Canada win the Shield and the Bowl though. Great results for both of them.
Also, England almost losing to Italy was a shock. They've won both their games but they haven't looked convincing in either game. As England look now, I would say their remaining three opponents are all favoured against them.
Congrats on your fantasy! I've never played rugby fantasy, how does the scoring work generally?
Basically how much you play (full 80, partial or sub), tries, assists, drop goals, man of the match, and you get 1 designated kicker for points. Cards are negatives.
Interesting. I might give it a try for super rugby this season. I've always found fantasy to be an awesome way to get to know the players. I've only played fantasy twice (for two cricket leagues) but both times I ended up making massive spreadsheets to improve my decisions which ultimately resulted in 2 hours a day spent analysing possible trades. Hopefully that won't happen this time :p
Is there a super rugby version anywhere I can have a look at?
Yeah there should be, my friend from south Africa said he wants to do one with us. Check ESPNscrum or Google it. And yeah I've definitely learned a lot more about players between fantasy and playing Jonah lomu rugby on xbox. The Europeans still kknow way more than us though lol
This is the one that I'm part of. Was in NZ twice for the world cup (was staying in Melbourne for 6 months). I played national level in Korea way back when (hooker) and played for a social touring Expat team after I graduated, captain was South African with some kiwis and aussie and a few American/Canadians as well. I got my right ankle crushed back in 2007and basically ended my career.
But now I'm 37, I'm going to go for a master league next year and get back into shape. My game weight use to be 87kg (I'm 178 cm), but now I'm 109kg (and I was at 118kg up to a month ago). I'm hoping to cut down to 98 or so and give it ago. It has literally taken 5 years for my ankle to somewhat heal, I didn't get an operation on it because there really wasn't one to be had, part of the bone at the front part of the ankle joint has disintegrated so the bone actually slips forward. I have had a lot of physiotherapy on it, so as long as I tape it up, I should be able to play one last glorious season before I'm crippled for life. ^^
So I'm probably going to relocate to Singapore next year and join the club scene there, if I can go for 3rd division I'l try. Beat on some young punks lol.
I'd say, if you guys in America have never watched a lot of rugby, Super Rugby or Tri/Quad Nations is where it is at; the games are just so much more intense and dynamic than northern hemisphere games. Also, I was never a big fan of league, but after living in Melbourne I've come to really like it (still can't get into Aussie Rules/AFL though)- so you guys should check out NRL. Season also is starting now.
I find that getting my fitness up will take about 2 months at my age, body just doesn't adapt the way it use to. But I'm going to just cut my weight down to about 95kg by diet first then just do full length sprints about 70% across the pitch, then walk behind the field goal posts then repeat until I pass out. And I'll just keep doing that until I can get up to 10 lengths without passing out at my max sprint. And I'll mix it up with 10 meters then one push up, 10 meters, one push up for the length of the pitch.
I don't know if this is too old school, anyone got any tips to getting back into rugby fit? lol.
You seem to lead a very interesting life And I agree with you that Southern Hemisphere rugby is where it's at. I enjoy watching Six Nations, but only when there's no Super Rugby on.
What's the rugby scene like in Asia? I always support Japan when they play RWC, since they are such massive underdogs, but I haven't heard much about teams from the rest of Asia.
Regarding fitness, I know people say HIIT is one of the most effective ways to get fit, which is basically sets of getting your heart rate up to 90% of max for 30 secs (e.g. sprinting at full speed) and then cooling down for 90 secs (e.g. jogging slowly). That said, I haven't worried about fitness in years (I don't play rugby) so maybe someone else can give you more specific advice
Starts a bit earlier than that though. You could probably google HIIT and LISS etc and find some info.
As for 6 nations I'm just hoping for a win against France. I'd like to see Wales win now, and I'd like to see us help them by knocking France down a game. As long as we play like we did against Wales and not like we did against Scotland I reckon we could do it.
So, what's the future of SH rugby? I read some articles on the NZ provincial level being bankrupt. The Otago province is closing doors?
And what about South Africa? Is it true they are going to suppress the Cheetahs to make room to a new team? The Southern Kings? I read they have a lot of blacks players, and that they drain a lot of black fans, but are they any good, at least better than the Cheetahs (arguably, one of the worst teams in Super 15)?
The Six Nations matches were all shit, i saw all three of them and was deeply disappointed.
Ireland/Italy was a mediocre match. Italy made a good showing for 30 minutes. They have a good pack, a world class 8 (Parisse) some decent backs (Massi, Canale). But Bates must be the worst international fly-half i have ever see. Without a decent 9/10 association, they don't stand a chance. Ireland was as unimaginative as usual, nothing to say besides they are getting old.
Wales/England was bad. At least England showed some heart, but Wales choked as usual. Under heavy defensive pressure, they always made shitty choices, instead of playing in their 22, they should just use some strategical kicking.
France/Scotland was another shitty match. Scotland looked good, they don't deserve the wooden spoon. France was shit. The defensive system is not bad, but they were so many tackling mistakes... specially from the more experienced players (Rougerie, Harinordoquy, Szarzewski). The Fly-half still plays as he was a center, kind it nullifies the use of one of most talent-full players (Fofana). The line-out was horrid.
Still, there's so much talent in the french team and so much stupidity in the welsh team i think we could win, but frankly, the TOP14 is killing our players "à petit feu".
On February 28 2012 23:06 legaton wrote: So, what's the future of SH rugby? I read some articles on the NZ provincial level being bankrupt. The Otago province is closing doors?
And what about South Africa? Is it true they are going to suppress the Cheetahs to make room to a new team? The Southern Kings? I read they have a lot of blacks players, and that they drain a lot of black fans, but are they any good, at least better than the Cheetahs (arguably, one of the worst teams in Super 15)?
The Six Nations matches were all shit, i saw all three of them and was deeply disappointed.
Ireland/Italy was a mediocre match. Italy made a good showing for 30 minutes. They have a good pack, a world class 8 (Parisse) some decent backs (Massi, Canale). But Bates must be the worst international fly-half i have ever see. Without a decent 9/10 association, they don't stand a chance. Ireland was as unimaginative as usual, nothing to say besides they are getting old.
Wales/England was bad. At least England showed some heart, but Wales choked as usual. Under heavy defensive pressure, they always made shitty choices, instead of playing in their 22, they should just use some strategical kicking.
France/Scotland was another shitty match. Scotland looked good, they don't deserve the wooden spoon. France was shit. The defensive system is not bad, but they were so many tackling mistakes... specially from the more experienced players (Rougerie, Harinordoquy, Szarzewski). The Fly-half still plays as he was a center, kind it nullifies the use of one of most talent-full players (Fofana). The line-out was horrid.
Still, there's so much talent in the french team and so much stupidity in the welsh team i think we could win, but frankly, the TOP14 is killing our players "à petit feu".
I'm not sure about NZ rugby clubs but I find it hard to believe that the NZ Super Rugby clubs would go bankrupt, their matches usually have a very good attendace rate. Regarding the Cheetahs, as far as I know they are not getting replaced, the Southern Kings are just being added to the tournament next season. I haven't seen much from the Southern Kings. They did play against the British and Irish lions in a warm-up match in 2009, the score was something like 16-21 for the B&I Lions. At that time, the SK team seemed to consist of a strange mixture of good sevens players and young up and coming players. I can't comment on what it looks like right now though.
We have the rugby 5 asian nations HSBC, it sucks; generally Rugby in Korea is like that in the UK/AUS where it is an upper class sport. But the gap between Korea and Japan is as huge as Japan and say Fiji, so the level of rugby here sucks. But if youre looking for fun social touring rugby, it is the best with 10's tournies in Manila and Cambodia.
Hong Kong 7's though is probably the biggest highlight of the year by a light year, if you can go to HK during that time, it is well worth it, just madness. And the Asian teams are far more competitive in 7s, namely HK, Japan and somewhat Korea (at least compared to 15s).
Club rugby is big in Singapore and HK with a mix of locals and ex-pats, while Korea has a national league of universities and army teams, and Japan has the same plus a professional club league (I believe that to be true).
Generally for the good players in Korea, we've trained overseas like in SA, NZ or OZ. Otherwise the Korean domestic elite players are basically the ones that were big and weren't good enough to be footballers.
And thanks for the heads up on the HIIT training, I guess same difference in sprinting the pitch and walking then sprinting. Well it's always worked before, just wondering if there were any new school things. When I saw the boks warming up, I was pretty blown away with how technical the warm up was. Times have changed a lot in rugby for sure.
I'm thinking of sending my boys to nudgee college in brisbane when they're older for rugby. Was thinking of SA, Durban, but every year I think SA is getting more unstable (no offense), so I've kinda moved away from that idea.
On February 29 2012 05:09 MightyAtom wrote: We have the rugby 5 asian nations HSBC, it sucks; generally Rugby in Korea is like that in the UK/AUS where it is an upper class sport. But the gap between Korea and Japan is as huge as Japan and say Fiji, so the level of rugby here sucks. But if youre looking for fun social touring rugby, it is the best with 10's tournies in Manila and Cambodia.
Hong Kong 7's though is probably the biggest highlight of the year by a light year, if you can go to HK during that time, it is well worth it, just madness. And the Asian teams are far more competitive in 7s, namely HK, Japan and somewhat Korea (at least compared to 15s).
Club rugby is big in Singapore and HK with a mix of locals and ex-pats, while Korea has a national league of universities and army teams, and Japan has the same plus a professional club league (I believe that to be true).
Generally for the good players in Korea, we've trained overseas like in SA, NZ or OZ. Otherwise the Korean domestic elite players are basically the ones that were big and weren't good enough to be footballers.
And thanks for the heads up on the HIIT training, I guess same difference in sprinting the pitch and walking then sprinting. Well it's always worked before, just wondering if there were any new school things. When I saw the boks warming up, I was pretty blown away with how technical the warm up was. Times have changed a lot in rugby for sure.
I'm thinking of sending my boys to nudgee college in brisbane when they're older for rugby. Was thinking of SA, Durban, but every year I think SA is getting more unstable (no offense), so I've kinda moved away from that idea.
Yeah, it's similar to the sprinting you mentioned. The only difference being that you have to sprint for 30s (which should be two lengths of the pitch, not one). Supposedly, the last 5-10 seconds are incredibly hard, and it's those seconds leading to the most fitness gain. Once again, I'm not an expert on this so you should see if you can find a better source.
Regarding SA, it's interesting to hear you say it's gotten more unstable. It's difficult for me to judge for me. Politically, it feels like it should have gotten more unstable. Mandela was a good president, Mbeki was an innocuous president, and Zuma now is the first black president which has been treated with almost unanimous suspicion. However, Zuma has been an ok president so far, and racial tension has definitely decreased in SA over the last ten years. Crime is also down recently from what I've heard. That said, the ANC (our ruling party) has been unstable recently with tons political backstabbing. All in all, I'm not really sure if things are getting more or less stable. Compared to Australia, SA is crazy unstable of course :p
Any specific reason you'd send the boys to Durban? Durban is generally considered to be one of the less pleasant cities in SA (compared to places like Cape Town and Pretoria at least). Generally, Cape Town is seen as the place to be in SA. It's the safest large city and the University of Cape Town is the most prestiguous university and pretty good at rugby, while the neigbouring University of Stellenbosch is as good at rugby but a tiny bit less prestiguous. Durban just seems like a strange choice, it's a bit like the SA equivalent of Detroit.
A kid we play rugby with tells us some crazy as shit from when he was an EMT in Durban...not the first place i'd pick in SA. He loved it though and he got to play with/against a ton of players that are now international caliber.
Didn't think rugby was so big in asia! Pretty cool. Yeah any form of HIIT should work, i'll do anything from 20x 50m sprint 10-15 second rest to 4x 100m jog 100m sprint 100m job 100m sprint, then rest and repeat.
Since this weekend will be my first weekend of fantasy, I'll post my team here and see what you guys have to say. I chose most of these players before the games on Saturday last week, hoping I could get points from those games still, so it's a bit heavy on Stormers, Lions and Cheetahs. I'll try to balance my team a bit more with trades as the season moves along.
15. K Beale - Beale's been the most dangerous fullback in Super Rugby for a while. Not happy about him being a rebel, but perhaps they do better this season. 14. G Aplon - I honestly think he is one of the players most likely to score tries in the tournament. Also, I think the stormers will do well this season. 11. C Jane - Impressed me a lot in the RWC. Not that happy with him as a Hurricane though, since he might not get as many points from his team winning.
13. Kahui - A very strong attacking centre in my opinion. I'd maybe prefer Nonu over Kahui, but I can't afford everything I want. 12. F. Venter - A cheap purchase. He played damn well in the first game against the Sharks. Also, playing for the Bulls should guarantee some points. We'll have to see if he can score tries though.
10. M Steyn - Best kicker in the tournament in a team that depends on kicking for most of their points. Should earn me a lot of points. 9. S Pretorious - A fairly cheap purchase. Most South Africans feel Pretorious has been unlucky to not get a place in the national team. Also, I'm hoping the Warathas kick some ass in the Australian conference.
8. K Read - I wanted to have a few Crusaders in my team, and there aren't many better loose forwards. Swapped him in for Schalk Burger who's out with an injury for the next 4-6 weeks. 7. J Strauss - The Lions' captain. Very cheap and a really strong player. Will probably have to trade him away at some point since I doubt the Lions will get that many wins. 6. H Brussouw - After McCaw, Brussouw is probably the best player in the world at getting turnovers. Might have to trade him because he's a Cheetah.
5. A Bekker - A Stormer, a fairly good runner with the ball, and a damn good player overall. Choosing locks who are likely to score points is damn hard, so we'll have to see how this goes. 4. D Mumm - Part of my Warathas contingent, Mumm is one of the best Aussie locks, so I'm happy to have him.
3. A Strauss - I wanted to have more hookers, since they tend to be a bit smaller and quicker and more likely to score tries. Strauss is about as quick as they come, but I might have to trade him because he's a Cheetah. 2. B du Plessis - One of the best hookers in the world. He also scores tries occasionally, and assists with tries regularly. 1. CJ van der Linde - Awesome player, but I might transfer him as he's a lion.
22. J Mogg - No idea who he is, one of the few players I could afford. 21. S Mortlock - Very cheap, and one of the few Rebels that looks like scoring. 20. G van Aswegen - Cheap purchase. It's hard to choose a substitute flyhalf when you don't get points for kicking. 19. A Ellis - A good scrumhalf and a crusader. He looks like scoring quite regularly, so hopefully I'll get points from him. 18. W Palu - My final Waratah, he's generally good so I'll see how he does. 17. S Whitelock - Great player, but once again it's hard to choose locks that score points. 16. W Kruger - A nice strong prop from the Bulls, hopefully he does well.
All in all, my team is very SA heavy. It's difficult to choose players when you don't know them that well. As the season progresses, I'd like to swap out some of my SA players for players in the top NZ and AUS teams. We'll have to see how it goes until then.
EDIT: I've decided it might be a good idea to list some players here that I might trade in future. This is mostly for my own use, as I can never remember everyone that's impressed me at the end of the weekend:
On February 29 2012 05:44 Daigomi wrote: Any specific reason you'd send the boys to Durban? Durban is generally considered to be one of the less pleasant cities in SA (compared to places like Cape Town and Pretoria at least). Generally, Cape Town is seen as the place to be in SA. It's the safest large city and the University of Cape Town is the most prestiguous university and pretty good at rugby, while the neigbouring University of Stellenbosch is as good at rugby but a tiny bit less prestiguous. Durban just seems like a strange choice, it's a bit like the SA equivalent of Detroit.
I'm hating sevens at the moment. We've just switched and I much prefer fifteens.
I'm actually doing OK but I'm not strictly playing it properly, I'm just trying to run through people. It gets really frustrating having to dance around, and playing it any other way you kind of just lose, at least in my limited experience at my level.
haha so i take it youre not much of a back? :D I love sevens, i'm great at breaking the line and then usually just a pass or two from scoring. It helps that i've played sevens with the same guys for the last 4 years so we play really well together.
Definitely not a back. I guess I'm a typical number eight, I'm quick but I just don't have the footwork and am not agile enough. Some of our quicker backs can just change direction on a whim, it's a bloody pain. Though that's probably because I need to get better at it.
I mean you have to be agile for fifteens so you don't get stepped, but today I had a winger run at me, pretend to step, start running backwards then run a big loop around me; you wouldn't get away with that shit in fifteens! And then later on I'm up against the same guy on the wing but I have possession, and I just run and he goes low, and my knees just break through him (I run with fairly high knees). I feel like it's really unforgiving for any weaknesses in a player.
A coach suggested doing some exercise which I've forgotten the name of, but it basically sounds like a sideways lunge with a barbell on your back. i.e. step right foot wide to the side and slightly forwards and bend the right knee, then reset. I'll look into it, bit sceptical at the moment though.
England v France today was a pretty good match, France weren't playing as good as usual though. Didn't seem to be putting England under much pressure and their defence wasn't that good.
Club team has been on tour in scotland for four days now. Damn, the pictures I'm seeing. If only I'd had 3 grand just chilling around, would have been a great trip, and some great opportunities to play rugby.
They're going somewhere else two years from now - maybe I'll make it as an alumni.
Caught the wales/italy game. Wales just too much ~~ Italy's defense looked pretty good for how much it had to put up with.
On March 12 2012 10:14 phyre112 wrote: Club team has been on tour in scotland for four days now. Damn, the pictures I'm seeing. If only I'd had 3 grand just chilling around, would have been a great trip, and some great opportunities to play rugby.
They're going somewhere else two years from now - maybe I'll make it as an alumni.
Never pass up on a rugby tour. Even if you have to take a loan.
On March 12 2012 16:53 decafchicken wrote: Caught the wales/italy game. Wales just too much ~~ Italy's defense looked pretty good for how much it had to put up with.
On March 12 2012 10:14 phyre112 wrote: Club team has been on tour in scotland for four days now. Damn, the pictures I'm seeing. If only I'd had 3 grand just chilling around, would have been a great trip, and some great opportunities to play rugby.
They're going somewhere else two years from now - maybe I'll make it as an alumni.
Never pass up on a rugby tour. Even if you have to take a loan.
I've got enough loans staring me in the face the next few years. Fortunately I'll get out of syracuse with only ~15k in debt which isn't bad for a school that's over 50,000 per year, but then there's med school to look at. More than not being able to afford the loan, I can't afford to have bad credit going in.
Either way, it was argentina the two years ago, and it was England before that, both of which I think I would have preferred. Odds are good the next one will be France, or NZ, which would just be ridiculous.
I was watching some interviews with the Sharks team today, and while they were interviewing the players you could see the rest of the team exercising in the background. Almost everybody was busy doing power cleans, while a few guys were busy with push press. In the past, I've also seen the Sharks deadlift (I remember being chuffed because Bismarck du Plessis was deadlifting 140kg which was my 5RM at the time). Anyway, I guess that supports the idea that C&J (and compound exercises in general) is great for rugby.
For this weekend, I'm predicting:
Chiefs > Brumbies - Brumbies have looked poor so far while the Chiefs have been strong. Should be comfy for the Chiefs.
Stormers > Blues - Unsure about this one. Blues beating the Bulls last week was a great result for them, but I don't expect them to pull it off again.
Hurricanes < Highlanders - Another hard match to call. Going for the Highlanders on form, but in general I think the Hurricanes are the stronger team.
Waratahs > Force - Warathas has looked pretty good recently, while Force never look threatening.
Sharks > Reds - Yet another difficult call. Reds have won everything so far, but they've done it looking very ordinary. It's 50-50, so I'm going for the SA team.
Rebels < Cheetahs - Cheetahs have lost their two games with a total point difference of 3. On the other hand, the Rebels almost beat the Reds and they have some big stars. Once again, I'm going with my heart more than anything else.
Hope i can catch some super 14 matches, at least more than the highlights this weekend. Although i'll be drinking all day saturday for st pattys day and i've got tryouts for our state all start team on sunday.
And yes, CJ/compounds are the best thing for rugby. The more i do the better i get :D
On March 16 2012 05:07 decafchicken wrote: Hope i can catch some super 14 matches, at least more than the highlights this weekend. Although i'll be drinking all day saturday for st pattys day and i've got tryouts for our state all start team on sunday.
And yes, CJ/compounds are the best thing for rugby. The more i do the better i get :D
Blues vs Stormers has been the best game so far this weekend.. Some big games just started, Wales vs France in Six Nations, and Sharks vs Reds in Super Rugby. Go Wales and Sharks!
Wales deserved to win this game and the Six Nations in my opinion. After the WC, everyone in SA felt that Wales was the strongest European team, so I'm glad to see them come out and kick ass in the Six Nations.
Sharks vs Reds turned out to be quite a good game in the end. Considering the terrible weather, I felt both teams actually played great rugby for most of the game, which has been rare this season.
Wales deserved to win this game and the Six Nations in my opinion. After the WC, everyone in SA felt that Wales was the strongest European team, so I'm glad to see them come out and kick ass in the Six Nations.
Sharks vs Reds turned out to be quite a good game in the end. Considering the terrible weather, I felt both teams actually played great rugby for most of the game, which has been rare this season.
Yeah I agree they deserved it! Just that game in particular wasn't the best of the tournament. France were pretty underwhelming this whole tournament actually, I had expected better.
French team is so old. Now they need to let the youngs tallents coming at 1st plan, and that when it's possible (next tourney in argentine 06/12). I don't know why, but since few years i think french team just doesn't play and win thanks to his scrum's strengh (sorry doesn't know the english term for players 1 to 8).
edit: other thing, we seriously need a real n°10. Beauxis only knows hit the ball, and trin-duc is not at all on his best lvl for few months...
Wp Wales and England (Ireland scrums got destroyed lol). I think it was a nice 6-nations overall, tons of new promising players and it is always good when a young team like Wales wins a grand slam (25 years old avrg).
France's performance was kinda disappointing it feels like they could have won some games (Ireland, England especially) but they made way too many stupid mistakes in defence. Even the game vs Wales was a bit like that too. They botched several occasions and even if they played bad it was still fairly close. I feel that this is because of the composition of the team, a mix of old 30+ players who are now retiring and very few new players. It seems that this 6-nations was the last tournament of a generation.
Then there is also the big problem of the fly-half. TD plays like a centre and "Joey" Beauxis is not a world class player. So basicly we have put a scrum-half (Parra) at 10 like in the WC or to use a subpar fly-half. Then there are also all the weird coaching choices. I don't think it is really smart to try a brand new scrum half (Dupuy) when you are playing England especially when you call back Yachvili the next week lol. I don't really know how they will rebuild the team but we will have to find some new good forwards since Servat, Bonnaire and Nallet are retiring. Kind of sad actually since Servat still played way better than his successor. There are also many "old" guys still in the team and some are still in their prime but i think they are too old for the 2015WC. I don't know what will happen but the coach will have to make some tough choices (Rougerie, Harinordoquy, etc...). I think he should pick new fresh guys like England and Wales. The team was too old and he only picked three new young players.
Overall i think it is pretty cool to see such a huge talent pool in Europe. France was really close to win the last WC but i feel that Wales and England could be legitimate favourites for the 2015 WC and not just an "upset". Maybe France too but i will wait to see how they start to build the new team. Same thing for Ireland (many old players too).
Lots of good rugby this weekend again. The first two super rugby games were some of the more exciting games we've seen to date, and there's also the Hong Kong sevens going on. Also, my fantasy team has had a good start with all my players in the first two games of super rugby getting good points
On the topic of rugby players in the gym: There's current series of ads running on our rugby channel with the punch line "See what Super can do for you" in which they show the superrugby players doing cool things (for example, the Cheetah's goal kicker kicking a goal of 70m). The newest one shows Pierre Spies in the gym, but they jump over the exercises quite quickly so it's difficult to tell exactly what he's doing. From what I could see, he did a weighted chin-up on 60kg (three plates, might have been one 15kg plate I couldn't tell), and a deadlift somewhere between 200-240kg (6 big plates per side, but two of them looked slightly thinner). There were other exercises as well, but those were the only two where I had a good view of the plates. Also, me and the gf saw Francois Hougaard in the gym again on Sunday (helping someone with dumbbell press). My gf was staring and walked into a bench. Was hillarious :D
On March 23 2012 21:41 Daigomi wrote: Lots of good rugby this weekend again. The first two super rugby games were some of the more exciting games we've seen to date, and there's also the Hong Kong sevens going on. Also, my fantasy team has had a good start with all my players in the first two games of super rugby getting good points
On the topic of rugby players in the gym: There's current series of ads running on our rugby channel with the punch line "See what Super can do for you" in which they show the superrugby players doing cool things (for example, the Cheetah's goal kicker kicking a goal of 70m). The newest one shows Pierre Spies in the gym, but they jump over the exercises quite quickly so it's difficult to tell exactly what he's doing. From what I could see, he did a weighted chin-up on 60kg (three plates, might have been one 15kg plate I couldn't tell), and a deadlift somewhere between 200-240kg (6 big plates per side, but two of them looked slightly thinner). There were other exercises as well, but those were the only two where I had a good view of the plates. Also, me and the gf saw Francois Hougaard in the gym again on Sunday (helping someone with dumbbell press). My gf was staring and walked into a bench. Was hillarious :D
Haha I'm doing god awful in fantasy :D I won my six nations league though ^_^ Pierre spies is an animal, are there youtube vids of these ads?
First game tomorrow, playing with a D1 men's side against a very good college, should be a great time.
On March 23 2012 21:41 Daigomi wrote: Lots of good rugby this weekend again. The first two super rugby games were some of the more exciting games we've seen to date, and there's also the Hong Kong sevens going on. Also, my fantasy team has had a good start with all my players in the first two games of super rugby getting good points
On the topic of rugby players in the gym: There's current series of ads running on our rugby channel with the punch line "See what Super can do for you" in which they show the superrugby players doing cool things (for example, the Cheetah's goal kicker kicking a goal of 70m). The newest one shows Pierre Spies in the gym, but they jump over the exercises quite quickly so it's difficult to tell exactly what he's doing. From what I could see, he did a weighted chin-up on 60kg (three plates, might have been one 15kg plate I couldn't tell), and a deadlift somewhere between 200-240kg (6 big plates per side, but two of them looked slightly thinner). There were other exercises as well, but those were the only two where I had a good view of the plates. Also, me and the gf saw Francois Hougaard in the gym again on Sunday (helping someone with dumbbell press). My gf was staring and walked into a bench. Was hillarious :D
Haha I'm doing god awful in fantasy :D I won my six nations league though ^_^ Pierre spies is an animal, are there youtube vids of these ads?
First game tomorrow, playing with a D1 men's side against a very good college, should be a great time.
Nicely done on the Six Nations! I should probably try that next season just to keep me up to date on the European players.
I've tried to find the Pierre Spies ad but with no luck. I did find this video from an old SA vs B&I Lions game from a few years back that gave me a good laugh:
I did see one of the descriptions on a Pierre Spies video state that he has a bench of 180kg, and in another video he mentions that his two favourite exercises are the power clean and the bench. Couldn't find any videos though.
Good luck with the rugby! I'd be interested in hearing how it goes.
Great super rugby games this weekend. I watched 5 of the 7 (the other 2 were at 6AM), and all of them were good. I personally enjoyed the last two games of the weekend the most: Bulls vs Reds (awesome fun) and Lions vs Stormers (one of the hardest games I've seen in a long time). That said, Crusaders vs Cheetahs was surprisingly good, and the Highlanders vs Brumbies was also interesting. I saw the Sharks vs Waratahs highlights and that looked interesting too, but it was too early for me to watch.
I'm looking forward to Bulls vs Stormers next week. It should be a great game, especially if the Bulls play like they did today.
First game was a victory 36-31. I played 12 and pretty much just made my tackles and crashed the ball when we needed it. Nothing too exciting never really got a chance to do much in the open field. Ended the game with a crazy goal line stand. Went out with a few of the guys after to a couple strip clubs and a bar (one of the guys is a very succesful lawyer) Holy shit i've never seen so much money thrown around so casually. Guy easily dropped 3 grand on us just buy drinks/bribing our way in to clubs.
On March 27 2012 01:12 decafchicken wrote: First game was a victory 36-31. I played 12 and pretty much just made my tackles and crashed the ball when we needed it. Nothing too exciting never really got a chance to do much in the open field. Ended the game with a crazy goal line stand. Went out with a few of the guys after to a couple strip clubs and a bar (one of the guys is a very succesful lawyer) Holy shit i've never seen so much money thrown around so casually. Guy easily dropped 3 grand on us just buy drinks/bribing our way in to clubs.
Haha, men's club rugby sounds awesome. Also, Pocock is the first Wallabie forward that's impressed me in quite a while. I've had him in my fantasy squad for the last few weeks and it's been pretty good
Another rugby/gym experience. There's this really big guy (1.9m, 100kg or more) that regularly gyms at the same time I do. A few weeks ago I had to ask him something (probably how many sets of squats he had left) and he had a distinct American accent. I saw him again today and he was wearing a USA Rugby shirt. It looked like an official shirt (like the shirts they use to train/warm-up in, not a match shirt), and he's definitely built like a professional player, so I'm guessing he was part of the squad at some point. He was quite into his music today, and I was too chickenshit to ask him about it, but I'll ask him about it next time I see him.
Also, on an unrelated note, I squatted 1.5x BW for the first time today, and almost finished my 5th rep on 1.8x DL. Pretty happy
EDIT: I lied earlier, Horwill is another impressive Wallabie forward.
Also, holy shit the Bulls look pimp in their pink. They didn't just go pink, they went bright neon pink. Haha, it's awesome.
I got asked to join an amateur Union team recently. The only rugby I've played is some Touch Football with a corporate team. We were semi-serious but only competed in lower divisions. My fitness let me down, but could sprint fairly fast to score often.
I'm 27, 5'7" and 68kg. Currently lifting, but still a beginner. What do you think my chances are of:
a) Actually learning the game and being able to contribute to the team (being short and light)? b) Not getting smashed and injured every game?
I miss playing touch, but Union seems like a world apart, and the tackling does worry me somewhat.
On April 11 2012 15:33 BoxingKangaroo wrote: I got asked to join an amateur Union team recently. The only rugby I've played is some Touch Football with a corporate team. We were semi-serious but only competed in lower divisions. My fitness let me down, but could sprint fairly fast to score often.
I'm 27, 5'7" and 68kg. Currently lifting, but still a beginner. What do you think my chances are of:
a) Actually learning the game and being able to contribute to the team (being short and light)? b) Not getting smashed and injured every game?
I miss playing touch, but Union seems like a world apart, and the tackling does worry me somewhat.
a) all depends on how you play the game. Completely up to you. b) No reason you should get injured every game if you're not super weak/unathletic. I've personally never sustained any serious injuries outside of sprains and the like.
Union is a great time, tackle is a million times more fun than touch imo. If you've got some speed/athleticism and bulk up a bit there's no reason you cant be a solid contributer to your team. Our starting scrumhalf is about your size and there's a few people even smaller that do pretty well. Just listen to the guys with experience.
Size and weight only matters at the high level, it is like apm in Starcraft lol. For sure it helps but i have seen plenty of small or lanky guys playing good rugby in Highschool. On the other hand you can also find large guys who are slow, can't make a pass and are scared to tackle.
There are many different ways to tackle depending of the situation. It is way more technical than most people think. You can aim the legs, the torso if you want to block the ball, ankle tap if you are way behind etc...
I recently got back into rugby - 27, 6'2, 17stone.
My advice would be as follows - Make sure you are somewhat fit and awake before you play a game. - Watch out for when the ground is hard, seriously.
My last game was back in november, went into it having overslept (worked late) and without breakfast or lunch. Got blindsided onto rock hard ground, knocked out, and ripped a ligament in my shoulder. Still not fixed...sad panda .
I would say it's quite unlucky to get injured and if you are fit and sensible you will be fine. Fun game
On April 11 2012 15:33 BoxingKangaroo wrote: I got asked to join an amateur Union team recently. The only rugby I've played is some Touch Football with a corporate team. We were semi-serious but only competed in lower divisions. My fitness let me down, but could sprint fairly fast to score often.
I'm 27, 5'7" and 68kg. Currently lifting, but still a beginner. What do you think my chances are of:
a) Actually learning the game and being able to contribute to the team (being short and light)? b) Not getting smashed and injured every game?
I miss playing touch, but Union seems like a world apart, and the tackling does worry me somewhat.
As has been mentioned, size is only really important when you play at a high level. At club level, it helps but is definitely not necessary. Even at international level, there are quite a few small players. Gio Aplon has been one of the best wings in SA for the last few years, and he is 5'9" and 75kg. Will Genia is also 5'9" while Francois Hougaard is 5'10". Point is, these are some of the top players in the world in their positions, and they are all roughly your size. The only reason they weigh more is because they've been lifting for a while, but that shouldn't be too important at club level.
Won the Midwest championships this weekend, 99-5 first game 31-20 second game. Probably some of the most fun i've had playing rugby, so much team chemistry and athleticism nobody could touch us.
On May 11 2012 23:24 sJarl wrote: Only a light training yesterday, was showed how to tackle and recieve tackles.
Goddamn, I'm sore today!
Haha, is it just a case of different muscles being used? I would have thought that your exercise would prepare you for most light workouts.
Yeah mostly that, having to use the abs for once lol. Also traps sore as hell. I've been a little out of shapa lately because of schoolwork but it hopefully gets better soon.
Thought this was quite impressive. From the game this weekend:
Also, I'm not sure if you guys saw this, but the Stormers purchased one of the bearded Canadians (Jebb Sinclair) a few weeks ago and he's already had game time. So far he's done a decent job without really standing out. It makes me happy seeing American players play for South African squads (like Todd Clever for the Lions a few seasons back) and I wouldn't mind getting a few more.
Has anyone here played tens before? To be honest I didn't realise anyone played tens, but my uni has a tens tournament coming up and it's kind of come out of nowhere. There's a 5 man scrum but I assume it still plays like 7s.
With two more forwards I'm guessing you could actually ruck and suck some people in, but then again there still aren't a lot of backs so they'll still be spread a bit thin. I guess it's time to youtube some games, that's if tens is even played at a level where it's aired.
Rugby preseason started today. We have a guest coach, who pretty much worked us on hitting and defense for four hours (two practices today) and kept preaching Sh
about core strength, although he never explained that.
now its a hower and an hour of film, then do it again tomorrow. Good God, I missed hitting people all summer.
Damn good string of practices with the guest coach this week - didn't make every one, because they weer 2-a-days, and I had work in the mornings... but I still learned a hell of a lot about how to properly play defence in a match.
Also got some good work on scrumming today. Had some personnel changes to our front row - new tighthead, who's from england, and has actually played tighthead before (instead of being a big dude who didn't make the football team) and we had both of our "good" hookers back, one who was abroad last year and the other who was out with an injury. Hell of a lot easier to figure out what I'm supposed to be doing, when the people in front of me know what they want. Turns out most of my problems with second row were just coming from not getting my head up/facing forward, and setting my knee/feet too far forward on the engage.
College rugby has changed their cadence though. No more "crouch, touch, pause, engage" it's now "crouch, touch, set" and on set you engage. Probably going to fuck with all of us - first match is a scrimmage tomorrow, and then we have a tournament this saturday. Regular season begins the 9th.
Oh god my back. And my knees. And my shoulders. And also my hamstrings. Scrum work today. Half an hour on a sled, then, because we have enough forwards for two packs we did some back and forth. second string scrum going against first string scrum is NOT a fun thing. I'm skipping squats today.
Team did well in our previous scrimmage.
Tomorrow, tournament in albany. Two games for the D1 team and One for the B-side. Having to wake up before 8 am on opening weekend of your senior year should be forbidden by law.
When I got linked that video I hadn't realised he used to be a sprinter. The pace on him is just insane, it's players like that that frustrate me in 7s.
I thought the same, but Italy played exceptionally.
The Italian 8 (Parisse) scored a try five minutes in. Towards the end of the first half France seemed to be picking it up a bit, and in the second half got 5 points ahead.
Then the last 25 minutes or so were really tense. The Italian prop scored a try which was converted, and then Italy did an awesome drop goal and so then they were five points ahead. France had possession for the last 10 minutes and were just flinging themselves ruck after ruck at the Italians who were holding them off impressively, until one of them got a yellow card for playing it in the ruck, so Italy were a man down with a penalty against them inside their own 22. France being 5 points behind couldn't just go for a kick so were taking scrums to get a try and then convert for a win, which with a man overlap in the backs should have been possible. Italy just managed to hold off for long enough and the time ran out.
On February 28 2013 07:04 Deadeight wrote: Has anyone played on the wing before? I've played 8 or flanker for my entire rugby career, and on Sunday I'm playing on the wing.
Real easy position. The most important part is standing there and looking good while you're not doing anything!
But seriously, the hardest part defensively, working with the other wing and full back to make sure you are covering for kicks and not getting burned on the outside. offensively, if you get the ball run fast and don't get tackled.
Hey guys i was lurking TL's forum and WTF i see the name of this topic haha I really like it, i live in Toulouse, France (City of Rugby dude), i'm rooting for the Stade Toulousain for sure.
My english is not perfect but i appreciate if someone can explain me how is the rugby community in the US. France got a bad start huh? I can explain why, tell me if u are interrested (or not)
On March 08 2013 19:40 VelJa wrote: Hey guys i was lurking TL's forum and WTF i see the name of this topic haha I really like it, i live in Toulouse, France (City of Rugby dude), i'm rooting for the Stade Toulousain for sure.
My english is not perfect but i appreciate if someone can explain me how is the rugby community in the US. France got a bad start huh? I can explain why, tell me if u are interrested (or not)
It's growing quickly in the US, especially at the university level. Nearly every school has a team. It's just starting to become popular for people younger than that - most people don't start playing until they are 18 years old or so. There is a lot of resistance to it for younger ages because it is considered to be very dangerous compared to American Football (no helmets lol.)
This topic could always use more love... but don't ever be surprised by what you find on TL. If you look hard enough there's always someone who will like the same things you do.
On March 08 2013 19:40 VelJa wrote: Hey guys i was lurking TL's forum and WTF i see the name of this topic haha I really like it, i live in Toulouse, France (City of Rugby dude), i'm rooting for the Stade Toulousain for sure.
My english is not perfect but i appreciate if someone can explain me how is the rugby community in the US. France got a bad start huh? I can explain why, tell me if u are interrested (or not)
It's growing quickly in the US, especially at the university level. Nearly every school has a team. It's just starting to become popular for people younger than that - most people don't start playing until they are 18 years old or so. There is a lot of resistance to it for younger ages because it is considered to be very dangerous compared to American Football (no helmets lol.)
This topic could always use more love... but don't ever be surprised by what you find on TL. If you look hard enough there's always someone who will like the same things you do.
Goood, it's the same thing in France for ... American Football :D But the problem here, is that it cost a lot to buy all stuff (hemlet etc). The French have to order stuff via american websites etc :/
Made starting center for this weekend before I even showed up for a practice lol. Real excited to play this weekend if the weather clears up, team has a few national players and some foreigners. Should be fun.
Why do you think it is then? As far as I understand it, the French national side didn't get their players until the French teams were happy for them to go, whereas other countries prioritised international rugby and players ended up missing club games so they could prep for 6 nations. France got their team like a week before the 6 nations right?
Well you are 100% right In France, Philippe StAndré, the National coach, get the French-Players only 1 week before the competition. There is too some training sessions before training matches but not a lot of time to prepare a strategy. In other country, everything is done to let the players join asap the national team and create a style of play, create a group.
This is explain by the fact that the "boss" are the Clubs.Our national championship (called the TOP14) is one of the most High-Lvl league in the world. So the Club-Trainers makes her own law, and decide to keep their players until the end.
This is a very polemical subject actually in France, and i personally think that we shoul prioritize more the FrenchTeam. Even with lack of time, we manage to finsh 2nd at las WorldCup ^^
This is a fast explication, due to my lack of english, but i hope you understand something :/
Nicolas Mas, Dimitri Szarzewski, Thomas Domingo | Pascal Papé, Yoann Maestri | Wenceslas Lauret, Louis Picamoles, Yannick Nyanga.
subs: Yannick Forestier, Brice Mach, Vincent Debaty, Sébastien Vahaamahina, Damien Chouly, Maxime Machenaud, Rémi Tales, Gaël Fickou ( )
I really want to bet on France... some players get me really hyped and the line is pretty good (1 for 2.30). But after two good/decent matches i still don't know if they can beat Wales away. This Welsh line up is also really massive. North + Roberts as centres and Warburton/Faletau/Lydiate might be a bit too much... Lauret and Nyanga are both 15kg lighter than Warburton and Lydiate lol. And with all the injuries/suspensions our sub props are quite a joke. Not too sure about our Fly-half (Plisson) too.
Also Sam Burgess switched to Union, and now i wonder if he will be good enough to join the English RWC squad. Tuilagui and Burgess as centres would just be ridiculous lol.
Currently the following competitions are running: Top 14 - Started 16 Aug RaboDirect - Started 6 Sept Geene King IPA - Started 14 Sept Aviva - Started 6 Sept Heinekin Cup - Started 11 Oct Amlin Cup - Started 10 Oct
Most of them are coming to an end in the next couple of weeks. But if you are rather watch international rugby (test). The Six Nation usually starts first week in Feb. During June the Northern Hemisphere tours the Southern hemisphere and in November the other way around.
Currently the following competitions are running: Top 14 - Started 16 Aug RaboDirect - Started 6 Sept Geene King IPA - Started 14 Sept Aviva - Started 6 Sept Heinekin Cup - Started 11 Oct Amlin Cup - Started 10 Oct
Most of them are coming to an end in the next couple of weeks. But if you are rather watch international rugby (test). The Six Nation usually starts first week in Feb. During June the Northern Hemisphere tours the Southern hemisphere and in November the other way around.
Nice! What's the best place(s) to find match schedules?
Currently the following competitions are running: Top 14 - Started 16 Aug RaboDirect - Started 6 Sept Geene King IPA - Started 14 Sept Aviva - Started 6 Sept Heinekin Cup - Started 11 Oct Amlin Cup - Started 10 Oct
Most of them are coming to an end in the next couple of weeks. But if you are rather watch international rugby (test). The Six Nation usually starts first week in Feb. During June the Northern Hemisphere tours the Southern hemisphere and in November the other way around.
Nice! What's the best place(s) to find match schedules?
Rugby 365 <-- I usually use this site but its got lots of Southern Hemisphere rugby articles, you might want to use Planetrugby.
Also if your up for a bit of fun you can go to SuperBru for guessing the winners. It's all free. We usually run an office pool.
Currently the following competitions are running: Top 14 - Started 16 Aug RaboDirect - Started 6 Sept Geene King IPA - Started 14 Sept Aviva - Started 6 Sept Heinekin Cup - Started 11 Oct Amlin Cup - Started 10 Oct
Most of them are coming to an end in the next couple of weeks. But if you are rather watch international rugby (test). The Six Nation usually starts first week in Feb. During June the Northern Hemisphere tours the Southern hemisphere and in November the other way around.
Nice! What's the best place(s) to find match schedules?
Rugby 365 <-- I usually use this site but its got lots of Southern Hemisphere rugby articles, you might want to use Planetrugby.
Also if your up for a bit of fun you can go to SuperBru for guessing the winners. It's all free. We usually run an office pool.
On March 23 2014 18:43 Marcinko wrote: Oh yeah, a rugby thread.
Boblion, so close yet so far for your team in the 6 Nation. Well done to Ireland though, giving Brain O'Driscoll a proper send off.
Tchado, sorry but no. Just an armchair critic.
This was a fantastic 6-Nations this year. Even if i was absolutly depressed by the terrible performance of the French team vs Wales i think that it was one of the best 6-N i have ever seen. Amazing finish between France, England and Ireland, some great matches and BOD retirement...
Best matches (I just missed Ireland vs Wales, was probably good): 1) Ireland vs England was just amazing. 2) France vs Ireland, very tense + deciding match + last BOD match 3) France vs England also very tense 4) Ireland vs Italy, Ireland playing god tier rugby vs weaker side.
Rest was kinda boring/bad or extremly one sided. And yea Wales vs France was just bad. Everyone was kinda bad except Warburton/Lydiate/Faletau who were just destroying some very disappoiting French forwards. As i predicted the light weight and inexperimented back row got dominated pretty hard. I was expecting Plisson at Fly-half to fail more than Doussain at scrum-half tho.
Some comments: The England squad is extremly strong. This is slowly becoming the best England squad since their monstrous 2003 team. They have tons of talent and with players like Brown they even have exciting guys (Usually England is pretty boring but nowadays they are good AND exciting and this is awesome) and with players like Tuilagi coming back from injury and Burgess switching to Union they have also some real power in the backs. I feel that their only weak point right now is their front row. In my opinion they are probably the favourite after NZ for the WC.
Ireland is playing top notch rugby thanks to Joe Schmidt. Idk if they will be able to keep this level for the World Cup but it should be very interesting (Usually Ireland can't match the big teams at the WC when they are training and trying really hard).
France is still a fucking trainwreck. They can beat England and then get smashed by Wales and barely win vs Scotland lol. Retarded coaching, tons of missing players, some players getting old and some youngers with a lot of talent. This team has been unpredictable since 2007. On a good day they can beat NZ and then lose to fucking Tonga or Italy lol. Remember the 2011 WC ? 2015 could be the same story, or something glorious, or a complete disaster...
Wales is playing pretty bad right now and this is really sad. They used to be pretty exciting. Still owning France tho.
On March 21 2014 21:34 Tchado wrote: Hey guys ! I was wondering if anyone here plays amateur or semi pro rugby ?
Played a bit at school as a teenager. Never was very good lol (1 training week, no weight lifting and stuff like that). All our best players also used to play in club haha. It is pretty depressing to play rugby when you are not committed at 100% anyway. People like to talk about smurfes in Starcraft but there are "smurfes" in rugby too. For example the school championship is "smurfed" by young club players and it is not always fun to get smashed by a guy twice your size training 3+ x week who is just playing with his school team for the lulz.
It is the same thing as an adult in the amateur leagues. There are many former pros or people who tried really hard but just couldn't cut it. It is not exactly friendly hehe (+ they fight all the time).
So i'm just an armchair critic nowadays. Try hard or don't even bother to try.
On March 21 2014 21:34 Tchado wrote: Hey guys ! I was wondering if anyone here plays amateur or semi pro rugby ?
Played a bit at school as a teenager. Never was very good lol (1 training week, no weight lifting and stuff like that). All our best players also used to play in club haha. It is pretty depressing to play rugby when you are not committed at 100% anyway. People like to talk about smurfes in Starcraft but there are "smurfes" in rugby too. For example the school championship is "smurfed" by young club players and it is not always fun to get smashed by a guy twice your size training 3+ x week who is just playing with his school team for the lulz.
It is the same thing as an adult in the amateur leagues. There are many former pros or people who tried really hard but just couldn't cut it. It is not exactly friendly hehe (+ they fight all the time).
So i'm just an armchair critic nowadays. Try hard or don't even bother to try.
Well call me crazy , but I'm a sprinter , I saw that carlin isles video and I thought " Im close to his speed , why not try it ? looks fun , and there is no american football in my country " , I joined an amateur team a few months ago , Im enjoying this shit so much ! the team environment , the sport itself and everything around it.
I played a few games of 7s , next friday is my rugby 15s debut , Im gonna get crushed , but its all in good spirit so i dont mind XD
In the end I am employed full time , so I can never commit to rugby 100% , but I'd like to try anyway.
I asked the question because I was wondering if anyone has any tips for a noob like me , my position is wing , I'm 170 cm tall , 71 Kilos ( yeah I know XD )
and speaking of smurfing I know what u mean , back the day there was a team called "The arab gulf" and there was a Jordanian national team , its disbanded now (the national 7s team is set to reform in the summer) , anyway those experienced guys usually play for other teams and we get raped , but I can out run them and score a bit.....but in the end rugby is more than running.
But to be fair i mostly quit because of studies. Highschool ended and i just stopped. Lost all my former teammates and i didn't have the time, the will & the skill to start to play club rugby. Level here is kinda high and the mentality is not even comparable with highschool rugby. Still lot of good memories tho. The end of Highschool kinda sucks when i think about it.