TIPS! Offense and Defense

I was thinking about writing a detailed play-by-play description of how you should play offense and defense, but then I thought better of it. As you play rugby, you learn rugby. played rugby for about two years before I really knew what was "going on"! So instead I think I'll just give you some tips that I learned from some of the best rugby players I've ever met.

For offense, some important things to note are to always run straight, run into tackles hard, and to hang onto the ball.

Always run straight. If you run sideways you carry with you the risk of not giving your teammates outside of you enough room. For instance if you run all the way to the right sideline you will effectively negate the presence of your teammates on your right. This does not utilize your whole team, and as rugby can only be won with an entire team in unison, you will disadvantage your side.

You should do your best to run into tackles as hard as you can. A coach once told me that if I took a hop step and then put all my weight into the tackler, unless they were very good tacklers they would be knocked down. This works most of the time.

"You're dropping the ball with your (insert noun here)". This phrase really does have a valuable meaning in rugby. As a national coach once instructed my team before our championship match, "the ball is gold" (meant to be spoken in a guttural Scottish accent). The worst thing you can do on offense is to drop the ball because this mocks the performance of every other player on your teams that got you the ball.

On defense, a few techniques I have been taught and employed have never let me down, including field position in defense and tackling.

In defense, stand a meter outside the player you are guarding. Also, let them know you are there by yelling and pointing. No foul language, but feel free to get into their psyche. Pointing at a player and yelling, "This is my man!" or "I've got him" really gets players scared of you, which is good when that person is twice your size.

In a tackle the two most important things to do are to hang on and get low. This will give you a significantly lower center of gravity and the ability to tackle effectively. In addition, hanging on ensures the other player isn't going anywhere.

Also, playing as a team is paramount in rugby. In a very good team all players will get an equal share of the ball because only then can the team win. It is very difficult for one player to score all the points in a game. Most of the time the fastest runner sets a play up, but does not complete it
because they must pass the ball away to score.

Lastly, remember, rugby is a thinking game. As I discussed in the past, it is sometimes even in a teams' advantage to give penalties. But once again, the only way you will know how to think about rugby is to experience it through watching and playing.

Historiy and Rugby

Like every great sport, Rugby Union brings with it its own history, legends, and heroes. One such legend relates to the sports very founding in 1823.

William Webb Ellis, a school boy (predictably) attending Rugby School, is first accredited to playing rugby while at recess. As so many historical sites proclaim, a witness states that the young Ellis “took the ball in his arms and ran with it”, separating “Rugby” from sports like soccer, that mainly utilize feet. The International Rugby Board (IRB) now recognizes the World Cup champions with the William Webb Ellis Trophy.

From there, rugby was quickly adopted by many different schools as well as groups of men looking to form clubs. National teams began to play against each other in the 1860’s, developing now well-known rivalries, such as those between England and France and Australia and New Zealand.

For someone just entering the sport, it may seem as if rugby lacks the conventional histories and rivalries of a traditionally American sport such as baseball or basketball. In reality, however, these currents reside just beneath the surface of American rugby. Americans in particular should be both proud of their rugby heritage.

Did you know that the USA won the Rugby Union event at the Olympics in both 1920 and 1924?

This fact in particular should spark your interest in the history of rugby. When the Olympics later ceased to recognize the sport as “Olympic” (a point of frequent controversy), American teams ceased their development of the sport. Now though, with renewed interest in the game, many Americans have the opportunity to engage in this legacy and bring American rugby back to par with the rest of the world.

Once again, my post ends with some suggestions: I encourage you all to read the more detailed versions of rugby history at the MSN Encarta site or at RugbyFootballHistory.com. Become familiar with rugby’s great players, games, and events. And of course, go make some history of your own.

Note: Most references for this post were taken from the aforementioned web-sites, as well as usarugby.org.

Penalties and More Referee Praise

The penalty in rugby, like the basketball free-throw or soccer's free-kick, is a momentous occurrence that can often change the outcome of the game. Particularly in the higher-levels of play, a penalty can give the opposing team the advantage they need to score an easy try or kick a drop goal. While yellow or red cards are infrequent in most leagues, penalties are quite common and thus should be studied. Players should be able to recognize how they can give penalties, what to do when they are given penalties, and furthermore in what few cases they should give penalties.

A penalty is given whenever a referee sees a player intentionally doing something illegal. A team may be penalized for fighting, unsafe tackling, trying to handle the ball while on the ground, trying to affect game-play while being offsides, or anything else that is a departure from the rules of the game. The idea that the infringement should be intentional is important because referees have the ability to waive penalties that are unintentional. As long as players attempt to play fairly and by the rules, they should not give up many penalties.

The team awarded the penalty may do one of several things. They may either set up a scrum on the spot in which they have possession, kick the ball out and take possession wherever it goes out, tap the ball with their feet and run the ball, or attempt to kick a field goal. In the higher leagues such as college and beyond, a penalty within 40 meters of the try-line is almost a guaranteed penalty-goal. Therefore it is especially important for players to not "give-up" penalties in their own halves.

There is a case when giving a penalty is advised. After a penalty the defending team must retreat 10 meters from where the penalty was given. If after a penalty a player on the attacking side taps the ball and attempts the rush at the opposing team before they have retreated the full 10 meters it is better for the defenders to tackle that player. When they tackle him, the referee will simply call another penalty, giving the defenders more time to retreat. This is advised because the alternative is giving up a try.

One important thing to remember is that a referee may advise players when they are about to or are in the act of breaking the rules. The referees are able to give players as many "chances" to break the rules as they want to based on player level and past experience. In this way the referee is generally seen by the players as a mentor figure, attempting to mediate good play rather than a punitive figure. In some ways, the referee is as much a player as the teams. This distinction in rugby, of which I have written before, is one of the definitive factors separating rugby from other sports.

Rugby on the Radio

Recently I've been listening to Rugby Podcasts, which I have found to be both informative and provocative. To be quite honest until recently I had no idea that rugby podcasts even existed, but the internet has been proven to provide yet another valuable resource for those that search for it, and for free! Two of the most useful podcasts I found were Total Rugby and The Rugby Hour.

Total Rugby combines many aspects of rugby much in the same way as this site attempts to. The production is very well made and incorporates a variety current events and aspects of play with smooth sound effects and clear announcing. Listeners will never be bored as the typically 25 minute show quickly moves from one topic to the next, with brief musical interludes in-between. Content is useful for the beginner and most avid fan alike. In one show, the styles of play exhibited in the World Cup are discussed by various coaches, a subject a beginner could easily understand. The episode also delves into the recent statistics of national teams and several leagues. A quality that causes Total Rugby to rise a notch above its peers, however, is that it discusses how the ethics of rugby are translated into the real world. In another episode the brotherhood developed between the different racial groups on the South African team during their World Cup campaign is highlighted in light of it having considerable effects on the unity of the entire nation.

The Rugby Hour is an American production based out of Fairfax, Virginia. While the show is somewhat amateur in its production, the fact that it is American is important, especially for the purposes of this site. For Americans interested in rugby development, the site goes into detail explaining the places where rugby is increasing in popularity and where it could be improved. Some problems are present that listeners should be aware of. First, while there are no commercials during the show, the show does not start until around 3 minutes 40 seconds into the podcast. Don't turn the sound up too loud because there are several times when the microphone is spoken into from a very close distance, causing a spike in volume. Lastly, the show is 1 hour in length and has a surprising amount of time when nothing important is being said, so listeners may feel the need to skip ahead at times. These problems, though, speak more to the lack of a large listening audience than to the inherent ability of the producers, and with much confidence I believe that as demand grows for these types of shows quality will drastically improve. It is inspirational to see an independent American production succeed.

Whether you are in the mood for American or World Rugby news and information, both of these podcasts are invaluable resources.

Durham Rugby

This past weekend I had the privilege of being invited to watch a friendly rugby scrimmage between Durham's Eno River Rage and the Raleigh Kodiaks. The teams engaged in several sevens matches throughout the chilly afternoon, stopping for water and brief socialization in-between games. One rather jovial man enjoyed more than a few beers at every half-time, engaging in what he called the "true rugby spirit". Since both teams were ending their regular game schedules this weekend there was a sense accomplishment among the players, many of whom had just completed their first season. But the most amazing thing I witnessed during the games was the amount of friendship I saw developing among the players.

One of the teams, apparently, was short a few players, so after the first game a mass substitution occurred. This lead to the formation of the "Enodiaks", a sort of hybrid between the two clubs.

Even arriving at the pitch gave amazing insight into the ethos of rugby. The days events were held at the Raleigh Vipers Club, which consists of a house and two full-size pitches --by far the most well-funded team in the area. While the Vipers were not present during the games their open lending of their fields to other teams was yet another example of the generosity and friendship felt between those that play the game.

Immediately following the games both teams took off to what players know as "the third half", a party with free food, drink, and entertainment.

It was great to see the camaraderie, generosity, and community between the teams both during the games and at the after-party. And while rivalries do exist amongst the area's teams, the blind passion devoted to "crushing" others exhibited in similar type sports was refreshingly absent.

Other Rugby Cups

In the wake of the enthralling and exhilarating World Cup, you may feel slightly depressed, bored, and downright sore (that is, if you played in it). The apathy that follows a momentous event, whether in sporting or in another arena often leaves people depressed, looking for something else to which they may dedicate their time. For instance, the new release of the Backstreet Boys album "Unbreakable" has left me with many of these feelings.

But on to more relevant things.

While the World Cup may be over, there are still many tournaments to look forward to in the coming months. Indeed, things can only get better for rugby, a sport that now garners over 3 billion viewers. So here are a few of the largest tournaments and their breakdowns for you and other your friends.

The Tri-Nations Tournament is a competitive series of games including Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. The games are held every summer, and have been since around 1996. Recently, countries like Fiji, Tonga, and Argentina have been trying to join the fray. The cup is exciting and traditionally New Zealand has taken home the title.

The Six-Nations is another very aggressive rugby tournament, with teams coming from England, France, Ireland, Wales, Italy, and Scotland. The tournament is held every spring so as not to conflict with the Tri-Nations. The tournament was previously called the Five Nations, until Italy joined in 2000, which begs the question as to why the governing rugby bodies keep titling their tournaments after such transient numbers.

Look for more tournaments on Wikipedia's list.

If you're really itching to see some rugby, don't lose hope! There are plenty of places you can find rugby on television. In fact, for many of these games you can watch online. If you go to my Rugby World Cup post and follow the instructions you may watch these games over the web for free. But don't forget, rugby is always much better live. Go to my post on Rugby in Durham, North Carolina, or check out USA Rugby. The world awaits.

Local Rugby Clubs - Durham

The city of Durham, North Carolina, sports several rugby clubs for men and women of all age and ability. Most of the teams are very friendly to newcomers and are happy for new recruits. Several teams have also had success on the regional and national levels. This past summer, for instance, the Raleigh Vipers won the Division II National Rugby Championship and the North Carolina Kodiaks placed second in a large tournament based in Atlanta. Brief Descriptions of the teams are below:

The Research Triangle's premier rugby club is the Raleigh Vipers-- a club for the more competitive or seasoned rugby player. The club has men's, women's, and youth clubs and is currently working on raising funds to build a clubhouse.

The Duke Undergraduate team is for Duke Undergraduate players. The team has consistently made it into the regional championships for the last three years. Although the team is not large in terms of size, the tenacity of this club proves that heart and brains are just as important as physicality in rugby.

The Duke Graduate team is mainly for (you guessed it) Duke Graduate students in all areas, ranging from Medical to Business School students. The team recently traveled to France, where it competed in an international rugby tournament with French local teams.

Durham's official club team is called the Eno River Rage. Anyone from around Durham is encouraged to play. In the summers this team sees an influx of Duke players, as the university teams temporarily shut down.

The North Carolina Kodiaks are a more laid-back, all inclusive team, competing in tournaments with many different types of clubs. Players beginning their rugby experience will find the team to be very good way to learn the game.

To play for a side you can go to their respective web-site and look for practice schedules. It's very easy and probably quite inexpensive to join. The University of North Carolina and North Carolina State also have their own teams you may join, although UNC's rugby team is on a temporary suspension following a scandal involving hazing.

International Rugby

In speaking with several rugby players and people associated with the game, I have found that nearly everyone involved with rugby has a few of their favorite "rugby moments", whether a great tackle witnessed in a game, a particular story about a rugby social, or a great tournament they were involved in. These stories often surface during bragging contests, when a simple tackle becomes a "massive hit" and beating two players for a breakaway turns into "beating the whole team". I once had a coach who would always, always, speak of one impossible conversion he scored 30 meters away from the try-line at an steep angle to tie the game (on a side note, I was there, and while the kick was impressive, our team ended up losing the game because of a series of tackles he later missed). Rugby's ability to create meaningful memories is a powerful force in the gravity the sport generates.

One of my most-prized rugby memories is of traveling to Taiwan in late 2006 to compete in the Under 19 (U19) Asian Championships. I have had the privilage of spending several years in the Philippines, learning the game of rugby from some outstanding coaches. These coaches have been integral not only in my own understanding of the game, but also in spreading rugby throughout the Philippines. During my time there I was offered a position on the newly formed U19 National team, since the Philippines is still developing the sport and non-native players are eligible to play. Several other Philippine nationals from the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Philippines were also added to the team, making a strong pool of seasoded players. In 2006 this team, lead by our coach, made its way from all over the globe to Taiwan to play in the Asian Championships.

During the course of the tournament we played a total of three hard-fought, games. We faced several obsticales including injuries and breakdown of play, but despite only playing together for a few weeks our team managed to work extremely well together and win all three games, earning us the Division II Championship! The final match was particularly rewarding, as we beat the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a team that had traveled to the Philippines in 2004 and ousted us 55-7. Still a "developing" rugby country, with this win the Philippines stands a very high liklihood of being promoted to "developed" status and being entered in Division I.

I will always remember the players, games, and events that occured during this tournament, as well as the experiences I gained through it. If you want to read the rest of the story or view the results of the tournament, go to The Philippines Rugby Football Union web-site. Also, for information on the US national teams go to USA Rugby. Go make some memories of your own.