secrets

Question
Hi I'm a second rower an i have been trying to find tricks that are legal in the game. These are how to regain the ball and also what I'm allowed to do in rucks and malls that is not of common knowledge. cheers

Answer
Hi Lachlan

The trick is a combination of communication and body position. In a ruck or maul, half the problem is to get your own players out of the way. A ball can be trapped in a maul simply because your own players are fighting each other for the ball.

You and your team need to practice this and at training both discuss and enact a maul with each player communication. The guy with the ball needs to yell to his team mate that he has it and that way a fellow team mate can say "I have it now, release" or something like that so the ball can be transported back to the half back. The Half back also needs to be pulling players out of a maul or ruck and reinserting them again at more useful points.

You can do some tricky stuff but getting real low, squat down and duck walk into a maul and come at the ball from below, very quickly get a firm grip and rip the ball out and back even to the point of creating a maul. This is VERY dangerous and takes a lot of game experience. I don't suggest this to an inexperienced player.

Being first to the ball at the tackle situation is also a big thing. Stay on your feet and rip the ball up. Another trick is a "rip tackle" when a play runs at you actually go for the ball itself and rip it away from the player to the point of ending up with your back to the player. This takes great speed and strength and you may want to practice it on a team mate first.

Here are some good links:
All technique: Scrum, Running up the Ball, Tackling



http://www.rugbysmart.co.nz/plan/technique.html



http://www.rugbytactics.com/



http://www.talkrugbyunion.co.uk/



Skills and Technique, video:



http://www.joberrugby.com/