For those who have played Rugby.

[Maggot6]

First, a little physical information about myself.

Height - 5'9"
weight - 125 lbs
Aka...I might as well be anorexic :ninja:

Either way, I am in grade 10 and this is my first year of Rugby. Sense I am pretty skinny, I was skeptical at first, asuming I would die. But now after a month or so of practise, we finally had our first tournament...It is such an extreme rush, nothing else (not even paintball) compares to tackling people with full adrenaline. Anyone else on this board play much Rugby? Any tips for the skinny kid? Any horror stories?

[tropical_fishy]

I just started rugby. I'm 5'2" and... small. The first time I was in a scrum, I looked at the girl across from me who was probably 5'7" or 5'8" and thought I was gonna die. But then again, the "girls" that play rugby aren't really "girls" at all (in fact, I met one named Dan). I've been limping around for a week because I got cleated in the ankle, and I got my throat stepped on last Saturday, but other than that, I've been relatively injury-free. One of my teammates has a concussion, three are on crutches with broken ankles, and one tore her ACL in the first game. Fabulous sport. What position do you play? I imagine you're a back. Just try not to die.

[Indignant]

i always thought that would be a cool sport to play. i'm not small for my age, but i'm not huge, either. i don't think my school has it though. i'm gonna have to google for local clubs.

[SpecialBlend2786]

I used to play rugby with friends from middleschool till highschool.

Also, my dad and I watch rugby pretty religiously, mainly the All Blacks and New Zealand/Australia club teams.

As far as tips, the biggest one I can give you is this:

Don't Hesitate. Especially right before tackling/being tackled by someone. Just stay low, hit low, keep your legs driving. As soon as you hesitate you open yourself up to far more injuries.

Be safe, have fun :cheers:

[Maggot6]

Right now it is pretty early in the season, and our team is still somewhat unsure of our positions...Most likely I'll end up being a wing or outside center...

I just realized a downside to rugby though, the morning after, well, your adrenaline doesn't save you from the fact that your entire body hurts... :tard:

[Vex]

Also, my dad and I watch rugby pretty religiously, mainly the All Blacks and New Zealand/Australia club teams.
Who isn't a Blacks fan. Seriously.

[MarkM]

I find it funny that the assumption is that you will get hurt, as even though you are from Canada the nearest game to Rugby you are exposed to regularly is American Football and you see all the protective gear so think you don't get hurt...but play rugby and you have basically nothing other than the strip to wear so the panic sets in. The head gear is allowed plus many players now wear gum shields.
A long time ago I posted more or less the same as I am about to post now.
Take an American Football team Club side and play them against a Rugby Club side to play both formats and they (the American Football team ) will win AF but not by a great margin, reverse the game to play Rugby and the American Football team will get annihilated and HURT as they are used to replying on their protective gear.
Position wise I played Scrum Half or Winger, the only issue with the 2nd postion is that unless you have a true 'team' you never get the ball. At your size the Number 8 jersey would probably be a sensible postion for you. Rugby League is different from Union and a much faster game plus both games have the entire squad on the field throughout the game unlike American football so the fitness levels have to be high.
The dominence of the All Blacks in recent years has been shown to be more or less over. The rise of the English side is also quite scary as for years we lost to the Welsh and Scottish sides but not since the 70's has the Welsh side dominated. About time we actually did well at a sport we created :eek:

[tropical_fishy]

I dunno, MarkM, like I said, I've seen a lot of our players get hurt (mostly backs, our scrum half and wings are out right now, along with a flanker). It's easy to get hurt if you're smaller than everyone around you. I don't really know how men's rugby differs from women's, but the tall, thin girls get lifted or play in the back.

[MarkM]

I dunno, MarkM, like I said, I've seen a lot of our players get hurt (mostly backs, our scrum half and wings are out right now, along with a flanker). It's easy to get hurt if you're smaller than everyone around you. I don't really know how men's rugby differs from women's, but the tall, thin girls get lifted or play in the back.

It's the same game but scrum halfs get hurt as they tend to be small players (have to be to put the ball in and get around the scrum quickly) and with a big forward bearing down on them something is going to give. The same applies to the backs and wingers as the big forwards are the ones that do the hits.
I stopped playing after 7 scrums in one match collapsed on me...our forwards were useless and putting me on the wing instead wasn't an option due to the selfessness of the 'team' despite that at the time I was faster across the ground than anyone on my team.

[tropical_fishy]

It's the same game but scrum halfs get hurt as they tend to be small players (have to be to put the ball in and get around the scrum quickly) and with a big forward bearing down on them something is going to give. The same applies to the backs and wingers as the big forwards are the ones that do the hits.
I stopped playing after 7 scrums in one match collapsed on me...our forwards were useless and putting me on the wing instead wasn't an option due to the selfessness of the 'team' despite that at the time I was faster across the ground than anyone on my team.

I realize it's the same game, I just didn't know if guys play with the hooker being a smaller person, seconds being tall and thin (jumpers), flankers and props being huge, and the eight being mid-sized. Everything in our team is set up according to how tall you are, and how big you are. When I watched our guys play, it didn't seem like they were matched up like we were.

[MarkM]

Our teams were arranged by size, if not the scrums would be very high, props always were big guys, hookers a little smaller, scrum halfs small and quick guys, wingers quick regardless of size, number 8 tall guys to be able to turn a scrum and the rest of the line was whoever was reasonably quick but the fastest was always the winger.

[SpecialBlend2786]

Who isn't a Blacks fan. Seriously.

Everyone else in our family roots for England or Australia. During the Tri-Nations they go for South Africa as well.

Many of the All Blacks allstars have since left the team though, which is why I've started watching club rugby like the Hurricanes and Crusaders.

[Lohman446]

This sounds like an incredibly fun game if I didn't live in the middle of nowhere. I could probably survive a few minutes without a serious injury...

[Indignant]

actually, lohman, with your luck, you probably couldn't.

[tropical_fishy]

This sounds like an incredibly fun game if I didn't live in the middle of nowhere. I could probably survive a few minutes without a serious injury...

I'm hoping to survive tomorrow and sunday without serious injury. I'm starting to doubt whether it's possible.

[Lohman446]

actually, lohman, with your luck, you probably couldn't.

Its been nearly two weeks since my last potentionally fatal accident resulting in injury. The powder burns are healing rather nicely :D

[Dark Frost17]

does some 1 mine explaining to me the rules a bit???..... i have played but had no idea what i was doing.....alotta fun though....confused on the positions as well.... :confused:

[tropical_fishy]

does some 1 mine explaining to me the rules a bit???..... i have played but had no idea what i was doing.....alotta fun though....confused on the positions as well.... :confused:

I'd help, but I'm still not entirely sure what I'm doing. I basically go where people are yelling at me to go.

[MarkM]

does some 1 mine explaining to me the rules a bit???..... i have played but had no idea what i was doing.....alotta fun though....confused on the positions as well.... :confused:

Very basically kick the ball forward from the centre spot, then stop the team coming at you BUT only the person with the ball, pass the ball to anyone on the team but sideways or backwards, do it forwards and the possession is given to the other side. Any stops of the ball and it is unclear who is still in possession or the ball isn't still moving in any direction then a scrum is started with the put in by the last team in possesion. To score you have to place the ball across the 'try line' not simply run across. Conversion (extra points) is done by kicking between the two uprights but in line with where the ball was placed over the 'try line'.
There are other ways to score, a 'half volley' and a 'penalty' shot but that is getting too much into it. If the ball goes out of play it is thrown in at the point of exit from the field but to a line of the forwards standing next to each other.
The biggest differences to American football is the same team is on the field for the entire match (other than a few subsitutions and possible injury subsitutions) No tackling of anyone in sight, no forward passes, no padding other than slide shorts and some light shoulder pads and many forwards do wear padded hear gear to save their ears when in the scrum. Most players wear a gum shield nowadays. There are some slight changes with regard to Rugby League over Union but together they are basically the same game. A few little technical bits apply to the placing of scrums under special circumstances but a search for the Rules of Rugby on Google or somewhere like that will give you the full run down. Oh and for any soccer players on here, there is also an offside rule to contend with but not as complicated as the soccer version ;)