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    Rugger Practice and Tactics - A Manual of Rugby Football Technique
    Rugger Practice and Tactics - A Manual of Rugby Football Technique
    Rugger Practice and Tactics - A Manual of Rugby Football Technique
    Ebook163 pages1 hour

    Rugger Practice and Tactics - A Manual of Rugby Football Technique

    By H. F. MacDonald

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    About this ebook

    Originally published in 1938, this is book is a comprehensive manual of rugby technique and tactics. Well illustrated throughout with photographs and diagrams, this still contains much of practical use to the modern reader. Contents Include: Individual Practice; Dribbling; Tackling; Kicking; Passing; Body-Swing and Running with the Ball; Combined Practice; The Forwards; The Tight Scrum; The Loose Scrum; The Line Out; Forwards in Defence; Forwards in Attack; The Backs; The Scrum-Half; The Stand-off Half; The Three-quarters, The Centres; The Three-quarters, The Wings; The Full-back; Combined Attack; Combined Defence; Miscellaneous; Clothing, Training, etc; Refereeing and Touch-judging; Learning From Example.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRead Books Ltd.
    Release dateJan 8, 2013
    ISBN9781447486503
    Rugger Practice and Tactics - A Manual of Rugby Football Technique

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      Book preview

      Rugger Practice and Tactics - A Manual of Rugby Football Technique - H. F. MacDonald

      perfectly.

      CHAPTER I

      INDIVIDUAL PRACTICE

      (i) Dribbling

      THE art of dribbling is the hardest thing to master in the whole game. No one can master it without assiduous practice; no coach can do more than tell you how to practise. Good ball control is the hall-mark of a first-class forward; it is this more than anything else that takes a man out of the ranks of the average good players and wins him the highest honours. There is this compensation for the difficulty of dribbling—that proficiency in it depends hardly at all upon natural advantages. The star stand-off half, like the star wicket-keeper, is born, not made. The star dribbler has made himself a star dribbler.

      The great thing to remember both in practice and in playing is that control is worth more than speed. A good rule for beginners is this: if you kick the ball once, you have done no good, and may have done some harm; if you kick the ball twice, you have done some good. This is only another way of saying that you must keep the ball within reach. Ideally you should touch it not less than every other step. You should not try to go at a speed which prevents you from doing something very nearly as good as this. If you do, you will give the ball to the other side, unless the ground and ball are extremely wet. The drier the closer is not a bad maxim.

      Now you will not at first be able to keep the ball really close when running, and you should always begin the season by practising dribbling at a walking pace. Later you will be able to break into a very slow jog-trot, and so gradually increase your speed.

      The ball should always be struck with the side of the foot, never with the toe. If you can use the outside of the foot, that will be better than the inside, for by so doing you will impart a spin to the ball which will bring it back in front of you; the inside of the foot will produce a slice which will take it away from you. But if you find it impossible to run with your toes turned inwards, or even fairly straight, it will be better to use the inside. You may be able to decide this question by standing naturally and noticing whether your feet turn outwards. But what will matter far more is the amount of time you are prepared to devote to practice. It will be hard work and dull work to devote twenty minutes to solitary dribbling practice every time you go down to the field, but the time will be much better spent than it will on the dropping of goals.

      You can do something to brighten your practising. A few touch flags placed in a straight line, say, fifteen yards apart will provide obstacles to be circumnavigated, and you can have quite good fun keeping the ball away from a dog. Dribbling races can be arranged down the length of the field or across its breadth. Lines about fifteen yards apart can be marked with the machine, and any man whose ball crosses one of these boundaries must go back and start again. Anyone who kicks the ball too far ahead should also be sent back to the start.

      Another useful exercise in control is to place the ball on the ground, run up to it at full speed and start dribbling, keeping it close. As you kick it the first time, point the toe. You will have to reduce your speed to establish control.

      Except on a wet day, no forward should ever kick the ball so far ahead of him that he cannot tackle the man that picks it up from his feet.

      When dribbling, no forward should ever stoop in order to pick up the ball. He is almost certain to knock on. If it bounces up into his hands, that is quite another thing.

      (ii) Tackling

      Low tackling is expected of every rugger player, except when the attacker is so near the goal line that only a high tackle will keep him out. Sometimes also a smother tackle will prevent a back from passing, and so kill the whole movement. But if the back in question possesses a good hand-off, and is in a position to use it, it is not safe to tackle high.

      Once a player has learned what it feels like to tackle low, there is no excuse for his failing to do so. It should be learned young, for it is quite safe for small boys to tackle each other in cold blood at a practice. The following is a good way, but only for small boys: Take two, and place them in the centre of the field. Make the rest—as many as you like—run towards them, and see how many of the runners the two can tackle. Those who are tackled then join the original two, and so on, until all the original runners have been tackled. This will also reveal the elusive runners, and so may help masters to discover potential wing three-quarters. Care should be taken to explain that the tackles should be done from the side, and not head on. Tackling is really a matter of placing the shoulder properly against the leg of the victim just above the knee; if this is done, the arms will find their place. To avoid repetition, we would now refer the reader to the accompanying picture, and our remarks upon it.

      Various kinds of tackling machine are obtainable, and these are useful for older players who have never learned to tackle properly, for there is no risk of the injuries that are sure to follow if older players tackle each other at a systematic practice. The simplest kind of machine is home-made, costs next to nothing, and is quite effective. Fill a large sack with straw, tie a rope to its top, and pass the rope through a pulley fixed on to a head beam, the branch of a tree, or another rope slung between two trees. You may also tie a string round the middle of the sack to give the tackier something to aim at. While the sack is being tackled, someone must hold on to the rope and brace himself against it, otherwise the tackier will bang his head on the ground. This kind of practice is mainly valuable to enable people who do not know to discover what it feels like to tackle low. It may also have a value as a kind of penance for a man who has missed a tackle or two in the last match. To give him the sack in this sense may save the need of giving it to him in another.

      (iii) Kicking

      The punt

      The two secrets of correct kicking are balance and timing. Both can only be achieved by constant practice.

      Hold the body erect, the head very slightly bent forwards with the chin tucked in. Stretch the arms fully and in front of the body, with the ball held in both hands. The right hand is placed on the top towards the right of the lace, the left hand underneath towards the left side. In both cases the fingers are slightly parted. This is the position of the hands for a right-footed punt. The left-footed kicker will have his left hand on top and his right underneath. Point the ball towards the place where you intend it to travel. Let the ball drop on to the lower part of the instep as the leg is brought forward. The leg must be straight and the foot outstretched so that the instep is in as near a straight line as possible with the shin-bone. The follow through with the leg after contact with the ball is an essential part of kicking.

      [Photo: Sport and General

      PLATE I

      The man with the ball is at a disadvantage, because he is carrying the ball in the arm nearest to the tackler. Perhaps he was preparing to hand-off the man on his left when No. 14 took him from his right.

      There is no doubt about the excellence of No. 14’s tackle, and the camera has caught it at the most interesting moment. Note the following points:

      1. The drive comes from the side of the foot.

      2. The hollow back and rigidity of the whole body show how whole-hearted this drive has been.

      3. Impact is made between the shoulder of the tackler and the knees of the tackled. The right leg of the runner happens to be completing a stride. It is a little easier to tackle at the moment when the nearer leg of the runner is forward. This has not worried No. 14, but it makes the tackle look at first as if it were a shade higher than the ideal—which it isn’t.

      4. The tackler has inclined his head to the side to get it out of the way, and to enable him to place his shoulder correctly.

      5. The arms have found their place.

      The following points should be noted.

      The release of the ball

      It is impossible for us to indicate the exact moment when the kicker should release the ball in order to achieve perfect timing of his kick. He must and can only discover that for himself by experiment and constant practice. The natural player knows by instinct. It may help him if he remembers that he must on no account allow his head to drop; he will then be able to check a tendency to make contact with the ball too early.

      We have italicised the word drop because we find that the common fault amongst inferior kickers is to throw the ball upwards. A very slight upward and forward throw of the ball is sometimes recommended by coaches; it is permissible only in the case of natural players who could time their kick perfectly however the ball was released. With beginners the tendency is to throw the ball too high; one of two grave faults is the result. Firstly, he may raise the leg too high before making contact; a high punt with no distance is the obvious consequence. Secondly, his kick must be delayed. Apart from the full-back, the average player usually finds he has little time in which to kick. When a player is frequently tackled at the moment he is kicking, more often than not the reason is that he has thrown the ball up and wasted precious moments.

      Again we suggest that the ball should be dropped on to the foot as there is less likelihood of the ball turning as it falls. When the ball is thrown upwards the margin of error is increased.

      Colonial players, who are amongst the best kickers in the game, do not drop the ball but tend to putt it on to the instep; that is, they speed up the dropping movement. In other words the ball reaches the foot quicker and meets it with a greater impact. This technique demands even more accurate timing, and is consequently more difficult to master.

      The torpedo or spin-kick

      This is the most effective and spectacular kick of all. It gains greater length because it overcomes wind resistance as far as

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