04/20/24
August 08, 2006
Pre-season Tension: The rugby season will be starting soon, and this article takes a look at the changes in training methods.
Sorry, my internet conenction went down just as I posted a link to this, it is in the comments (which I hope doesn't count as self-linking), as I've discovered that the Tribune website is about as reliable as ... something that is very unreliable. I'd copy the whole article, but it is kinda long. My favourite desciption of pre-season training: "Three hours of aimless running round a field and success was measured by the quantity of pools of vomit which glistened in the setting sun"
posted by Fence at 05:22 AM on August 08, 2006
Cheers, Fence. Interesting article. Part of me winces when I read things like this - professionalism is all well and good, but you can't deny that some of the romance is being drained from this (and most other) sport. The distance between ordinary human and professional athletes is growing and growing as we get fatter and they get fitter. Another part of me is delighted. I grew up cheering in vain for Irish teams that made schoolboy errors and would have gotten tired in the last ten minutes even if the game had only been ten minutes long. It's nice that we're now considered one of the best teams in the world - even nicer that we deserve to be.
posted by JJ at 07:07 AM on August 08, 2006
Ah but expectation can be a terrible thing. I was so disapointed when we didn't manage to beat the All Blacks, can you imagine saying something like that a few years ago :) And what is even more amazing is that this is trickling down to underage sessions. My brother just headed off to Galway for for an U21 session. And that's Connacht, I'm sure the others will have much more advanced programmes in mind.
posted by Fence at 08:02 AM on August 08, 2006
Maybe they should follow the Duke program. Ho's and Beer
posted by lightman at 04:46 PM on August 08, 2006
Thanks fence. Probably never enough rugby on the site. I have lost the link to an article I was thinking of posting a few months ago. It was about a new set of rules being tested in a club competition at Stellenbosch University in Sth Africa. The IRB are trialling new rules at the breakdown mainly, to try and speed up the game and eliminate all those technical infringements that plague many games. No rule changes will be made before the next World Cup, however. International rugby is tending to get difficult to watch, with the professional era meaning much better defensive techniques and better tackling. The advantage line is hardly ever breached these days. Maybe move the defensive lines back another 5-10 metres from the last feet in the ruck or maul, a la our feral friends?
posted by owlhouse at 09:44 PM on August 08, 2006
Owlhouse do you mean these rules? Allowing the ball to be played with the hand at the breakdown Players can go off their feet at the ruck Only foul play (Law 10) and offside resulting in penalty kicks - all other offences resulting in free kicks. Free kicks are taken by a tap kick or a scrum option only. Teams no longer have to match up numbers in the lineout. Bringing the maul to ground by the defending team If attaching team cannot retain ball at ruck - defending team gets it. I'd link to the official site, but it is giving me a 404, maybe they've moved it. Personally, I think international rugby has never been better. But I'm Irish, so I would say that :)
posted by Fence at 03:25 AM on August 09, 2006
Do we need a login for that, Fence?