Too tall to play in the backs?

[TRF_Olyy]

Just mention that you want to be a back, and see what he thinks

Your closest club would probably be Worcester Warriors - they've got a good academy, and they do a lot of work with age grade rugby:
http://www.warriors.co.uk/academy/academy.php

 

[The_Welsh_Idiot]

That isnt a million miles away from a few clubs. Do you have parents who may be prepared to help drive you? If so, Builth Wells, about 40 mins (at a guess) drive from you are a good (but hard) team who would possibly welcome youth players and have good ties to the Scarlets academy. If that is too far, and it may well be, there will be local clubs to you.

It may also be worth writing to the WRU asking for the name of your local development officer. They would easily be able to put you in contact with local teams and events in your area.

Also, there may be other ways to develop your skillset and expose yourself (not like that) to larger teams. I know the Worcester Warriors (your closest team, I think), and probably quite a few other premiership teams run summer skills courses and camps with senior players.

 

[The_Welsh_Idiot]

Great first post

Welcome to the forum!

Thanks TRF_Olyy. Always nice to be welcomed.

 

[Peat]

http://www.rfu.com/

RFU's website, on the right hand side - enter postcode, find local rugby club.

Simples.

I'd imagine there would be a couple. If thats the case, you can pick one who'll agree to play you in the backs, you gigantic big girls blouse.

Work on your ball skills. Work as much as you can. Generally, people who can throw accurate 20 yard passes off of either hand don't end up in the forwards.

 

[big ginger 8]

If you want an idea of the nutrition necessary go to thelineoutcoach.com is an ex player so should be useful. Also good for people who want hooker specific advice.

 

[04perryo]

To get into county theirs r trials. The trials are at different times of the year depending on where you live. For worcestershire the trials for under 13 under 14 and under 15 have been and gone. However the trials for under 16 r happening in September which is when im going. To get into the trials ur club will put u through or your school will put u through if they think ur good enough. Best thing to do is to ask them to put u through.

 

[matt.price]

my schools **** for sports. So i'll see what happens when i join my team this year

 

[bobwentpop]

Have you tried asking your school rugby coach about the nearest club to join? Seriously, if you want to get spotted you really need to join a club team to get lots of game time in! Size doesn't matter so much in the backs. A centre in my year at school weighed just over 100kg and was about 6"2' (though unfortunately, while his tackling and running was good, he couldn't pass to save himself) at 16, so really it isn't a big deal!

 

[Rhyer]

I've played against much bigger centres and tackling technique always brings them down. Skills are far more important so don't think that because you're big you can waltz into rep teams and into academies, there are plenty of huge people out there and most people have the handling and passing game. To get into an academy you really should be tearing up teams at club level with 3-4 tries per game if you're that good to be a rep player. That's how most people start off, they get noticed in a semi-final or final scoring heaps of tries. My favourite examples are Morgan Turinui who score 6 tries in a finals game when he was about 20 and Yannick Jauzion who famously scored 68 tries in one season while playing under 16's club rugby.

 

[matt.price]

thanks for everyones, help , i've been running for about a month now and i'm going to keep it up for fitness,
i'm also training for passing off both hands accuratly,
and sprinting, everyother day i'm doing 6 sets of 20m sprints with a typical sprint technique.
I run 5 times a week for 30 mins each. I've also bought some iphone apps with fitness schedules for press ups, sit ups and squats,
i have one little weight for bicep curls and tricep extensions.

Anything else i can do?
specially for sprinting as i dont really know how to improve or do i just keep doing sprints?

cheers again matt !

 

[TRF_Olyy]

You could do more kind of fitness work you'll do in rugby training
Two that come to mind are:

Set out cones (or markers) 5m, 10m, 15m and 20m from a line, sprint to the 5m, then run backwards to the line, then sprint to the 10m, run backwards to the line, sprint to the 15m etc.etc.



Another is put 3 cones in a line, then lie on the floor by the middle one - get up, sprint to the one of the left - get down on the floor, get up sprint to the far side (10m away), get down, get up, sprint to the middle one again



Also "Fartlek training" - essentially, it's interval training:
Go for a run, but run for, say, 50m, then sprint for 20m, then run again etc.
For example where I live there's lamp posts all down the sea front, and we used to run for two lamp posts then sprint for one



For your sprint training you could start doing it carrying a rugby ball as well - gets you used to running with the ball as it's slightly different to running normally (can't pump your arms as much etc.)

 

[big ginger 8]

From my fitness coach. This is good for speed, fitness and buring fat.

15 sprints of 10 seconds sprinting and 50 seconds rest.

5 x 50m shuttle runs (out and back) with 2 mins rest.

5 sets of 20m shuttles (out and back) with 30 seconds clap push ups at one end of the run and 30 seconds mountain climbers at the other with 2 min rest.

 

[TrueSlawter]

Nope I'm around 6"4 and am aiming to move to the backs next year (am out for this season so will be running etc as much as I can in around 6-8 weeks when I can all the way to the start of the season) as long as you have the stamina and speed you'll be fine

 

[matt.price]

Just a little update, fitness , muscle and sprint training is going well ! Bishops castle haven't started training yet , but Im keen to start, also a guy I ride bikes with, hiis brother has just been given a professional contact at glouster! He started rugby at 16, Here's an article on him http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/team_guides/9500553.stm . Hopefully it's the same coach at bishops castle who will point me in the right direction and positions wise!Matt

 

[Larksea]

as far as being tall in the backs goes it can be good, you can be 6ft5 and still play in the backs as long as you have the speed and agility and kicking game (if needed) the taller you get the harder it will be to maintain the key physical attributes and skills required to play in the backs... Which is a good reason why you dont see many backline players over 6ft4.

I went from forwards to backs, started playing when I was about 8 as a prop, moved to lock then spent a lot of time as a 7 before moving to the wing then finished playing rugby as a 13 when I had constant problems with stress fractures mostly caused by cricket (fast bowling) when I was still a lad.

if you are 6ft4 and not likely to grow much more you could make a good shot in the backs as long as you're still fast and agile. But if you're still growing and likely to be 6ft5 or more a shift into the forwards maybe a good idea.

 

[Wilkinson]

From my fitness coach. This is good for speed, fitness and buring fat.

15 sprints of 10 seconds sprinting and 50 seconds rest.

5 x 50m shuttle runs (out and back) with 2 mins rest.

5 sets of 20m shuttles (out and back) with 30 seconds clap push ups at one end of the run and 30 seconds mountain climbers at the other with 2 min rest.

Rest in between each?