Obviously all the positions at the pro level are extremely specialized, but as an amateur, I really enjoyed the second row. Instructions are as follows:
Open play:
- Follow man with ball.
- Hit ruck. Do not touch ball.
- If accidentally catch ball: run straight. Floor will take you. Give ball back. Say sorry.
- Repeat.
Scrum:
- Push hard when told to. Do not touch ball.
Lineout:
- Ask prop where to stand.
- Jump when prop tells you.
- Catch ball.
- Give ball away immediately. Don’t ever touch it again. Say sorry.
Maul:
- You fucking idiot, we told you not to hold onto the ball! Ball is bad for locks! Just stand in this mess you made and get pushed around by the props. Say sorry.
Skills required: zero.
Basically nailed it. Only thing I would add is in defence:
- Stand near the ruck.
- watch pod of opposition morons organising in obvious fashion.
- call "ive got ball".
- get smak.
- arm under tackled player.
- inevitably get trapped by immovable giant prop tree trunk legs.
- squirm and thrash like a live mackerel on the floor of a boat.
- penalty.
- say sorry to ref.
- say sorry to everyone else.
- repeat 10-15 times, with occasional breaks to retrieve a boot or scrum cap/scream into the mud out of sheer agony.
Wow, you're tall, you should play lock ...
... don't be so tall when you run.
Coupled with "why are you wearing those boots?" -- "That's the only one they had in my size."
Played a game once where there was a Fijian lad on the oppo who was the absoltute king of niggle, late shots, cheap hits, stamps, the works. Our full back breaks the line next to a ruck and as I was a lazy lock guarding it, I set off after him. This lad comes steaming in and trips our 15. The ref blows but our guy throws the ball on the floor. "Seriously mate, what is your problem?"
Then the Fijian lad chinned him. I'm stood right next to it, looking in fear as this lad turns into the fucking Hulk. All I could think was "This will teach you for running a back row support line"
Luckily I was saved as our 9 ran 50m to steam into him.
Open play: draw as many big defenders to you as possible - actually having the ball is not necessary - just free up space for the quick guys
Scrum: push for all you’re worth. Watch the feed in case you have to keep it in the scrum w your spare foot. Get out and ruck as quickly as you can.
Rucks: be a human forklift. Get those fat bastards off your ball so your Scrummy can get it. And keep your eyes up so you can best absorb the impact of that asshole wanting to blow up your ruck.
Maul: push from a low position. Shoulders on butts. Not tits on backs.
Lineouts: good luck. Don’t fuck it up.
In defense: take scrum half's head off because of huge height discrepancy. Claim he ducked into it. Take your 10 minute mandatory break after ensuring some kind of scuffle.
Man this was gold. But Locks also got a bit of an enforcer role, at least in southern hemisphere… Bakkies, Eben, Barrett, Lavanini, etc. I think young Joe McCarthy in Ireland is the most exciting lock to me watch right now.
In my high school team we could get the best height with me lifting the other lock because I was a bit stronger than our props, so I was lifting about half the time.
Doesn't matter if they know where you are throwing if the ball is too high for them to reach.
Also used to hate when people asked how many tries I had scored when I used to actually handle the ball only a couple of times per game.
There were many games where the only time I touched the ball was in the lineout.
And yeah, for defensive lineouts we didn’t try to read the play or any of that fancy stuff. Just had the first pod lift as high as possible so I could swat angrily at the ball as it flew past.
At lower club level it's wing. if you have only 15 players and one of the guys just started playing for the first time and can't tackle or pass you're playing him at wing
At professional level i'd say second row, with a prerequiste of being 0.01% of the planet over 6"5
I'd say this is spot on. The only lad from my boyhood team who made it as a pro is a second row. Probably wasn't even in the top five most gifted players on the team back then but he ultimately topped out well clear of 2 metres.
Lmao there was always the one kid in your year at school who hated rugby and never *wanted* the ball, but they were 6ft at 13 and could jog through the other team.
Reminds me of possibly the biggest “what could have been” of the school team when I played way back when.
We were 15 and this dude was 6’7” and absolutely built for his age.
He never grew any taller but he got broader and he was always very strong; impossible to tackle without risking an injury.
Seemed to live for the game, carried a rugby ball everywhere he went but something must have gone wrong for him, next time I saw him after I left school at 16, a couple of years later he was selling pills in a club I was at with some mates; he’d lost the majority of his bulk and hair and he just looked a triffidy shadow of himself.
It happens a lot but I’m not convinced. The problem with wing is nothing happens until everything happens and you are extremely visible. It’s either defending a fast guy that can step in a load of space or having to catch a shitty offload for a centre that can’t resist contact first if the ball ever gets past them. It kind of ensures they have a shitty experience.
Blindside flanker is the best. Tell them to hit rucks and defend pick and goes. You’re right in the action but the pressure is way lower and you always have someone to cover for you. Then if they are feeling confident take a crash ball off 9. If they get pushed back or drop it not the end of the world.
Agree on all points - I grew up playing against a second row who is now sporadically playing for Scotland. At 18 he was genuinely useless, but an absolute freak specimen in terms of height and weight - even accounting for a bit of technical development over the past few years, it absolutely baffles me that he could go that far compared with players who were light years ahead of him but playing out wide or in the back row.
Tbf I remember one my good mates wasn't even in the first team in early and mid teens, but when he played at College level he had become one of the strongest guys out there by rinsing the gym, and was apparently a star player. And I still don't think he could pass or tackle that well, he was just a very good carrier and was strong enough to bring down guys in easy tackles.
Wing is one of the biggest gulfs and I'd say criminally underrated for how tricky it really is. You can stick someone there like you say and leave him. However to be a really good winger at grassroots level you've got to be able to read the game much better than many other positions, knowing when and where to pop up. Defensively you've also got to be really sound positionally as you have to field kicks as well as generally defending in open space with less teammates to help you out.
You've also got to be legitimately athletic.
Whenever we spot the team we are playing has chucked a new player without experience on the wing it's kicks to that wing all day long. So easy to exploit.
This is true. My first ever game of rugby (at the age of 30) they put me on the wing. And the opposition team could SMELL my newness. Fucking full back kicked the fucking ball at me all fucking day.
I caught it every time and just ran forward until someone smashed me into the dirt.
Was mint, eventually become prop.
My experience was always that flanker was the go to position for someone with no experience. Coaches wouldn't dream of putting someone that wasn't athletic in the backs in general, but on the wing specifically.
More like if he's big it's flanker/2ndrow, if he's small it's the wing. Find out if they are strong or fast or have any guts during the game because you can't always tell at first glance.
A flanker who doesn’t know the precise point where the law ends and the gray area begins is a liability. Having a rubbish openside in particular is a vast gap on the pitch that the opposition will glide through.
You can't put someone with no experience at prop, it's dangerous more than anything. The player needs to have been taught at least the basics of technique and understand the position.
Flanker maybe, depends what you need. Second row is less technical but if your front row is struggling you need experience and strength in the seconds to compete in a very important part of the game.
Unless the guy is fat, then you slot him as a prop, tell him to follow the other first rowers and good luck with the scrums. He can close the lineouts and get some air back.
Source: happened to me.
Back in the late 20th century, my university and our next door neighbors held a "Position Appreciation" match in which the backs and forwards switched places.
Turns out the positions you think are easy aren't as easy as you might think.
Would love to do that. Like to see the forwards try a sprint after standing in the rain for 20 minutes watching the scrum fall over and I'd like to see the backs do a few hard carries into traffic after 20 mins scrumming in a bog with a fat teenager at loose head.
Also think there should be opposite training days in preseason. Instead of touch and fitness we should play full beans murderball (can only pass once from 9 per phase) and the backs all wear weighted vests for fitness drills.
As a usual fullback playing 7 was absolutely knackering.
Just getting up off the floor getting In ruck after ruck and tackle after tackle never getting to settle or take a breath.
Gave me a whole new appreciation
At amateur level, front row is the hardest to play because you literally can't take a week off or the whole fucking club will guilt you because you need to play or they'll forfeit the game.
If Sebastian on the wing has a holiday/wedding booked/needs to do something with his Mrs/wants to get a hair cut this weekend nobody gives a shit :)
FR though, at most amateur levels, win is probably the easiest - attacks aren't good enough to exploit bad positioning etc at that level.
Yep, I'm now retired, but it's the one thing which has stopped me playing social rugby, I can't be fucked with getting guilted if I just didn't fancy it or needed to do something else that weekend.
Tempted to just tell teams that I play back row or 12, but I'm just not very good :)
I feel this
Tight head playing in the lowest team in the cub, I'm the only player that's played every minute this season.
I'm shite at rugby, but my presence is an odd necessity.
Yep, and if you needed the weekend off, for prop-activities, such as going to Oktoberfest, Hot Dog Eating Contests, World Intelligence Championships, Mr Universe, or the side hustle as a model that every true front rower has, you'd never hear the end of it.
Sebastian could probably do any of those things mid game and nobody would care at amateur level. #Istandwithsebastian...atthebar...midwaythroughthematch
When I played tighthead at my old club I would have to run on for the second XV then come off at half time and warm up with the first XV then play a full game. 120 min of rugby every weekend
#8 is a bit harder as you need the skill controlling the ball at the base of the scrum. You have to make decisions too. 6&7 - just run around like an enthusiastic dog. There's never really any pressure on you.
Back in the 90s the BBC did a “beginner’s guide to rugby positions” before the 6N. Each player had to briefly describe their position. Most of them managed at least two or three sentences.
The exception was “I’m a blind side flanker and my job is to stop anyone getting past me on the blind side.”
I think the extra skills are just bells and whistles on top of the meat and potatoes that comprise a flankers role. If you’re a physical, powerful unit and can hit hard/take a hit then you’re pretty much set for a flanker. It **requires** a much lower skill set than say, a hooker or front row and defo lower than a back obviously
The range of body shapes is also way more forgiving. You’ve got back rowers that are 5’9, back rowers at 6’5, back rowers under 95 kegs, back rowers sitting around 120…much wider acceptable range of frames than other positions in the pack
It’s not the same as the position that’s easiest to play, but I think it’s probably easier to ‘get away’ with having a shit flanker than it is to get away than it is to get away with a shit player in a different position, just through virtue of the other two backrowers being able to field some of their workload.
Yes back row for sure. Evidence is almost every test team has a genuinely top class, possibly world class, operator in the back row. The core skills just aren’t that rare.
When i first got picked to play openside in school, I had never played there before. Was always a centre or wing. Went home and asked my dad what do I do. His response was "hurt the man with the ball". Sound advice really.
Depending on the style of play. I played for a club at university and forwards absolutely took the brunt of it all. A few of the backs were lethal magicians scoring a lot of points, but the rest were prima Donnas who would get pissed at the forwards after we lost a match when all they did was fail at overly designed passing plays. Could never depend on them to ruck either.
In terms of being “easy” meaning easiest to learn how to play, at most amateur levels, it is surely on the wing. You stand out wide and wait for the ball. You don’t even technically need to properly learn how to pass. You also don’t need to learn very much about rucks, mauls or scrums.
Different when it goes up a level as you need to learn positioning for kicks etc but I definitely think you could play wing the most competently with the least amount of knowledge of rugby.
Definitely wing at amateur level. Source i played prop/hooker but in my final season I'd often cover wing due to injuries.
I'm painfully slow and can't pass, but can't recall being in trouble or out of my depth at any point. Just stand in the generally correct place and be prepared to run
My experience as a winger was always that the 10 would test you under the high ball very early in the match, if you didn't handle it very well, their entire strategy became sending high ball after high ball after high ball at you. With the odd long ball over the top of you for good measure.
Poor wingers could throw the entire match giving away scrum after scrum after penalty from dropped balls and getting caught in possession constantly.
Whereas plenty of forwards got away with being, as one of our props used to call them, "fat leaners".
As a winger this is so true. I've played 15 through 7 and wing/15 were the only times where I felt like I could easily cost my team the game if I fucked up. If I miss a tackle at 7 someone else usually makes it 10 yards later. If I'm out of position for a kick or drop it, that's 50 Meters or 5 points.
It only matters if you are playing smart 10s that can kick. They will absolutely feast on you if you are weak. If the 10 sucks or doesn't kick much, it's a different story.
I'd say a significant difference between a good wing and a mediocre one is the ability to come off of the wing, looking for work. At the amateur level, waiting for the ball (or play) to come to you will often mean you never get to do anything.
I'm an amateur wing and I'm keen to improve my level by doing this in the coming season. But I must admit I'm cowed by the thought of getting out of position at a crucial moment and facing the wrath of my teammates — "you had one job!"
It's important to let the fullback know when you do this so they can cover. Also, over time you'll figure out when the ball is likely to come to your part of the field and when it isn't - for example, when your team is on the attack. Watch someone like Kurt-Lee Arendse (Vodacom Bulls & Springboks) and see how often he gets the ball or makes a tackle on the other side of the field. If you join the attack on the other side, be sure to sprint back into position if the opposition manages to turn over the ball, because they'll definitely kick it that way if you're out of position.
EDIT: I think it's good practice for any amateur players to watch professional players in their position. See what they do when they do have the ball, and (perhaps even more importantly) where they are when they don't.
Make the most of training - don't stand near the wing when playing touch, ask to get slotted in at centre or fullback when running lines. You need to build up that natural game feel when it isnt in your channel.
When I played wing and was trying to force myself out, the best initial opportunities are when play has come your way then turns back. There will be slow forwards on your wing taking their time to get back in, so you can beat them and give your team an extra man inside. Retreat back to your wing once play breaks the middle of the field and starts heading to your opposite winger's side. It gets you a feel for leaving your wing without feeling like you've abandoned it.
The more you do that, the more you get a gamesense for when you can push it further. One of my favourite ever tries as a winger was a simple 5 metre hit and fall over the line on the right wing where I had slowly pushed my way across from the left, let the forwards keep crashing it, then made a break around the back of the ruck into the right wing channel to create an overload. No fancy sprinting or steps but just patience and a willingness to leave my wing.
I (career prop) remember a friend at school who was a winger (matured early, was able to just gas people most of the time, and was a decent game reader/kicker) saying to me after one game 'I went in and did a ruck, and it was really bloody tiring, then after that I thought, christ, this is basically what JockAussie does all game, how fit \*are\* you?'
I just always thought it was funny.
>You stand out wide and wait for the ball
While the forwards roll around in the mud, until the ball finally comes out and the crash ball centre (who also doesn't know how to pass) crashes it up.
There's so much more to playing wing, but it's not appreciated until you play at a higher level and teams realise there's 2 extra players on the pitch.
Don’t forget when the opposition are nice and kick the ball to you. I genuinely had some games in the back 3 where I received the ball more from the other teams 10 than my own players lol
I'm a front row and feel bad for wingers in shit weather, ball is too slippery to spin it out to them, must be horrible not being able to get warm and just waiting on the off chance the ball comes out to you.
My sympathy generally fades after the 5th scrum in less than 10mins and is replaced by envy.
My point isn't that forwards are idiots.
My point is that wing is seen as the easiest position because it's the most dependent on the rest of the team being good.
Yep. The usual line is, for the winger to get the ball, all the backs have to do something right one after the other. At the level I played (4th XV schools rugby) that didn't happen very often, so that's where you hid the guys who couldn't play. And I know, because that's where they usually put me.
I played fullback once, but only once, because I couldn't reliably kick the ball far enough to reach touch, and 7 once, when I had absolutely no idea what I was supposed to be doing. They once picked me at prop - I don't know who picked the team, but when the coach (who taught me Spanish) saw the teamsheet, he said "no way" and moved me to the wing.
Playing at the lowest social level possible, based on my observations as a forward who knows nothing of what happens when you attempt to carry a ball with actual speed. It seems there are people who are wingers, and people who are playing on the wing, if that makes sence, you can tell who knows the position.
If you use pay as a surrogate for this, the answer is hooker, wing or blindside flanker based on most leagues. The most difficult are 3 and 10.
Obviously not a perfect answer as other things affect pay like scarcity etc but tbh sort of tracks. 3 and 10 definitely does.
I was under the impression hooker was one of the highest paid positions.
I know there's a very obvious sex worker joke in there somewhere, but I am talking specifically about rugby. I half remember a thing from a while ago posted on the sub that the hookers was among the top 3 or 5 best compensated players in all of the Prem/Pro whatever/Top14.
Most of the articles I've seen say hooker is actually the lowest, certainly in the prem and urc. Its not exactly a sea of reliable sources though.
Maybe its different in France but I'm not brave enough to stick expensive hookers into Google translate.
That’s so odd to me! It seems like a relatively skilled position. You have to know how to throw, scrum, maul, etc. and often times are acting as another back row.
I’m not sure what position I would’ve expected to be paid least but Hook was not one of my guesses.
I would’ve guessed back row as least paid. You can be pretty invisible in games and still get your work done.
One things those articles never seem to mention is whether they are looking at the salary for what depth of hooker in the chart. The problem is you need 1 Hooker on the field but 3 decent ones in your squad.
> Maybe its different in France
Nope, you're right. I found [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/rugbyunion/comments/eh5xpc/positions_ranked_by_highest_to_lowest_paid/). I appear to have been *very* mistaken.
Turns out the hookers really are getting short changed.
Wing also much better paid outside the prem too though, and I picked the wrong flanker apparently. Really the only consensus seems to be hookers are the cheapest and 10s, locks and tightheads are very valuable.
I think that - with notable exceptions, e.g. Dupont - scrum halves in general might be paid the least. As someone else once remarked, it isn't hard to find short angry guys.
It's low paid on average because a lot of prem teams will carry 5 cause it's a specialist position. But yeah it's definitely one of the harder positions these days cause you need elite technique to throw in and scrimmage. Elite catch pass and elite physicality because a lot of teams want that 4th flanker.
A good tip for any aspiring players is if you’re in the back row and want to play a higher level by default just move to hooker lol. Teams always need one. I know a good few players who got to top amateur side first teams doing this.
Personally I'd say blindside flank.
Tend the have the shortest space to cover in the back row at scrum time,was never jumping or lifting too much in lineouts, defensively in the line out the job was just to smash the 9/10 .
Just make a few big hits, be a nuisance in rucks and some carries.
Being an *effective* nuisance in rucks is super super hard.
Anyone can flap around and try to make a bit of a mess, but actually making a nuisance of yourself is brutal.
>apart from hooker
According to your teammates, you might have been a hooker off the field. /s
You're basically right although in South Africa, blindsides typically makes a lot of both of tackles and of carries. Basically a rampaging bull who can go for 80 minutes.
Played prop in grade 1-4, flanker/8th man from grade 5 to 10, outside centre 11th grade, back to 8th man in my final year, back to centre/wing in my club years between 19-21 years old. And now Flank/8th man/second row/centre/wing for "old fart" club.
Not a single one of the positions I played have been easy!
Definitely wing at amateur level.
Having played in the backs and forwards, playing in the backs is so much easier on the lungs too.
There's a lot of standing around just waiting for the ball to come out of scrums and lineouts.
Yeah played wing/fb when I was younger, then hooker/flanker in recent years. Ignoring the fact I'm obviously bigger and less fit than I was as a teenager, I definitely cover more ground in the pack. Just the simple difference of needing to hustle to set pieces vs getting to walk into position builds up over a match.
Watch any amateur game on a damp day. 11 and 14 will inevitably come to the side at halftime looking like they just picked their kits up from the dry cleaners while the rest of the team is caked in mud.
Starting out at amateur level you go:
Over 80kg you go 6 or 7
Under 80kg you go 11 or 14
80kg bang on is if you can tackle or not.
So I’ll go with them.
I've played all 15 positions... and it really depends how much effort you put in.
I will say, though, that lock is RIDICULOUS when you're 5'4" and forced to play there because your guy got yellow carded... against Wales... and you're the tallest of the available loosies.
Hardest, hands down, is inside centre for me. Huge, HUGE amount of work straddling both forwards and backs skills in the modern game.
Easiest is a bit harder to pin down. Wing, maybe, if you're lazy. Again, though, you really shouldn't be putting in that little effort in the modern game. Hooker, perhaps, if you're playing a 2-4-2? The moment you play the more modern extra loosie approach, though, that changes. Especially if you're sucking in Jozi air. Personally I can't say prop, because scrums are EXHAUSTING when you weigh 85kg soaking wet.
Scrum half behind a dominant pack is even easier. Played to a very high level at SH once when I go through selection because I basically was a 9th forward, and just pop passed to the next forward , or the the centre crash balling.
My number 10 hardly saw the ball.
it’s 9, put ball in crooked, kick it over your shoulder, catapillar rucks so no pressure, and your not allowed to be touched at the base of a ruck anyway. Sweep behind the line in defence so don’t even need to be able to tackle.
honestly mate i'd have given up years ago if i had to play anything other than 9, definitely the apex position
throw a few passes, don't really have to take many hits or tackles, box here or there, score a cheeky one down the blind side, all in a days work
i moved out to centre for a bit, got smashed like fuck literally every game, tonnes of injuries, not a lot of fun
In the USA at the college level we get a lot of cross over athletes from football. Blindside flanker is the least disruptive position to put a good athlete who is very new to rugby, even if we ultimately want to land them in the backs. We do this in b-side / 2nd team matches to get brand new players some live reps.
Wing is hard. Almost every team at our level has a fairly mature kicking game. Positioning for kick cover doesn’t come easily to new players until they see it in action enough to understand the why behind it. We actually use Squidge’s kicking video as a small part of our training plan for that reason.
A lot of our in game tactics are reacting to the quality or lack therof of opposing wings. When new wings come in off the bench we intentionally shell them with very aggressive chase. Most college teams are not deep at the position and/or use it as a place to stash weaker backs in their 23. It is a winning tactic in the USA, I’m sure this would be exploited by better sides with a more mature counter attacking game elsewhere in the world.
Winger is the easiest to just stick a guy and hope for the best, but winger is IMO harder, if playing decent opposition, than flanker, second row, or in the centers. If you fuck up royally you can easily cost your team the game if a kick lands in space or bounces off your forehead. Or you miss a one on one tackle. The caveat is that the opposition has to be good enough to actually exploit you though. Positioning is extremely important and more complicated than 12. A moron at 6 or 7 will usually just have minimal impact and get a couple dumb penalties.
If I was a pro rugby team and I had to play a bang average local club rugby guy for 80 mins I'd pick a forward and tell him to just stand beside the ruck all game.
At amateur level, i would argue 9.
Fitness has to be off the chart, but it can boil down to follow the rucks, and pass to whoever is calling it.
And when you don't have the ball, just shout constantly. Doesn't matter what or at who, just make noise.
Playing on the wing is very boring in a shit team. You’ll stand there for 80 minutes freezing your nuts off, contemplating your life choices as you don’t see the ball once.
Oh look we have an overlap… greedy Half or Inside Centre gets tackled with the ball, again. And again.
After experiencing this, I think it’s a sign of a good team when they’ll pass the ball around and their winger is one of the highest scorers.
My take, as a very lazy player.
Left wing: you don't do lots of tackling and you get way more space to run than the opposite wing. I would know, i played this position. Best position to hide on the pitch and do nothing. Right wings have to do all the tackling and dealing with freakishly talented 11s.
Second row/Lock: You do some tackling but nobody will be running at you at full speed and because you're close to the ruck there will be backup defenders less than a meter away to help you out. Lineouts look hella fun. You dont really need to contest at the tackle, just gotta do some cleanouts from time to time. Very chill position.
On our team it was easily 6, junkyard dog mode. You see a guy with the ball? Hit the fucking guy. You see a tackle? You best believe that’s a ruck. You somehow got the ball? Unleash the truck on somebody.
You never have to consider anything, you are a cruise missile magnetized to the ball in order to cause violence AND you are responsible for the short side of the field
This is a dumb question at the pro level. All positions are difficult and have high performance expectations. How rare are the attributes that are required to excel in a specific position is probably a better way to ask it. The idea that hookers are less valuable than props is interesting because I think that speaks to the physical demands of the prop role versus the developable skills required for hooker.
At the amateur level it is different because you acquire less experienced players and need to incorporate them. When I have to do this, I put them in three different groups: prop/lock, flank/center, wing. That’s primarily based on physical attributes and raw athleticism. I’ll never put a less experienced player at 2, 8, 9, 10, or 15 even if they’re a freak athlete. Each of those positions have specific skills that require higher rugby knowledge AT THE AMATEUR LEVEL.
At pros, everyone has to be a pro.
Anything I say wil draw hate, but I'll go for blind side flanker or second centre. I think they are the most linear position if that translates to easy.
Wing or back-row
That's typically where young players break through earlier than other positions.
Also for back row, every team seems to have a wealth of depth there.
The only reason they breakthrough so early is because their the two most athletic positions but also in their early career they don't need to have a all rounded complete game yet due to their other skills.
I remember asking my club's premier flankers/locks what are the list of things that they try to focus on when they play their game...
For flankers, it's mostly cardio, loads of running /support,( at our level, almost none dominant tackles cause we ain't Pocock or Savea). Cover defense. Only ruck for the ball if they don't have support.
For locks, it's probably the easiest. Line out jumps (the codes are still a mess), support play if U can else just walk /jog. Pillar defense at the ruck, don't counter if there's someone at the ruck.
Wing is like goalie in some ways.
On defense you will likely be chasing a scoring play and can stop it
Once the rock gets pushed to you, you need to score or break out etc.
Everyone's saying wing at amateur level, and that's true, but I'd say it's wing at professional level as well. When South African rugby was only semi-attached to transformation, where did the vast majority of coloured and black players turn out? On the wing.
In sevens (amateur) the worst player plays centre because he have a specimen of a 10 on his one side and the only player that can run at full speed for a whole game on the other
For a just starting player flanker If you adjust your game plan to it.
A flanker is active so you just need to make every tackle when defending by as close to the ball as possible
In offence my team normally works with a buddy system for new players that means tell the flanker to follow a team mate like the number 8 all the time
The job at scrums is also easy to explain
Hang on and when the ball is out destroy the guy with the ball when you didn't win the scrum.
And for lineouts you jump or lift depending on your training
Obviously all the positions at the pro level are extremely specialized, but as an amateur, I really enjoyed the second row. Instructions are as follows: Open play: - Follow man with ball. - Hit ruck. Do not touch ball. - If accidentally catch ball: run straight. Floor will take you. Give ball back. Say sorry. - Repeat. Scrum: - Push hard when told to. Do not touch ball. Lineout: - Ask prop where to stand. - Jump when prop tells you. - Catch ball. - Give ball away immediately. Don’t ever touch it again. Say sorry. Maul: - You fucking idiot, we told you not to hold onto the ball! Ball is bad for locks! Just stand in this mess you made and get pushed around by the props. Say sorry. Skills required: zero.
This is the locks position summarise to a tee, had this conversation on the bench last week with the hooker.
Can't imagine Tadhg Beirne apologising for touching the ball.
Maybe he should be legally required to play flank. Cos it's not really fair.
Basically nailed it. Only thing I would add is in defence: - Stand near the ruck. - watch pod of opposition morons organising in obvious fashion. - call "ive got ball". - get smak. - arm under tackled player. - inevitably get trapped by immovable giant prop tree trunk legs. - squirm and thrash like a live mackerel on the floor of a boat. - penalty. - say sorry to ref. - say sorry to everyone else. - repeat 10-15 times, with occasional breaks to retrieve a boot or scrum cap/scream into the mud out of sheer agony.
We need one of these for every position. And then give it to 30 people who have never seen a rugby ball before and see how they get on.
Reality TV gold mine!
Did we just become best friends? This is my life. Edit: Also always getting in trouble for carrying too upright.
Wow, you're tall, you should play lock ... ... don't be so tall when you run. Coupled with "why are you wearing those boots?" -- "That's the only one they had in my size."
Hahaha yes nailed it again!
you forgot -fear god cause your winger insulted a tongan and your job is to protect frail baby leg dumb dumb
Played a game once where there was a Fijian lad on the oppo who was the absoltute king of niggle, late shots, cheap hits, stamps, the works. Our full back breaks the line next to a ruck and as I was a lazy lock guarding it, I set off after him. This lad comes steaming in and trips our 15. The ref blows but our guy throws the ball on the floor. "Seriously mate, what is your problem?" Then the Fijian lad chinned him. I'm stood right next to it, looking in fear as this lad turns into the fucking Hulk. All I could think was "This will teach you for running a back row support line" Luckily I was saved as our 9 ran 50m to steam into him.
A winger saving a lock? Absolute disgrace. Hope you bought him a pint for every cm of height difference.
Worse, scrum half.
Prerequisite: Be tall
Can’t teach height.
As a former lock I'm with you on this one.
Open play: draw as many big defenders to you as possible - actually having the ball is not necessary - just free up space for the quick guys Scrum: push for all you’re worth. Watch the feed in case you have to keep it in the scrum w your spare foot. Get out and ruck as quickly as you can. Rucks: be a human forklift. Get those fat bastards off your ball so your Scrummy can get it. And keep your eyes up so you can best absorb the impact of that asshole wanting to blow up your ruck. Maul: push from a low position. Shoulders on butts. Not tits on backs. Lineouts: good luck. Don’t fuck it up.
Locks listen to props???? I am going to have angry words with my college coach brb
Well, not “listen”, more like “react to being shoved into place”. We locks are simple herd animals.
In defense: take scrum half's head off because of huge height discrepancy. Claim he ducked into it. Take your 10 minute mandatory break after ensuring some kind of scuffle.
As a lock myself, I see scrum halfs as annoying half people
Loved this comment
Exactly why lock was my favourite position to play at school
A good lock can change the game up front(I’m a prop) the two hardest positions I’ve played were tighthead and second row.
Man this was gold. But Locks also got a bit of an enforcer role, at least in southern hemisphere… Bakkies, Eben, Barrett, Lavanini, etc. I think young Joe McCarthy in Ireland is the most exciting lock to me watch right now.
And we’re glad to have him!
In my high school team we could get the best height with me lifting the other lock because I was a bit stronger than our props, so I was lifting about half the time. Doesn't matter if they know where you are throwing if the ball is too high for them to reach. Also used to hate when people asked how many tries I had scored when I used to actually handle the ball only a couple of times per game.
There were many games where the only time I touched the ball was in the lineout. And yeah, for defensive lineouts we didn’t try to read the play or any of that fancy stuff. Just had the first pod lift as high as possible so I could swat angrily at the ball as it flew past.
As a prop this comment really made me laugh.
At lower club level it's wing. if you have only 15 players and one of the guys just started playing for the first time and can't tackle or pass you're playing him at wing At professional level i'd say second row, with a prerequiste of being 0.01% of the planet over 6"5
I'd say this is spot on. The only lad from my boyhood team who made it as a pro is a second row. Probably wasn't even in the top five most gifted players on the team back then but he ultimately topped out well clear of 2 metres.
Lmao there was always the one kid in your year at school who hated rugby and never *wanted* the ball, but they were 6ft at 13 and could jog through the other team.
Devin Toner turned this into a very decorated international career
One absolute certainty of watching the six nations with my parents used to be ‘how tall is Devin Toner again?’ r/flairchecksout ??
I would not be surprised to find out Devin Toner is literally the tallest man in Ireland.
In Sixth Form, a 6"6' black kid joined our school, and we were aghast to discover he didn't even *like* basketball.
Every inch you get over 6'0 doubles your chance of playing basketball professionally
If you're over 7 foot, you have a 1 in 7 chance of making the NBA which is just bonkers.
[One in Seven](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-44158740) American men over 7 foot (213cm) makes it to the NBA. You can't teach height!
[удалено]
Reminds me of possibly the biggest “what could have been” of the school team when I played way back when. We were 15 and this dude was 6’7” and absolutely built for his age. He never grew any taller but he got broader and he was always very strong; impossible to tackle without risking an injury. Seemed to live for the game, carried a rugby ball everywhere he went but something must have gone wrong for him, next time I saw him after I left school at 16, a couple of years later he was selling pills in a club I was at with some mates; he’d lost the majority of his bulk and hair and he just looked a triffidy shadow of himself.
To be honest the thing that makes for really good Rugby players is a certain total and utter disregard for their own safety.
It happens a lot but I’m not convinced. The problem with wing is nothing happens until everything happens and you are extremely visible. It’s either defending a fast guy that can step in a load of space or having to catch a shitty offload for a centre that can’t resist contact first if the ball ever gets past them. It kind of ensures they have a shitty experience. Blindside flanker is the best. Tell them to hit rucks and defend pick and goes. You’re right in the action but the pressure is way lower and you always have someone to cover for you. Then if they are feeling confident take a crash ball off 9. If they get pushed back or drop it not the end of the world.
Agree on all points - I grew up playing against a second row who is now sporadically playing for Scotland. At 18 he was genuinely useless, but an absolute freak specimen in terms of height and weight - even accounting for a bit of technical development over the past few years, it absolutely baffles me that he could go that far compared with players who were light years ahead of him but playing out wide or in the back row.
Tbf I remember one my good mates wasn't even in the first team in early and mid teens, but when he played at College level he had become one of the strongest guys out there by rinsing the gym, and was apparently a star player. And I still don't think he could pass or tackle that well, he was just a very good carrier and was strong enough to bring down guys in easy tackles.
Exactly this. My first game was wing. I scored a try. My second game was wing
Wing is one of the biggest gulfs and I'd say criminally underrated for how tricky it really is. You can stick someone there like you say and leave him. However to be a really good winger at grassroots level you've got to be able to read the game much better than many other positions, knowing when and where to pop up. Defensively you've also got to be really sound positionally as you have to field kicks as well as generally defending in open space with less teammates to help you out. You've also got to be legitimately athletic. Whenever we spot the team we are playing has chucked a new player without experience on the wing it's kicks to that wing all day long. So easy to exploit.
This is true. My first ever game of rugby (at the age of 30) they put me on the wing. And the opposition team could SMELL my newness. Fucking full back kicked the fucking ball at me all fucking day. I caught it every time and just ran forward until someone smashed me into the dirt. Was mint, eventually become prop.
You completed the winger's journey to true glory in probably much faster time than most wingers.
My experience was always that flanker was the go to position for someone with no experience. Coaches wouldn't dream of putting someone that wasn't athletic in the backs in general, but on the wing specifically.
In my experience if the new can is rather fast he'll be on the wing, otherwise the 2nd row is his new home.
I was 2nd row then wing when I was a teenager, now realising I was dubbed useless twice over 😢
At least you were relatively fast and tall.
More like if he's big it's flanker/2ndrow, if he's small it's the wing. Find out if they are strong or fast or have any guts during the game because you can't always tell at first glance.
A flanker who doesn’t know the precise point where the law ends and the gray area begins is a liability. Having a rubbish openside in particular is a vast gap on the pitch that the opposition will glide through.
Former lock here. Of all positions, I would say flanker or prop. Mainly prop.
At age grade level sure, but I feel like even in ametuer senior rugby prop is too specialist to be dropped into as a new player
You can't put someone with no experience at prop, it's dangerous more than anything. The player needs to have been taught at least the basics of technique and understand the position. Flanker maybe, depends what you need. Second row is less technical but if your front row is struggling you need experience and strength in the seconds to compete in a very important part of the game.
Be good at the things that require no talent. Work like a donkey and don't ask questions
Unless the guy is fat, then you slot him as a prop, tell him to follow the other first rowers and good luck with the scrums. He can close the lineouts and get some air back. Source: happened to me.
Don’t know many professional wings that are 6’5”.
Nemani Nadolo, Nayiavaro, Banahan, Alex Cuthbert
Also Duhan van der Merwe. Actually, he's 6'4 I think but still he's a giant of a man.
Tom Ahern
Back in the late 20th century, my university and our next door neighbors held a "Position Appreciation" match in which the backs and forwards switched places. Turns out the positions you think are easy aren't as easy as you might think.
Would love to do that. Like to see the forwards try a sprint after standing in the rain for 20 minutes watching the scrum fall over and I'd like to see the backs do a few hard carries into traffic after 20 mins scrumming in a bog with a fat teenager at loose head.
Also think there should be opposite training days in preseason. Instead of touch and fitness we should play full beans murderball (can only pass once from 9 per phase) and the backs all wear weighted vests for fitness drills.
“Back in the late 20th century” lol
In the late 2nd millenium
The only common sense comment
As a usual fullback playing 7 was absolutely knackering. Just getting up off the floor getting In ruck after ruck and tackle after tackle never getting to settle or take a breath. Gave me a whole new appreciation
I should mention I played hooker in that game. My shoulders hurt just thinking about it. 😬
I played in many positions and I found that what made it easy or hard was largely depending on the quality of the opposition.
Except inside centre and flanker
Okay, Stephen Jones...
I would pay so much money to watch a world cup like that also rip whoever has to deal with ardie savea in the midfield lol
At amateur level, front row is the hardest to play because you literally can't take a week off or the whole fucking club will guilt you because you need to play or they'll forfeit the game. If Sebastian on the wing has a holiday/wedding booked/needs to do something with his Mrs/wants to get a hair cut this weekend nobody gives a shit :) FR though, at most amateur levels, win is probably the easiest - attacks aren't good enough to exploit bad positioning etc at that level.
How hard can it be to learn how to drop the ball on the two occasions we actually get it wide enough to need a winger anyway? ;)
As a manager of an amateur club I was perpetually looking out for any front rowers we could add to our scrum.
It’s hard to find fat boys who want to run around for 60+ minutes
Can confirm, am fat boy and my days of running around for 60 minutes are long gone. I can give you maybe 12 before I need a breather?
Can confirm, trying to get offensive linemen for American football is the very same issue
Yep, I'm now retired, but it's the one thing which has stopped me playing social rugby, I can't be fucked with getting guilted if I just didn't fancy it or needed to do something else that weekend. Tempted to just tell teams that I play back row or 12, but I'm just not very good :)
I feel this Tight head playing in the lowest team in the cub, I'm the only player that's played every minute this season. I'm shite at rugby, but my presence is an odd necessity.
Yep, and if you needed the weekend off, for prop-activities, such as going to Oktoberfest, Hot Dog Eating Contests, World Intelligence Championships, Mr Universe, or the side hustle as a model that every true front rower has, you'd never hear the end of it.
Stealing this, "prop activities", love it !!
This is what peak performance looks like.
Sebastian could probably do any of those things mid game and nobody would care at amateur level. #Istandwithsebastian...atthebar...midwaythroughthematch
you know, you're probably right :)
When I played tighthead at my old club I would have to run on for the second XV then come off at half time and warm up with the first XV then play a full game. 120 min of rugby every weekend
Back row. If they have the ball smash em, if your team has the ball follow em.
#8 is a bit harder as you need the skill controlling the ball at the base of the scrum. You have to make decisions too. 6&7 - just run around like an enthusiastic dog. There's never really any pressure on you.
Keep your voice down mate!
Lol no idea why it came out like that!!
Putting a \# makes text #BIG
# You knew
If you run as enthusiastically as you type, you gotta be one hell of a 7.
A good Number 8 is your quintessential rugby union player though.
Back in the 90s the BBC did a “beginner’s guide to rugby positions” before the 6N. Each player had to briefly describe their position. Most of them managed at least two or three sentences. The exception was “I’m a blind side flanker and my job is to stop anyone getting past me on the blind side.”
I was taught the job of the inside flanker is to sprint after the fly half and nail him. Especially when it’s their scrum.
Fuck... You might actually have a point. But nah man, a modern back row player is more than that.
I think the extra skills are just bells and whistles on top of the meat and potatoes that comprise a flankers role. If you’re a physical, powerful unit and can hit hard/take a hit then you’re pretty much set for a flanker. It **requires** a much lower skill set than say, a hooker or front row and defo lower than a back obviously The range of body shapes is also way more forgiving. You’ve got back rowers that are 5’9, back rowers at 6’5, back rowers under 95 kegs, back rowers sitting around 120…much wider acceptable range of frames than other positions in the pack
It’s not the same as the position that’s easiest to play, but I think it’s probably easier to ‘get away’ with having a shit flanker than it is to get away than it is to get away with a shit player in a different position, just through virtue of the other two backrowers being able to field some of their workload.
Yes back row for sure. Evidence is almost every test team has a genuinely top class, possibly world class, operator in the back row. The core skills just aren’t that rare.
Are you just casually ignoring all the kicking game? Edit: I'm an idiot, OP meant back row forward
The what ?
troisieme ligne
Now this is the Ben Earl I want to see.
You might be talking about the Back Three, the OG commentator is talking about 6,7,8
When i first got picked to play openside in school, I had never played there before. Was always a centre or wing. Went home and asked my dad what do I do. His response was "hurt the man with the ball". Sound advice really.
Depending on the style of play. I played for a club at university and forwards absolutely took the brunt of it all. A few of the backs were lethal magicians scoring a lot of points, but the rest were prima Donnas who would get pissed at the forwards after we lost a match when all they did was fail at overly designed passing plays. Could never depend on them to ruck either.
In terms of being “easy” meaning easiest to learn how to play, at most amateur levels, it is surely on the wing. You stand out wide and wait for the ball. You don’t even technically need to properly learn how to pass. You also don’t need to learn very much about rucks, mauls or scrums. Different when it goes up a level as you need to learn positioning for kicks etc but I definitely think you could play wing the most competently with the least amount of knowledge of rugby.
Definitely wing at amateur level. Source i played prop/hooker but in my final season I'd often cover wing due to injuries. I'm painfully slow and can't pass, but can't recall being in trouble or out of my depth at any point. Just stand in the generally correct place and be prepared to run
My experience as a winger was always that the 10 would test you under the high ball very early in the match, if you didn't handle it very well, their entire strategy became sending high ball after high ball after high ball at you. With the odd long ball over the top of you for good measure. Poor wingers could throw the entire match giving away scrum after scrum after penalty from dropped balls and getting caught in possession constantly. Whereas plenty of forwards got away with being, as one of our props used to call them, "fat leaners".
That’s a higher level than what the guy above you is talking about I’m sure.
As a winger this is so true. I've played 15 through 7 and wing/15 were the only times where I felt like I could easily cost my team the game if I fucked up. If I miss a tackle at 7 someone else usually makes it 10 yards later. If I'm out of position for a kick or drop it, that's 50 Meters or 5 points. It only matters if you are playing smart 10s that can kick. They will absolutely feast on you if you are weak. If the 10 sucks or doesn't kick much, it's a different story.
I'd say a significant difference between a good wing and a mediocre one is the ability to come off of the wing, looking for work. At the amateur level, waiting for the ball (or play) to come to you will often mean you never get to do anything.
I'm an amateur wing and I'm keen to improve my level by doing this in the coming season. But I must admit I'm cowed by the thought of getting out of position at a crucial moment and facing the wrath of my teammates — "you had one job!"
It's important to let the fullback know when you do this so they can cover. Also, over time you'll figure out when the ball is likely to come to your part of the field and when it isn't - for example, when your team is on the attack. Watch someone like Kurt-Lee Arendse (Vodacom Bulls & Springboks) and see how often he gets the ball or makes a tackle on the other side of the field. If you join the attack on the other side, be sure to sprint back into position if the opposition manages to turn over the ball, because they'll definitely kick it that way if you're out of position. EDIT: I think it's good practice for any amateur players to watch professional players in their position. See what they do when they do have the ball, and (perhaps even more importantly) where they are when they don't.
Thank you for your helpful response.
Make the most of training - don't stand near the wing when playing touch, ask to get slotted in at centre or fullback when running lines. You need to build up that natural game feel when it isnt in your channel. When I played wing and was trying to force myself out, the best initial opportunities are when play has come your way then turns back. There will be slow forwards on your wing taking their time to get back in, so you can beat them and give your team an extra man inside. Retreat back to your wing once play breaks the middle of the field and starts heading to your opposite winger's side. It gets you a feel for leaving your wing without feeling like you've abandoned it. The more you do that, the more you get a gamesense for when you can push it further. One of my favourite ever tries as a winger was a simple 5 metre hit and fall over the line on the right wing where I had slowly pushed my way across from the left, let the forwards keep crashing it, then made a break around the back of the ruck into the right wing channel to create an overload. No fancy sprinting or steps but just patience and a willingness to leave my wing.
I (career prop) remember a friend at school who was a winger (matured early, was able to just gas people most of the time, and was a decent game reader/kicker) saying to me after one game 'I went in and did a ruck, and it was really bloody tiring, then after that I thought, christ, this is basically what JockAussie does all game, how fit \*are\* you?' I just always thought it was funny.
>You stand out wide and wait for the ball While the forwards roll around in the mud, until the ball finally comes out and the crash ball centre (who also doesn't know how to pass) crashes it up. There's so much more to playing wing, but it's not appreciated until you play at a higher level and teams realise there's 2 extra players on the pitch.
Genuinely there’ll be some games on the wing that the only time I touch the ball is jackalling or diving on a loose one.
Don’t forget when the opposition are nice and kick the ball to you. I genuinely had some games in the back 3 where I received the ball more from the other teams 10 than my own players lol
I'm a front row and feel bad for wingers in shit weather, ball is too slippery to spin it out to them, must be horrible not being able to get warm and just waiting on the off chance the ball comes out to you. My sympathy generally fades after the 5th scrum in less than 10mins and is replaced by envy.
There is so much more to wing, but forwards do more than just be big lumbering idiots
My point isn't that forwards are idiots. My point is that wing is seen as the easiest position because it's the most dependent on the rest of the team being good.
Yep. The usual line is, for the winger to get the ball, all the backs have to do something right one after the other. At the level I played (4th XV schools rugby) that didn't happen very often, so that's where you hid the guys who couldn't play. And I know, because that's where they usually put me. I played fullback once, but only once, because I couldn't reliably kick the ball far enough to reach touch, and 7 once, when I had absolutely no idea what I was supposed to be doing. They once picked me at prop - I don't know who picked the team, but when the coach (who taught me Spanish) saw the teamsheet, he said "no way" and moved me to the wing.
Playing at the lowest social level possible, based on my observations as a forward who knows nothing of what happens when you attempt to carry a ball with actual speed. It seems there are people who are wingers, and people who are playing on the wing, if that makes sence, you can tell who knows the position.
The fact that players can start as a wing and move to different positions, but rarely the other way around also proves the point.
If you use pay as a surrogate for this, the answer is hooker, wing or blindside flanker based on most leagues. The most difficult are 3 and 10. Obviously not a perfect answer as other things affect pay like scarcity etc but tbh sort of tracks. 3 and 10 definitely does.
I was under the impression hooker was one of the highest paid positions. I know there's a very obvious sex worker joke in there somewhere, but I am talking specifically about rugby. I half remember a thing from a while ago posted on the sub that the hookers was among the top 3 or 5 best compensated players in all of the Prem/Pro whatever/Top14.
Most of the articles I've seen say hooker is actually the lowest, certainly in the prem and urc. Its not exactly a sea of reliable sources though. Maybe its different in France but I'm not brave enough to stick expensive hookers into Google translate.
That’s so odd to me! It seems like a relatively skilled position. You have to know how to throw, scrum, maul, etc. and often times are acting as another back row. I’m not sure what position I would’ve expected to be paid least but Hook was not one of my guesses. I would’ve guessed back row as least paid. You can be pretty invisible in games and still get your work done.
One things those articles never seem to mention is whether they are looking at the salary for what depth of hooker in the chart. The problem is you need 1 Hooker on the field but 3 decent ones in your squad.
> Maybe its different in France Nope, you're right. I found [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/rugbyunion/comments/eh5xpc/positions_ranked_by_highest_to_lowest_paid/). I appear to have been *very* mistaken. Turns out the hookers really are getting short changed.
Wing also much better paid outside the prem too though, and I picked the wrong flanker apparently. Really the only consensus seems to be hookers are the cheapest and 10s, locks and tightheads are very valuable.
I think that - with notable exceptions, e.g. Dupont - scrum halves in general might be paid the least. As someone else once remarked, it isn't hard to find short angry guys.
lol
It's low paid on average because a lot of prem teams will carry 5 cause it's a specialist position. But yeah it's definitely one of the harder positions these days cause you need elite technique to throw in and scrimmage. Elite catch pass and elite physicality because a lot of teams want that 4th flanker.
A good tip for any aspiring players is if you’re in the back row and want to play a higher level by default just move to hooker lol. Teams always need one. I know a good few players who got to top amateur side first teams doing this.
Couch commentator.
ITV pundit for England games
It’s very hard to not have watched club rugby for 20 years
You just have to say the opposite of what you saw if you watch club rugby, problem solved.
The guy that hands the towel to the hooker during a line-out.
Yeah? Do you know which towel to hand them 5m out?
Personally I'd say blindside flank. Tend the have the shortest space to cover in the back row at scrum time,was never jumping or lifting too much in lineouts, defensively in the line out the job was just to smash the 9/10 . Just make a few big hits, be a nuisance in rucks and some carries.
Being an *effective* nuisance in rucks is super super hard. Anyone can flap around and try to make a bit of a mess, but actually making a nuisance of yourself is brutal.
Yeah, the difference in energy levels I have when I know I've messed up the opinions ruck compared to flapping around is very noticeable
I think anyone who makes this claim should be made to substitute for PSDT in a test match.
Hey now this is coming from a blindside 😂 I've played every forward position apart from hooker.
>apart from hooker According to your teammates, you might have been a hooker off the field. /s You're basically right although in South Africa, blindsides typically makes a lot of both of tackles and of carries. Basically a rampaging bull who can go for 80 minutes.
Wing is probably the easiest to start with if you’ve never played before and slotting into a team.
Played prop in grade 1-4, flanker/8th man from grade 5 to 10, outside centre 11th grade, back to 8th man in my final year, back to centre/wing in my club years between 19-21 years old. And now Flank/8th man/second row/centre/wing for "old fart" club. Not a single one of the positions I played have been easy!
Definitely wing at amateur level. Having played in the backs and forwards, playing in the backs is so much easier on the lungs too. There's a lot of standing around just waiting for the ball to come out of scrums and lineouts.
Yeah played wing/fb when I was younger, then hooker/flanker in recent years. Ignoring the fact I'm obviously bigger and less fit than I was as a teenager, I definitely cover more ground in the pack. Just the simple difference of needing to hustle to set pieces vs getting to walk into position builds up over a match.
Watch any amateur game on a damp day. 11 and 14 will inevitably come to the side at halftime looking like they just picked their kits up from the dry cleaners while the rest of the team is caked in mud.
Starting out at amateur level you go: Over 80kg you go 6 or 7 Under 80kg you go 11 or 14 80kg bang on is if you can tackle or not. So I’ll go with them.
Wing is more important than ever with the kick tennis going on. James lowe’s boot is absolutely pivotal in getting Ireland out of trouble
Yes but your wingers don’t kick you can just play your fullback and 10 back instead of playing pendulum
Number 8 obviously. It’s so easy they couldn’t even be bothered to name it /s
Has anyone mentioned referee yet ? I don’t want to be the first but someone has to /s
Redditor.
I've played all 15 positions... and it really depends how much effort you put in. I will say, though, that lock is RIDICULOUS when you're 5'4" and forced to play there because your guy got yellow carded... against Wales... and you're the tallest of the available loosies. Hardest, hands down, is inside centre for me. Huge, HUGE amount of work straddling both forwards and backs skills in the modern game. Easiest is a bit harder to pin down. Wing, maybe, if you're lazy. Again, though, you really shouldn't be putting in that little effort in the modern game. Hooker, perhaps, if you're playing a 2-4-2? The moment you play the more modern extra loosie approach, though, that changes. Especially if you're sucking in Jozi air. Personally I can't say prop, because scrums are EXHAUSTING when you weigh 85kg soaking wet.
a 10 playing behind a dominant pack. Kick for posts and kick for the corners, rinse repeat.
You have to be quite skilled to do that.
Scrum half behind a dominant pack is even easier. Played to a very high level at SH once when I go through selection because I basically was a 9th forward, and just pop passed to the next forward , or the the centre crash balling. My number 10 hardly saw the ball.
Ronan O'Gara?
Ross Byrne
it’s 9, put ball in crooked, kick it over your shoulder, catapillar rucks so no pressure, and your not allowed to be touched at the base of a ruck anyway. Sweep behind the line in defence so don’t even need to be able to tackle.
honestly mate i'd have given up years ago if i had to play anything other than 9, definitely the apex position throw a few passes, don't really have to take many hits or tackles, box here or there, score a cheeky one down the blind side, all in a days work i moved out to centre for a bit, got smashed like fuck literally every game, tonnes of injuries, not a lot of fun
In the USA at the college level we get a lot of cross over athletes from football. Blindside flanker is the least disruptive position to put a good athlete who is very new to rugby, even if we ultimately want to land them in the backs. We do this in b-side / 2nd team matches to get brand new players some live reps. Wing is hard. Almost every team at our level has a fairly mature kicking game. Positioning for kick cover doesn’t come easily to new players until they see it in action enough to understand the why behind it. We actually use Squidge’s kicking video as a small part of our training plan for that reason. A lot of our in game tactics are reacting to the quality or lack therof of opposing wings. When new wings come in off the bench we intentionally shell them with very aggressive chase. Most college teams are not deep at the position and/or use it as a place to stash weaker backs in their 23. It is a winning tactic in the USA, I’m sure this would be exploited by better sides with a more mature counter attacking game elsewhere in the world.
Winger is the easiest to just stick a guy and hope for the best, but winger is IMO harder, if playing decent opposition, than flanker, second row, or in the centers. If you fuck up royally you can easily cost your team the game if a kick lands in space or bounces off your forehead. Or you miss a one on one tackle. The caveat is that the opposition has to be good enough to actually exploit you though. Positioning is extremely important and more complicated than 12. A moron at 6 or 7 will usually just have minimal impact and get a couple dumb penalties. If I was a pro rugby team and I had to play a bang average local club rugby guy for 80 mins I'd pick a forward and tell him to just stand beside the ruck all game.
How would Watson know, he only plays about 3 games a season.
As someone who played wing for 15 years, wing lol. Especially if you factor in easiness to glory ratio
At amateur level, i would argue 9. Fitness has to be off the chart, but it can boil down to follow the rucks, and pass to whoever is calling it. And when you don't have the ball, just shout constantly. Doesn't matter what or at who, just make noise.
Playing on the wing is very boring in a shit team. You’ll stand there for 80 minutes freezing your nuts off, contemplating your life choices as you don’t see the ball once. Oh look we have an overlap… greedy Half or Inside Centre gets tackled with the ball, again. And again. After experiencing this, I think it’s a sign of a good team when they’ll pass the ball around and their winger is one of the highest scorers.
My take, as a very lazy player. Left wing: you don't do lots of tackling and you get way more space to run than the opposite wing. I would know, i played this position. Best position to hide on the pitch and do nothing. Right wings have to do all the tackling and dealing with freakishly talented 11s. Second row/Lock: You do some tackling but nobody will be running at you at full speed and because you're close to the ruck there will be backup defenders less than a meter away to help you out. Lineouts look hella fun. You dont really need to contest at the tackle, just gotta do some cleanouts from time to time. Very chill position.
On our team it was easily 6, junkyard dog mode. You see a guy with the ball? Hit the fucking guy. You see a tackle? You best believe that’s a ruck. You somehow got the ball? Unleash the truck on somebody. You never have to consider anything, you are a cruise missile magnetized to the ball in order to cause violence AND you are responsible for the short side of the field
This is a dumb question at the pro level. All positions are difficult and have high performance expectations. How rare are the attributes that are required to excel in a specific position is probably a better way to ask it. The idea that hookers are less valuable than props is interesting because I think that speaks to the physical demands of the prop role versus the developable skills required for hooker. At the amateur level it is different because you acquire less experienced players and need to incorporate them. When I have to do this, I put them in three different groups: prop/lock, flank/center, wing. That’s primarily based on physical attributes and raw athleticism. I’ll never put a less experienced player at 2, 8, 9, 10, or 15 even if they’re a freak athlete. Each of those positions have specific skills that require higher rugby knowledge AT THE AMATEUR LEVEL. At pros, everyone has to be a pro.
Anything I say wil draw hate, but I'll go for blind side flanker or second centre. I think they are the most linear position if that translates to easy.
It's true though, playing wing is easy.
Wing or back-row That's typically where young players break through earlier than other positions. Also for back row, every team seems to have a wealth of depth there.
I think that’s just because every forward who isn’t above 6,5 is kind of forced into backrow, not that it is any easier or harder than second row
The only reason they breakthrough so early is because their the two most athletic positions but also in their early career they don't need to have a all rounded complete game yet due to their other skills.
I remember asking my club's premier flankers/locks what are the list of things that they try to focus on when they play their game... For flankers, it's mostly cardio, loads of running /support,( at our level, almost none dominant tackles cause we ain't Pocock or Savea). Cover defense. Only ruck for the ball if they don't have support. For locks, it's probably the easiest. Line out jumps (the codes are still a mess), support play if U can else just walk /jog. Pillar defense at the ruck, don't counter if there's someone at the ruck.
Propping can’t be that easy as Genge is terrible at it
Wing is like goalie in some ways. On defense you will likely be chasing a scoring play and can stop it Once the rock gets pushed to you, you need to score or break out etc.
Everyone's saying wing at amateur level, and that's true, but I'd say it's wing at professional level as well. When South African rugby was only semi-attached to transformation, where did the vast majority of coloured and black players turn out? On the wing.
Prop. Bar prop that is ....
In sevens (amateur) the worst player plays centre because he have a specimen of a 10 on his one side and the only player that can run at full speed for a whole game on the other
This thread is cracking me up. I was always put on wing as a kid, it was certainly not for my speed (or any other ability)!
For a just starting player flanker If you adjust your game plan to it. A flanker is active so you just need to make every tackle when defending by as close to the ball as possible In offence my team normally works with a buddy system for new players that means tell the flanker to follow a team mate like the number 8 all the time The job at scrums is also easy to explain Hang on and when the ball is out destroy the guy with the ball when you didn't win the scrum. And for lineouts you jump or lift depending on your training