Other sports that rugby should steal their U21s from
Roar Pro
By Peter Karvinen, 12 Jun 2008 The Crowd is a Roar Pro
Ignoring rugby league, where this is a well-known quantity, I was thinking about specific athletic skills required for different positions in rugby and in what sports they could be found for recruitment.
For props, you want both upper and lower body strength. Explosive power, but with some agility. And for them to not be muscle bound. I feel the obvious ones like power lifting and weight lifting would not be agile enough.
The sports I would target for rugby recruitment would be hammer and discuss throwers.
You want hookers to be more agile than props, so I would choose javelin throwers.
Locks need height, flexibility and hand eye coordination. One obvious sport would be basketball, but I would also look at AFL forwards (like Barry Hall), volleyballers, and pole vaulters.
For numbers 6 and 8, you want hard tacklers, guys who are good on their feet, are big and strong, and have reasonable pace. The standout for me would be college gridiron, players that do not make it to pro level. In particular, the Safeties and Tight Ends. In general, these guys are about the size and pace of Jonah Lomu.
For number 7, you need strength, flexibility and courage. I would look at gymnastics. These guys would have no problem getting off the ground quick, and would be able to get into position to pinch a ball.
At centre you need a strong runner, who is able to break tackles and go over the advantage line. From gridiron again, I would look at running backs. From athletics, I would look at decathletes.
On the wing you want pace and lots of it. This would obviously suit sprinters from athletics or wide receivers in gridiron.
For fullback, you want someone to be able to catch high balls, kick them a long way, and have good pace. My pick would be AFL players, probably those playing in the midfield
I have not been able to work out the best sports for scrumhalves (halfbacks), flyhalfs (5/8′s), or inside centre.
Maybe others can work these out for me.
These athletes could be put into the rugby sports academy for 18 months to see if their skills can translate to rugby.
It would be at a small cost. There are, for instance, plenty of really good basketball and gridiron players that do not make it to the professional leagues and therefore do not have many other alternatives.
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ozxile said | June 12th 2008 @ 8:38am | Report comment
Having coached university-level rugby novices for many years here in the US I can tell you without any equivocation that a good shortstop from baseball is almost 100% certain to be a good scrum-half. They are invariably good athletes, have good vision, can move and pass both ways (once oriented to the game and taught what a pass looks like), tend to be gutsy (not afraid to get in front and block base runners), and seem to have some innate skill for getting the rest of the team organized. I don’t know or really care much about baseball so have no particular insight as to why the position attracts such athletes, but I know what I have seen and worked with – steal a shortstop!
Mac said | June 12th 2008 @ 10:13am | Report comment
How about Pie Eating Contest winners?
They wouldn’t get as much action but the rest might do them some good.
USRugbyFan said | June 12th 2008 @ 11:16am | Report comment
I think for 6 & 8, linebackers would be a better bet. They are almost always bigger than safeties and tight ends, and have the ideal body type for loose forward.
stillmissit said | June 12th 2008 @ 11:46am | Report comment
I have ref’d a local school team a couple of times and they have a tall kid who has just started to play rugby in the last 3 weeks. He steps beautifully off both feet and tackles well. Breaks lines and is capable of scoring tries.
Good sportspeople can be generally good at most sports the big difference in rugby is the risk and the contact. You need to have guts and good bone structure. If you have both of these you can be good at rugby.
JohnB said | June 12th 2008 @ 11:57am | Report comment
Heavyweight judo players and greco roman wrestlers would have to be value as front rowers. Olympic weightlifters who were too tall to get to the Olympics would be worth a look in plenty of positions – just incredibly strong, and contrary to your perceptions flexible and (with the possible exception of the superheavyweights) very agile. Boxers or MMA fighters would bring a lot of qualities. And if you’re looking for strength, agility etc – gymnasts who grow too tall to get to the Olympics. Decathletes might be worthwhile. And for a left field call – if you want people to jump or lift in the lineouts – ex ballet dancers
stillmissit said | June 12th 2008 @ 12:02pm | Report comment
JohnB – great idea made me nearly choke on my coffee. Would love to see a team of ex ballet dancers they would put the fear of christ up most rugby teams.
Mark H said | June 12th 2008 @ 12:05pm | Report comment
I recon Basketballers as backrowers? Have you seen the size of some of the lads in the USA?? I was there recently speaking with a few guys about Rugby. They love it but its just not around for them to involve themselves. Basketballers. Thats my tip.
JohnB said | June 12th 2008 @ 12:10pm | Report comment
stillmissit – was a half serious suggestion! Not one I expect to see followed up, but the height a good male dancer can leap, and the amount of lugging around of ballerinas they do, there’s something to be learned there!
stillmissit said | June 12th 2008 @ 12:31pm | Report comment
JohnB – Wouldn’t mind lugging around the ballerina’s but the high leaps are beyond me these days.
good stuff John! we need radical thinkers on the site.
Ben C said | June 12th 2008 @ 3:31pm | Report comment
Mark H
Going back a few years before he retired I always thought Karl Malone, aka the Mailman, from the Utah Jazz basketball team would make a great second rower. Unlikely a lot of spindly players Karl was built pretty solid at 6’9″, 115 kg and with a reputed 28 inch vertical jump. He was pretty durable missing only a few games in a long career, about 14 years of so from memory.
Ben