There was something missing from the Wallabies team in Wellington. Most viewers could see what it was. But maybe the players need to see it for themselves.
You see, I help to coach an U8′s Rugby team in Sydney. Our boys, on average, weigh 25kg. They recently came across a team with a number of players weighing in at over 65kg each.
But our boys have heart. They have guts. And they have pride in their jersey.
Every time one of the opposition big kids received the ball, our boys stood up to be counted, and had a go.
Our boys were down by three tries at half time. They were bloody and bruised. They were exhausted from trying to stop rolling mauls, being driven by an opposition weighing almost three times as much as them.
But they weren’t going to let their team mates down. Weren’t going to let their parents down. They especially weren’t going to let their coaches down.
They had belief. Belief in themselves. In their abilities. In their mates.
And soon, the opposition realised that this wasn’t going to be another walkover. They hadn’t come across this before. They didn’t know how to handle it.
At full time, our boys came off completely spent.
Mum’s crowded around their little boys, fussing over bruises, stud marks and bloody noses. Dad’s shuffled around with tears in their eyes.
But it didn’t matter. The boys had had a go. They’d given their all. They’d supported their mates.
And they had won the game by two tries.
Perhaps the current Wallaby squad should come and watch next time the boys play. Because these kids have something that was sadly lacking last Saturday in Wellington.
These kids have heart.
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September 25th 2009 @ 6:44pm
Working Class Rugger said | September 25th 2009 @ 6:44pm | Report comment
Great story. Goes to show, its not the size of the dog that counts, its the size of the fight in the dog.
September 25th 2009 @ 6:44pm
Working Class Rugger said | September 25th 2009 @ 6:44pm | Report comment
mxcd
And I thought my 8 y.o brother at 45kg was big for his age.
September 25th 2009 @ 7:26pm
BigAl said | September 25th 2009 @ 7:26pm | Report comment
Is this for real? Children weighing 25kg confronting monsters their own age (allegedly) who weigh in at 65kg? How is this allowed to happen?
Courageous or not, these young players are being exposed to serious risk. Let’s hope no one gets killed.
I didn’t start playing under-age rugby until I was about 15, in the mid-1960s. Until then, we always played in weight divisions i.e. under 7st 7lb, then under 8st 7lb and so on. It was safer and we never had the nightmare of confronting giants.
BigAl
Alan Hill
ajhill@internode.on.net
September 25th 2009 @ 8:32pm
Matt0931 said | September 25th 2009 @ 8:32pm | Report comment
I’m in! Where can I buy my season ticket?
September 26th 2009 @ 1:39am
mcxd said | September 26th 2009 @ 1:39am | Report comment
without trying to prolong the week long wallabies abuse.. have a look at this article about a US fans reimbursement
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/coach-refunds-fan-after-loss/story-e6freye0-1225779120018
September 27th 2009 @ 10:50pm
Westy said | September 27th 2009 @ 10:50pm | Report comment
MickeyM Good article. Smaller boys have to learn to cope with the big units . Weight for age creates a logistical nightmare for administrators. However i am aware of some districts in rugby union and rugby league introducing or contemplating a limited interchange . This is important in junior rugby union and rugby league.
You see the smaller players often have much more stamina then the big units. by restricting the ability of unlimited interchange that is having one big unit replace another again and again as long as the smaller kids can hold for the first ten minutes or so the smaller more agile players make a comeback as the game wears on.
In some north QLD junior district league for instance they experimented with a limited interchange of 4 per game. this has led to the beneficial effect of dispersing big units among teams rather than concentrating in one or two teams. You lose if you have too many big unfit units in one team
This was done to protect smaller agile aboriginal lads from the much bigger Kanak and islander boys. You never want to lose skill . You need to let it flourish. You cannot have these players bashed to submission at 11/12/13/14 or they play other games.
September 28th 2009 @ 10:16am
mIckeym said | September 28th 2009 @ 10:16am | Report comment
When the boys first ran on the field, one of them said “I thought we were supposed to be playing the Under 8′s, not Under 10′s!”
But it was the reply of one of his teammates that gave me an inkling of what was to come – “Yeah, but if we tackle them low, they’ll hurt themselves when they fall over”.
Our flyhalf (pictured) weighed in at 21kg for the match. Theirs was over 60kg. But our guy had a go every time his opposition got the ball, and his mates joined him. And it was that heart that they all showed that gradually wore down the opposition, and won them the game.
At this age, I don’t think weight is a major problem (though the mum’s might disagree). In fact, by overcoming their big opposition, the belief in themselves and confidence the boys had, soared. It actually resulted in their next three games being by far their best of the season, where every boy backed himself with the belief that they could now do anything.
Hopefully, the Wallabies will show a bit of heart in their next game – which will lead to the belief they seem to be lacking.
September 28th 2009 @ 10:28am
MarkH said | September 28th 2009 @ 10:28am | Report comment
Great stuff. Post that on the ARU website. Those guys need to watch a replay and take some points of how to do it. Good on ya fellas.
That if anything deserves a pie and a coke.