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.
MarkH
Guest
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.
mIckeym
Guest
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.
Westy
Guest
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.
Fly on the Wall
Guest
To put it politely, they come from a long way east of Australia and are possibly on a diet of KFC, Maccas and Hungry Jacks. But I also ask you this: is it fairer to have a 25kg 8-year-old playing against a 50kg 8yo (or even a team full of them), or to have a 50kg 12yo playing against a 50kg 8yo? Does the weight difference of the first case make for a potentially more dangerous situation than the age and maturity difference of the second case? While many old timers will remember the days of weight divisions rather than age groups, the huge influx of Pacific Islander immigration has made this possibly the most important debate regarding the future of union at junior levels. Will the vast numbers of huge Islander lads playing rugby affect the number of Aussie kids playing? From my experience on the northern beaches of Sydney, the Islander kids playing junior league seem to be a lot slimmer and fitter than the Islander boys playing junior union. Any thoughts? ache
mcxd
Guest
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
Matt0931
Guest
I'm in! Where can I buy my season ticket?
Atawhai Drive
Roar Guru
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
Working Class Rugger
Guest
mxcd And I thought my 8 y.o brother at 45kg was big for his age.
Working Class Rugger
Guest
Great story. Goes to show, its not the size of the dog that counts, its the size of the fight in the dog.
mcxd
Guest
65 kg under 8's ? flamin' hell what are they being fed ? creatine ?
Who Needs Melon
Guest
Ken Oath. I think I choked up a bit reading that! And you know what, I would have liked it just as much if you'd said that they'd lost by 5 tries.
JimmyJam
Guest
Fantastic story mate, made my day! Hopefully see some of those little blokes in a gold jersey one day!!
Brett McKay
Guest
Great stuff MickeyM, I love these kinds of articles.. If it wasn't for the reward of a form auto-reply (at best), I'd suggest you send it on to the ARU, but as another Roarer found out this week (Craig?? Apologies to the author in question), you're not filled with confidence that the message will get through...
mickeym
Roar Rookie
Thanks for your feedback guys. I felt compelled to write it after watching a replay of Saturday's game with my son. Towards the end of the game, he looked at me and said, "Dad, why aren't they even trying?" The season is now over for our boys. The ARU have decreed that at this age, we don't keep score for any game - but just try telling our boys that! So no semi's or finals for them. The boys are proud to tell me that of the 18 games they played, the won 15. And, in the very last game of the season, everything came together. The passing was great. Our bigger boys discovered that they could run. Defense was superb. Every single boy put together what they had practiced all year, and everyone had a blinder of a game. I was overseas, and missed that last game. But the first thing my son told me when I got home was "Dad, we were winning 11 tries to nil. John [our other coach] told us near the end that it is important that everyone on both teams enjoys their rugby. So we missed some tackles so they could score 2 tries. It was really good!" These boys have heart...
damos_x
Guest
now that's real sport! obviously we all love all kinds of sports or we wouldn't be on 'the Roar' but that was a whole lot more interesting than reading about Fev or Bazza or how poor the Wallabies are. good on ya's little tykes!!
Sam Taulelei
Roar Guru
LAS That's the incredible thing about kids, they don't have a sense of giving up. They just pick themselves up and give it another crack. As they grow and mature, that lesson either gets lost, forgotten or diluted for some.
CraigB
Roar Guru
MickeyM - Great post mate. If anyone knows how to "play whats in front of them" its the U/8 - U/12. They really do make you remember why we love the game in the first place. How about keeping us up to date as your team progresses??
Sam Taulelei
Guest
what a great post. valuable lesson for any team. thanks mickeym and good luck for the rest of the season.
ohtani's jacket
Guest
Go the U8s! That was a great story.
LeftArmSpinner
Roar Guru
I agree with you completely and MickeyM, there's more. you aint seen nothin' yet. in the semis, finals and GF's, their effort increases again at each stage, not just some, but all of them. If anything, the less well performed improve more. the wallabies have some real life lessons to learn. lets make sure that we provide the consequences of both their previous performances and lack of ticker and lack of care about the Wallaby legacy and purpose and not learning these lessons.