A curriculum for Australian rugby

Guy at school did ballet. No one made fun of him as he was built like a brick sh1thouse. Strongest legs of anyone I've played against and the dude could step too.

Just like the test side than?

As a coach of a junior rep team and a couple of club sides, I believe the basic curriculum is there, but coaches are uninterested in following it. Under 11 and 13 coaches are coaching to win games, rather than teach the skills of the game. We get players trialling for rep programs who are missing basic requisite skills, but do one or two things really well. In their club teams, tactics built around that strength. The weaknesses are hidden and aren't addressed. No-one asks questions if the team wins.

Harry what was Matfield,Eztebeth,De Villiers good at. I heard Kepler Wessels was good at tennis.

Thanks Liam. imo the number one talent to grow for the next generation is club administration, followed very closely by coaches.

I will post a Wallabies 1st XV however i immediately concede there is simply no way this will be selected, due to lack of experience in a world cup year. 1. Sio - Despite Slipper's relatively sound open field play, you cant simply sweep poor scrummaging under the table as an international loosehead, and Sio has been the best front rower to date from Australia 2. Moore (c) 3. Kepu - would have liked this to be someone else, but probably the best Aus has. Although his performance in his 50th international cap last year says that when the motivation is there, he can be a handful. 4 - Skelton - has matured so well this year, lineout jumping remains a problem, but he decimated a strong Hurricanes D line last weekend. Is getting fitter and fitter too. 5 - Fardy - Always fancied him more as a second rower, it was that position that got him into the Wallabies in 2013 anyway. 6 - Higginbotham - A wonder how he is never there, the most mongrel like Australian forward going around at the moment. Needs to curb his temper, but that is something Cheika has proven he can fix. 7 - Pocock - with the abrasiveness and lineout prowess of the other two, he can be left to play a traditional number seven game. Probably the best defensive seven in the world. 8 - Palu - Run and tackle hard, and leave the breakdown technicalities to Pocock. More size to the pack. 9 - Genia - this is ONLY on reputation, but he isnt at an age yet where we can safely say he is past it. 10 - Cooper - man that hurts to say, would be Oconnor if he actually got any time there. 11 - Oconnor - looks hungry and in good form for the Reds, we know he is class at the top level. 12 - Toomua - best back bar only Kuridrani on the norhtern tour last year. Was a star against Ireland. 13. Kuridrani 14 - Speight - It's frightening to think what he and Folau could accomplish running off a strong forward effort 15 - Folau

i agree Harry, Dan Carter whilst growing up made both Canterbury and NZ second grade whilst at school, as he played second fiddle to none other than Brendon McCullum. Israel Dagg is another example who excelled at a multiplicity of sports, and in the end was forced ot make a choice between rugby and cricket. Not only physically rewarding ie footwork and ball skills as you alluded to, but allows an individual to excel in a team dynamic. Playing a variety of sports means one is quicker to learn that the team chemistry is the most important part in winning, meaning everyone must play their role. Makes for a much better foundation when specialisation occurs at a later age.

Think that should be point 1

Liam Football developed a National C a few years back and spent a lot of money on it ... then implemented in their coaching academies which number I think about 130 Australia wide .. plus private schools etc ... it goes right down to the 800 odd park teams as well but is taught at the National Premier League level which is the top 100 state teams... Here are a couple of links they may be of some use to Rugby ... About the FFA National Curriculum i.e. what it is roughly one page.. http://www.footballnsw.com.au/index.php?id=149&tx_ttnews%5Byear%5D=2013&tx_ttnews%5Bmonth%5D=09&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=8296&cHash=e51f7368e5bbc13e87c23f4e21c7771e FFA National Curriculum 44 pages http://www.myfootballclub.com.au/fileadmin/user_upload/National_Coaching_Curriculum/NationalCoachingCurriculum.pdf

Good post. Your first point needs to be layered with another aspects - there needs to be a some strong technique sessions at a very early age. we tend to let poor technique go for too long (most kids don't tackle until they are 8 - and then their Mum's get scared). Gamifying techniques or "player-centric" coaching is vital to keeping people interested but it is so much harder to unlearn a poor technique that has been ingrained since childhood. Regardling point 4 - absolutely right. I was lucky I grew up a leaguie (so learnt to tackle), played volleyball, basketball, cricket, soccer, swimming growing up, even mixed netball! I found rugby at University and never looked back - all of those other sports helped somewhere from technique, fitness, communication and simply not getting stale. Let's hope ARU progress this thinking.

"4. A three-season year to encourage youth participation in many sports" I grew up playing Australian football on Saturdays and rugby league on Sundays. When I went to Uni, I played rugby union. I found that Australian football taught me how to catch at kick off's, 22's, general play and line outs. It also taught me how to kick properly, receive and return. How to read the play and position yourself was yet another benefit. Rugby league had taught me how to tackle properly and how to take a hit, both in attack and defence. Playing the other two codes gave me a great skill set to use later in rugby union.

One of the problems with regard to scouting at teen age levels is that by the very nature that a boy is dominating athletically at say 15 or 16 is probably an indicator that he is peeking physically.Often they are maxed out and never improve when they progress to senior level. The trick is to find the boys with skill level but are not peeking physically until early 20s because they have the most upside. Playing a variety of sports is the way to go. In my time at one of the best know sporting schools in Australia boys competed in cricket, track and field, some played basketball, tennis and rowing. When rugby season came around they were already fit but fresh to take on the rugby season laden with skill and competitive spirit . Variety in sport keeps the mind fresh it gives a foundation in sports so that once rugby is finished with you can continue to play other sports so there are multiple benefits for later in life as well. The next thing we need to do is to filter talent through club football where they have to come through the grades and prove they are up to it. This is what used to happen before the advent of professionalism and has the added advantage of encouraging those who are not picked in underage rep teams to keep trying and competing against those who are. This deepens our talent pool. We also need to set aside some of the money the players and their agents are getting to filter down to the clubs, schools and junior clubs who produce the finished product. No player is born a professional player. They all owe their skills to school teachers, junior coaches class mates neighboring kids etc who inspired and taught them the game. So the money needs to go much deeper into the system. None of the above suggestion w ill be any good to Australian rugby if the wrong scouts are calling the shots or the wrong selectors are picking the under age teams or the wrong teachers are the selected coaches at schools and junior clubs and these are the areas where the talented kids fall thorough the cracks.

Good thoughts. I think the 'Games For Understanding' thing is a bit overdone. It needs to be balanced with a prescriptive approach or the technical nuances are not properly developed. That is one of the problems in Australian rugby - poor technique. Your third point is spot on.

5. Play the game for enjoyment and have fun

Does "planking" also provide benefits for rugby players? If so then I'm going to clear the carpet pronto.

yea like ballet

That's the ultimate goal but you need to learn other skills and general movement that other sports provide.

Why would anyone play anything other than rugby?

'1. A ‘games for understanding’ training approach in developing skill 2. Confidence in contact 3. Promotion of skill development, not winning 4. A three-season year to encourage youth participation in many sports A ‘games for understanding’ approach to skill development means that coaches use lots of small-sided and open-ended games to develop players’ skills. These not only develop skills, especially in catch and pass, they also promote decision-making, creative thinking, offloading, track and tackle, and work at the tackle contest. These are general rugby skills, not position-specific, that all players should be coached in. To promote confidence in contact we need to have kids playing against other kids of similar size and ability. This will help the remove the perception that rugby is a game where kids will get hurt because they’re bashing into kids who are much bigger. This is especially relevant through the 11 to 14 year age groups, where growth spurts can cause major discrepancies in size. The promotion of skill development over winning through these age groups is also very important. Many coaches encourage their team to throw it to the biggest kid in the team, who steamrolls them forward and often over the try line. This affects skill development because the ‘win at all cost’ mentality promotes the bigger and more powerful players over the top of coaching players’ tactical skills. The fourth point may cause most controversy, as it would require cooperation from youth sporting bodies across the country. Players in youth sport up until 15 or 16 should be playing a variety of different sports to experience different games and develop varied athletic skills. Only once players reach 15 or 16 should they begin to specialise in a single sport and focus their attention.' I have already posted several times and an actual article in how Ireland and England have addressed this. The template is there but typically the ARU will still stick their heads in the sand or try and reinvent the wheel.

That's actively encouraged by the IRFU. Not all GAA and Soccer coaches are keen on kids playing Rugby though. The biggest impediment at older age is homework. My teachers were huge on it too much so and now I hear that boys are doing Rugby four days a week perhaps preparing just to play in one side. I remember we only did Rugby twice a week in organised training. You did your weights, kicking practice, swimming, etc in your own time.