In honor of the women's rugby team rocking their Olympic debut and my high school team sweating it out at their first week of practice, I believe it’s time to explain what in the world a hooker does, what a scrum is and why rugby involves thrusting people in the air by their legs or shorts. So for anyone out there wondering what this football-soccer type thing is they randomly watched on NBC or for parents getting ready to watch their girls win their first ruck, here’s a cheat sheet. Hopefully this will help you spend more time cheering and less time asking, ‘Wait, what just happened?’
Positions
There are 15 players on the field at a time and unlike other sports, the number on your jersey is your position, not your lucky number or the one your mom was in high school. So first of all, lets go over the most basic aspect of positions, there are the forwards, and there are the backs. Putting it simply, the forwards are the brute force, and the backs are the speed.
There are eight forwards, and together their primary focus is the scrum.
The props
Props are numbers one and three, the first row of a scrum along with the hooker (we’ll get there) and tend to be the heftiest players and will eventually have the strongest thighs from all their squatting. Props usually advance the ball by shorter bursts of force and in defense they focus on blunting oppositions attacks.
The hooker
Finally, you can understand what your daughter really means when they come home and say, ‘Mom I’m a hooker now!!’ or you as a player no longer have to be offended when your coach says, ‘you would make a really great hooker’. The hooker completes the front row and as the numbers suggest, your nestle in between the two props. They become your best friends as those two squeeze you between them and hold on for dear life while they hold just about your entire body weight while you fight for possession during a scrm. Sounds dramatic and slightly intimidating right? It’s really not, your goal is nothing more than to get possession of the ball before your opposition does. Simple as that.
Second row
The two players that make up the second row are known as locks, they’re most likely the ones you see wearing funny looking scrum caps. These are to protect the locks’ face and ears as they are literally being smashed between the hips of a prop and the hooker. Their primary job is to chop their feet in the order to drive and stabilize the scrum forward and get the ball back to eightman.
Loose forwards/Back row
The three players who make up the back row are sometimes called loose forwards because they are only loosely connected to the rest of the scrum unlike the ‘tight 5’ who are bound onto each other. The two flankers bind onto a lock on each side of the scrum, right behind the props. While they provide stability and some driving force to the scrum their main focus is defense. If the opposition gains possession, the flanks immediately break off, let the rest of the scrum know to unbind, and go for the tackle. The final forward is known simply as eightman. In the scrum, they bind with both locks, one arm on each and push! Once the ball is won, their job is to either take it and run or get it out to the back line after reading the situation. If the ball is lost, they join the flankers in defense while the rest of the scrum separates.
The other seven players are backs, they tend to be the faster, smaller and more elusive ones.
Half backs
There are two half backs, both very key players. Number 9, the Scrum Half, or ‘scrumie,’ is the middleman for forwards and backs. They roll the ball into the scrum and then set up to receive it once the ball is won and get it down the back line. The scrum half tends to be one of the most skilled players, they have to be able to read the field quickly, have strong ball handling skills as well as agility, strength and speed. The other half back position is the FLY HALF, number 10, another crucial component to the team. You are the decision maker and need all the skills of a scrumie, kicking is a plus. During a scrum you position yourself off of the scrumie and set up your backs, ready to receive the ball from the scrum or get a defensive line set up. Once you get the ball you must make the choice; kick, pass, or run, plus you get to call plays for your back line. Both half backs are incredibly important and athletic players, they work together and without them, there would be no communication between forwards and backs, no perfect lines and no plays called.
CENTRES
There are always two centres, numbers 12 and 13, they are outside the flyback to be the link between them and the wings. What you do as a centre is largely influenced by the decisions your half backs make. You are there to support them and must always be ready for a pass or to chase a kick.
WINGS
The wings, 11 and 14, are primarily known for their speed, agility and elusiveness. You are always prepared to receive the ball from down the back line and take off. Just like the centres, your role is dependent upon others so you must be ready to read the situation and act fast.
FULL BACK
The final number 15, the full back. Full backs tend to be very skilled in that they must be able to kick, have great ball handling skills, read the field, be speedy and agile. Along with the wings you may find yourself holding back to defend a large area and do much of your decision making on your own as far as where on the pitch you should be.
Important terms
Now that all the positions are covered, we can move on to the basic terms you’ll hear in relation to rugby.
RUCK
A ruck form after a tackle is made and the players go to ground. Players from each side step over the ball and push to gain possession, similar to inverted tug of war. Once a ruck is formed each team can only join off the back foot of their players. You can not join from the side and no hands are allowed in the ruck.
MAUL
A maul forms when the ball carrier is held up by one or more players from the opposition and the carriers teammates bind on to them and drive down or up the field. All involved in the maul must be on their feet and moving towards the try line. The most common times for these to form is after a line out as part of the play.
LINEOUT
Lineouts are used to restart play after the ball or ball carrier have gone out of bounds. Each team lines up parallel to each other with equal numbers. One team throws the ball down the tunnel (typically the hooker) and each lift a player to catch the ball and gain possession.
SCRUM
A scrum is made up of the eight forwards explained previously. Each team’s forward bind to each other and then the front row of each team bind. The sir calls a sequence, something along the lines of ‘crouch, bind, set’ and the scrummie will roll the ball down the middle. Then the competition begins. The hookers of each team try to hook the ball and send it through to the eightman so either they or the scrum half can get it out and begin play. Scrums are a way to restart play after an infraction.
Scoring
The last basic anyone should know before their first rugby match is how scoring works.
TRY
A try is the equivalent of a touch down in football except for it to count you must physically touch it down under control in the try zone. A try is worth five points and you get a chance at a conversion kick.
KICKS
A conversion kick is worth two points and must be taken straight back from where the ball was touched down. This means it is in the best interest of the team to score as close to the goal post as possible. A penalty kick can be taken off various infractions and is worth three points.
Of course there is more too it, rugby can be a complex game, especially for those who are so unfamiliar with it. Rucking, mauling and scrumming sound like jibberish to many Americans as the game is just starting to gain popularity. Make sure you give it a shot though, as confusing as it may seem it truly is an amazing sport. Take some time to catch up on the Olympics and make sure you get out to cheer on a game this fall for the girls season, just don’t forget your cheat sheet.
