What made Jonah Lomu so good?

Jonah Lomu debuted in 1994 at the young age of 19 years. He played 63 caps for Newzealand and scored 37 tries (and lots, lots more for clubs)! He attracted massive audiences everywhere he payed and has been accepted in to the international rugby hall of fame and more recently the IRB hall of fame.
Unfortunately his career was cut short first by kidney problems, which could of been fatal if not for a transplant, and then later, in his first match back, he injured his shoulder which also needed an operation.


Power!
Jonah was generally known for his massive build, strength and power! He's 6ft 5 and weighed 19st 10lbs, which, safe to say, was mostly muscle.
His incredible power is what defined him; what set him above the rest and basically made him unstoppable one on one (even 2 on 1 I think the odds would be stacked in Jonah's favor!).
The video below highlights his power and twice he breaks five tackles!

Pace!

Despite his huge build and weight he was still incredibly quick clocking a time of 10.8 of 100m's. Although he was more than capable of simply running through the defense theirs more than one occasion of him simply running round and outpacing the opposition; but most of his tries were a combination of both pace and power and this is ultimately what made him the try scoring machine he was.

Hand off!
His handoff, again, was one of massive of portion, if you look at many of his tries you'll see how well he utilizes it and how the majority of players who manage to get in close range are then unable to even attempt a tackle due to it. There's no doubt it was a big part of his game.




The rest of the package!
When people talk about Lomu they discuss and admire him for all the things I've just said above- and rightly so- for indeed he was a freak of nature in all those aspects but what people forget is that he was a rounded player and possessed all those skills which make a great rugby player and on top of that he had a great rugby brain and a unique  knowledge of how to beat a player.

Rugby dream team.

1- Andrew Sheridan. - This guy is remarkably strong, lifting 225 kg bench press and 275 kg squat he is near elite class.

2- john smit - 
111 caps for South Africa.
125 caps for sharks.
South African captain for many years.
I think these statistics speak for themselves and show that he defiantly deserves a place in this team.

3- Tony Woodcock - Supreme scrummager and probably the widest range of skills of any prop, i just had to put him on the team.


4- Brad Thorne - He's one of those players that no one messes with in less your brain dead, but that's not why i picked him, he's also a great player and one of the fittest out there.

Brad thorn trying to break through a tackle.

5- Victor Matfield - At 19st this lumbering beast is surprisingly nimble on the pitch and in the lineout which is where he excels and he is probably the best lock at the lineout at the moment, he is also a great ball carrier.

6- Thierry dusautoir - An underrated player in my opinion, his most notable feature is his tackling, the amount is both substantial in terms of power and one's made, he also excels in other area's such as running with the ball.



7- Richie McCaw - I've written a brief post about Richie outlining what i believe sets him apart and on reading its contents you might get the idea that I'm a bit of a fan boy, and you would be right!
All joking aside i see absolutely no other player who could go here, just an amazing player and captain.

Richie McCaw lifting the Webb Ellis cup.

8- Pierre Spies - Just an absolute beast and still incredibly fast for his size, an incredible sports man and one who makes yardage whenever he get he's paws, woops i mean hands, on the ball.

9- Will Geina. - I always wonder what sets a scrumhalf apart from any other, a great pass? great kick? great decision making? and ofcourse genia has all this attributes but in his case what sets him apart is that he's not afraid to run with the ball and infact love to and is a brilliant try scorer.





10- Dan carter. - Incredible kicker and all together great player and even though New Zealand managed to pull it off and win the 2011 world cup they defiantly struggled with out him.

Dan carter kicking.

11- Digby ioane - Defiantly the best out there for this position at the moment, at least in my opinion, plus he can do an insane dance celebration.

12- Francois steyn. - A very good player but the reason i had to pick him was because of this beast of a drop goal.

13- Brian o'driscal. - The thing about him is that he's clever and the phrase 'moment of genius' has become well associated with him.
Not only does he have those one off moments but he's consistent and is one of the top try scorers out there and has lead Ireland to victory many a time.



14- Jonah Lomu - It seemed every time he got the ball there was the danger of him scoring, he was just so big, fast and powerful making him virtually unstoppable one on one, I know that I've watched his video's many times to get pumped up before a game.

15- Israel Dagg - He's quite a young All black player and a very exciting one to watch, he's dangerous with the ball in hand and i can't wait to keep watching him and hopefully see him progress.
One of my favorite moments of the world cup was this off load from Israel, the picture of him below is of him just about to offload.

How to play at Fullback.

The fullback as you might imagine is positioned right at the back behind there team.
The fullback acts as a kind of  last defense and for this reason is very important, he's also there to catch any kicks.

Essential skills for a fullback:
Catching (from kicks).
Kicking.
Tackling.

Additional skills and attributes:
Passing.
Being fast.

All these skills are important for being a fullback and the more you practice the better you'll get.

Fullback catching the ball from a kick.

What the fullback does:


So as I've already explained when in defense the fullbacks main job is to survey behind the backs line being wary of any breaks that might or occur or a kick from the opposition.
I think a lot of fullbacks inexperienced to the position worry most about 'where should i stand?' but the answer both is and isn't simple, basically there's no right place to stand! You're working on your sense here, there are no specific rules, this may seem exciting to some player or daunting to others.
The way to decide where to stand depends on a number of variables.
So lets think of a couple hypothetical situations -

There team has just turned the ball over during a ruck and there in there own 22 meter line, what are they going to do?
Chances are there going to kick the ball but will there scrumhalf kick it or there fly half? You have to determine this on what they have been doing mostly during the match and also its worth looking at there fly half to see if he's dropped back to take the kick - it doesn't matter that much who kicks it but it worth taking in account that if the scrumhalf kicks it its not going to go as far as when the fly half kick it.
If you decide that the flu half will kick then you have to determine what side he's going to kick the ball to which is generally which one they are closer to so based on these variables you have to place yourself where you believe the ball will go and try to keep the ball in play.

It may seem complicated but its really not, if you know the stuff described above the thoughts will pass through your head in a number of seconds, especially when you grow more experienced you won't even have to think about it, lets do another more general one:

Lets say the opposition are in possession of the ball around about the middle of the pitch, the balls currently at the back of the ruck.


Quite a normal situation, what things do you need to consider:
Well first where is the ball going to go? Fly half most probably but what about the couple players on the blindside, are they calling for the ball? in any case you should be sure your in a position that if the ball goes blindside and they make a break your able to catch them.
The ball goes to the fly half as predicted, what are his options? might he kick, you need to be far enough back to receive a kick and where will he kick it, well most likely hes going for territory so you need to be standing further wider than him in case he kicks it towards the sideline - the position your in would be wrong if you're predicting a break but more often than not he won't get through.
He doesn't kick he passes it to his inside center. Now you need to start to come forward a bit as the threat of the kick is gone, you also you want to start moving more in line with the player in case he makes a break.
He passes to the outside center - now what, well the most likely outcome is that he'll pass it to the winger and so what if he makes a break, in this scenario you don't want to be inline with him otherwise he'll easily cut inside you so you want to give him no option there forcing him towards the sideline, you also have to be close enough to him so that your sure you'll catch him.

So I hope you've got a bit of a better idea of what to do as a fullback and what you're looking out for.

One last tip for a fullback i'd give in defense is not to ever be close to the defensive line in front of you because it they make a quick break and your a couple meters in the wrong position then they easily get past you so being further back gives you room for error but you shouldn't be to far back otherwise it give there player to much time to decide what to do.

What to do when you catch the ball from a kick.


In this case you have two main options:

Kick the ball back-
This is quite a safe option if you've got a big boot on you and is best used when you're deep in your territory like inside your 22m line, you need to remember to sprint after the ball because everyone else in front of you has to retreat until you go past them.

Run the ball back up the pitch-
This is the other option and is also good, and you can make quite a bit of ground if you avoid the first few tackles, you should be able to pass the ball to the winger- who should of dropped back- if you need to.

What a fullback does in attack:

Once again in attack there is no specific rules, some fullbacks like to hang back a bit in case of an interception but most like to join the line in or outside the winger and if it you do it well you can make quite the impact as an extra man.

Its a very fun position to play so enjoy!

What makes Richie Mccaw so good?

Not everyone agree's with Richie McCaw's methods but no one can deny that he makes a huge impact every time he play's and many would say he's the best openside flanker in the world!

He's also been awarded the IRB player of the year three times!

Richie McCaw lifting Web Ellis cup.

So what makes him so god damn talented?

He's smart.

I don't just mean academically smart (head boy at school and qualified pilot) he's smart on the pitch!

He's always seems to be where he's needed, whether that's clearing out a ruck or in support of a player, whatever it maybe, he's there making an impact; this come down to two points:

He understands the game.

This is one feature of him which really make him pip the top spot, in terms of flanking, for me.

Richie McCaw doing the All black's Haka.

He know's where he's needed all the time and understands what going on around him, as well as this he has a great knowledge of the rules which really give's him an advantage at times and it also allow's him to push the rules which not everyone agree's with, some call it cheating, some call it playing the ref but i just call it playing at flanker!

Almost every flanker does it and I personally don't see it as cheating unless its something outright and over the top and Richie just has that special knack for it.

He's very fit. 

This is the other aspect which allows him to be in the right place, making that difference.

I think getting fitter is one of those ways to immediately improve your game and is vital but seems to be one of those things many people miss out, being fitter lets you keep playing at a high level throughout the game while everyone else on the pitch are slowing down, making mistakes etc. it just really makes you stand out.

The master of turning ball over.
The amount of occasions I've seen Richie make a tackle, almost instantaneously get to his feet and get the ball is incredible and even with the new interpretation of letting go of the player before going for it he's adapted and still excels in the art.

He's good at rucking, tackling, running with the ball, lets just say he's good at everything!
He's overall i well rounded player and is always contributing to his team and basically just making life difficult for the opposition.

Rugby guide for beginners.

The guide for those very new to the game, this guide just outlines the very basics of rugby including:
- The players.
- How the game go's.
- Scoring system.
- The pitch.
- Set plays (scrums, lineouts).
- Rucks and Mauls.

Players:

can you guess where he plays? i'll help you, he's a forward.

There are 15 players on the pitch from each team, that splits into 8 forwards and 7 backs; to put it simply the forwards are the big ugly one's who do the hard jobs in order to get the balls for the backs so they can do there job - the fancy, try scoring stuff.

Obviously there's lots more to it than that but as you play and watch the game you'll understand more and more of it.



How the game goes:
The game always starts with a kick off- which team kicks is determined by the flip of a coin-, the kick always has to be a drop kick (dropping the ball and kicking it while it bounces) and is kicked towards the opposition. After every try the same thing happens.

The attacking team are trying to break the opposing teams line and make there way up the pitch towards there try line so they can score (see below).

The defending team are trying to tackle the opposition to stop them getting to there try line, when a player is tackled a ruck is formed (see below or link), here both teams compete for the ball and this is an opportunity to win possession of the ball but often the attacking team wins.
If you can't win the ball in rucks you have to wait for there team to make a mistake e.g. knock on the ball, give away a penalty etc..



Scoring:
The scoring system in rugby is quite simple, here's how it goes:
- A try (scored by placing the ball down between try line and dead ball line, see below- under pitch) = 5 points.

- Once a try is scored, team have opportunity to kick the ball over the post (called a conversion), if the ball goes through the posts = 2 points


- If a penalty is given, team can choose to go for a conversion, if the ball goes through the posts = 3 points

- The last way to score point is to drop kick (dropping the ball on the ground and kicking it as it bounces) which is used in open play and if successful = 3 points


The pitch.
A pitch is supposed to be 100m long but often clubs and schools don't always have the space to offer this but the boundries are always labeled the same to avoid confusion.
On the right below, is a labeled diagram of a rugby pitch, i'll start from the top label going downwards:



A rugby pitch with labeled boundries

- The dead ball line is a line that if at anytime the ball goes past play stops and either starts with a 22 meter drop out- basically a kick from the defending team inside the 22m line- which happens when the attacking team kicks it over or runs over the dead ball line,  if the ball is taken over the dead ball line by the defending team, for whatever reason its a 5 meter scrum to the attacking team; the five meter line isn't shown but its just 5 meters away from the try line.

- The try line is the line, in which both teams are attempting to get over in order to score points, if you get over the opposing teams try line and place the ball down between there and the dead ball line you score.

- The 22 meter line i have already talked about the 22m drop kicks when the opposing team takes the ball over your dead ball line but its also a line marked out in which, when inside of it, you can kick the ball straight into touch, normally when you kick the ball in to touch without it bouncing then a lineout is taken from where the ball is kicked from instead of where the ball goes out.

-The 10 meter line is marked out because when the match starts or a team score's there is a drop kick to start/restart the match and the ball must travel past this line.

- The halfway line is where the ball is kicked from on a start/restart and simply marks halfway.

If you were confused by anything in this section like the lineouts then don't worry, it will all be answered later.

Set Plays.
Set plays mainly happen either when the ball is kicked out of play (past the sideline boundaries), when it is knocked on forward or when it is passed forward.
There are two set play's: the scrum and the line out and i'll describe both of them in detail below, the same set up is used every time but different out comes always occur as both teams have the ability to compete for the ball.

Scrums-
Scrums is one form of set play and occurs when a player from either team knocks the ball forward (drops the ball) or passes the ball forward.
The scrum is made up of 8 payers:
             Prop (1)                    Hooker (2),                  Props (3),
 
 Flanker (6)     Second row(4)              Second row (5)     Flanker (7)
                                                     
                                              Number 8 (8)

Every player has there specific roll in the scrum and by clicking on the links above you will go to there specific guides and what they do in the scrum.

In the scrum the 3 front rows (props and hookers) will bind up together in there own way e.g. grabbing shirts, shorts etc.. and then once both packs are formed the ref will say crouch - everyone crouches- ... touch - props touch each other to show there correct distance away-... pause - everyone is anticipating contact- and ENGAGE! The two massive forces collide and push to win the ball.

Now once they have engaged the scrumhalf puts the ball in- the team putting the ball in the scrum have the advantage because the scrumhalf can tap there teams hooker to tell him the balls coming in so hes ready to strike, also often the scrum half feeds the ball to his team meaning he drops it so it bounces towards there side, i should mention this is illegal.

I mentioned the Hooker above, and once the ball is put in he has a very important part to play. His aim is to Hook the ball back towards his side (hooking is just hitting the ball back with his feet) but he has to battle it out with the opposite hooker, its very technical and often the one with the fastest feet and the best strike wins.

Line outs:

line out in rugby

Line outs happen when the ball is carried or kicked to touch, the team who take or kick the ball into touch lose possession and its the other teams throw.

What happens is the 8 forwards lineup, one behind each other, so there are two lines of players, 1 from each team, 1 meter or so away from each other, once in position the team throwing in the ball call out a secret code communicating where the hooker, once again playing a major role, throws the ball to.
The ball has to go straight down the middle of the two lines and the two players from each team lift a player in the air (holding him by his legs) in order to catch the ball.

Rucks and Mauls:

These two things are major parts of the game - especially the rucks.

Ruck:

A ruck is formed when a player is tackled, he places the ball back towards his side - he can then not move it or do anything with it on the floor or its a penalty-  and players (usually forwards) from both side step over the player trying to ruck (basically rucking is pushing, although not best done with hands and arms but instead shoulders and using the power of your legs) each other of the ball.

Once again these players rucking over the ball are not aloud to touch it with there hands and instead have to push over it so the scrumhalf can get it out and pass it