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Sunday, 22 May 2011 15:50 |
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GoffonRugby: The Late-Hit Problem in Girls Rugby |
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Columns -
Goff on Rugby
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 Dirty and dangerous play is bad, even if you don’t mean it.
For some years now, I have noticed a problem within girls high school rugby. I didn’t say anything about it because I coached a girls team from 2002-2008, and my team was on the short end of this stick several times. I didn’t want it to get personal.
But my time at the latest U19 Girls Championships, plus discussions with other coaches has shown me this is a bigger problem than just mine.
It is: hitting a try-scorer after she has scored.
This happens much more often in girls rugby than in any other aspect of the game. Generally it goes like this: a player has a breakaway, and dives in at the corner. A girl is chasing said player, and just after the ball is touched down, the defender comes flying in. She comes in knees first (this is by far the most common body position during this play) and strikes the scorer in the back, the neck, and the head.
At this year’s nationals I saw it happen frequently, and also saw a player touching the ball down (and not sliding) while a defender ran by her and smacked her knee-to-knee.
This rarely, if ever, gets penalized (thanks to an unknown ref in 2007 who penalized my team’s opponent at Nationals for doing this).
Why doesn’t it get penalized? I think referees often can’t imagine young girls can be dirty players. Others have suggested the refs have simply registered the try and turned their backs. What gets missed is, this is incredibly dangerous play. Even if it’s a mistake, it’s dangerous. Flying into an unprotected player a she scores a try, and driving two knees into her back, neck or head is very dangerous and should be stopped.
Why does this happen in girls rugby more than others? I think for a few reasons (and remember, I coached girls HS rugby for seven years; I know something about it): 1. Defenders like to be seen trying, even when it’s hopeless. The best way to be seen doing this is to run desperately (but hopelessly) at a player about to score. Then, to protect themselves, they try to slide on their shins. They are not interested in making a real tackle to prevent a try; 2. Coaches are busy teaching many aspects of the game. They don’t go into the minutia of how it’s illegal to kick a ball out of someone’s hands, or how to legally and effectively tackle to prevent a try; 3. Girls are generally not fighters. In a men’s or boys game, and even in an older women’s game, if someone hit late after a try, there’d be a crowd of angry teammates looking to exact some retribution. Some chest-thumping can be useful. Girls, generally, don’t do that. They gather around their fallen teammate to help her, but don’t seek revenge.
How can we stop it? We can stop it by having refs look for it, and having them penalize teams. A few penalties at midfield, and a few yellow cards can go a very long way to discouraging such dangerous play. One 15-minute session from a coach on avoiding late hits can do a lot, too.
Back in 2007, a day after my team had received a penalty for a late hit on a try-scorer, we suffered the same problem. This time, our try-scorer was kneed in the side of the head and had to leave the game with a concussion. I walked onto the field with the kicking tee, and asked the referee what she’d seen.
“Oh, she just caught a knee.”
My response is the question we should all ask: “Why?”
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Written by Alex Goff
Sunday, 22 May 2011 15:03 |
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Good Week for Scott |
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Blog -
RugbyMag.com Blog
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 It's been a good week for USA player Scott LaValla. Earlier this week the USA lock/flanker and captain of Trinity Rugby at Dublin University got to meet Queen Elizabeth II of England.
Her Majesty was visiting Ireland on a historic tour (the first visit by a British monarch since 1911) and visited Trinity College and met some students, LaValla among them.
Then LaValla led Trinity into the new All Ireland Club 7s tournament, which they won.
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Sunday, 22 May 2011 15:50 |
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GoffonRugby: The Late-Hit Problem in Girls Rugby |
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Columns -
Goff on Rugby
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Dirty and dangerous play is bad, even if you don’t mean it.
For some years now, I have noticed a problem within girls high school rugby. I didn’t say anything about it because I coached a girls team from 2002-2008, and my team was on the short end of this stick several times. I didn’t want it to get personal.
But my time at the latest U19 Girls Championships, plus discussions with other coaches has shown me this is a bigger problem than just mine.
It is: hitting a try-scorer after she has scored.
This happens much more often in girls rugby than in any other aspect of the game. Generally it goes like this: a player has a breakaway, and dives in at the corner. A girl is chasing said player, and just after the ball is touched down, the defender comes flying in. She comes in knees first (this is by far the most common body position during this play) and strikes the scorer in the back, the neck, and the head.
At this year’s nationals I saw it happen frequently, and also saw a player touching the ball down (and not sliding) while a defender ran by her and smacked her knee-to-knee.
This rarely, if ever, gets penalized (thanks to an unknown ref in 2007 who penalized my team’s opponent at Nationals for doing this).
Why doesn’t it get penalized? I think referees often can’t imagine young girls can be dirty players. Others have suggested the refs have simply registered the try and turned their backs. What gets missed is, this is incredibly dangerous play. Even if it’s a mistake, it’s dangerous. Flying into an unprotected player a she scores a try, and driving two knees into her back, neck or head is very dangerous and should be stopped.
Why does this happen in girls rugby more than others? I think for a few reasons (and remember, I coached girls HS rugby for seven years; I know something about it): 1. Defenders like to be seen trying, even when it’s hopeless. The best way to be seen doing this is to run desperately (but hopelessly) at a player about to score. Then, to protect themselves, they try to slide on their shins. They are not interested in making a real tackle to prevent a try; 2. Coaches are busy teaching many aspects of the game. They don’t go into the minutia of how it’s illegal to kick a ball out of someone’s hands, or how to legally and effectively tackle to prevent a try; 3. Girls are generally not fighters. In a men’s or boys game, and even in an older women’s game, if someone hit late after a try, there’d be a crowd of angry teammates looking to exact some retribution. Some chest-thumping can be useful. Girls, generally, don’t do that. They gather around their fallen teammate to help her, but don’t seek revenge.
How can we stop it? We can stop it by having refs look for it, and having them penalize teams. A few penalties at midfield, and a few yellow cards can go a very long way to discouraging such dangerous play. One 15-minute session from a coach on avoiding late hits can do a lot, too.
Back in 2007, a day after my team had received a penalty for a late hit on a try-scorer, we suffered the same problem. This time, our try-scorer was kneed in the side of the head and had to leave the game with a concussion. I walked onto the field with the kicking tee, and asked the referee what she’d seen.
“Oh, she just caught a knee.”
My response is the question we should all ask: “Why?”
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Written by Alex Goff
Sunday, 22 May 2011 13:11 |
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Every Inch for 80 Minutes |
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Colleges -
College DI-A
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Cal and BYU played yet another collegiate final of the ages, a game that was in doubt until the end, not always pretty, but always physical, and always compelling.
Before over 10,000 paying fans, mostly likely the biggest crowd to see a non-international rugby match in modern American rugby history, Cal won 21-14, and broke BYU hearts.
“It’s very difficult to take,” said BYU flyhalf Dylan Lubbe. “We’ve come a long way this year, but the whole game just turned on some mistakes. We made mistakes in their 22 and it cost us the game.”
“It was a heavyweight match,” added Cal flanker and captain Derek Asbun. “Every inch of the field was contested for all 80 minutes. And an amazing battle. We had some great performances and a full team effort, and we needed it. Jason Law subbing in, Drew Hyjer stealing lineout balls. James Bailes playing great, as he has all year. Just an amazing game.”
BYU captain Ryan Round was physically and emotionally beat up. Shaking his head as he removed the tape from his wrists.
“I definitely believe in our team; we put points on the board all year, but we made too many mistakes and they took advantage of it,” he said. “Too many set-piece errors. They defended well, and it was just a close game, a great game.”
The coaches, too, understood how tight it was.
“It’s tough and it’s a little bit disappointing,” said BYU Head Coach David Smyth. “Cal came in with a good game plan and obviously didn’t want us to get much ball. They kept it tight, went north and south, got numbers into the rucks, and got across the gain line every time. When we did get the ball I thought we were a wee bit too impatient.
“But all-in-all, the effort was there. The kids were magnificent. It’s just one of those games that’s a battle. You hope you do enough to win it. We didn’t, they did.”
Cal Head Coach Jack Clark had similar thoughts.
“We took away a couple of balls; we poached a few lineouts, and that really helped us,” Clark told RUGBYMag.com . “We got a big tighthead at the end of the game. But we were less than perfect. We missed touch on a penalty and had a chance to get down in [their] half with two, three minutes left and just sit on the ball. Then they run out of bounds, they give us the beachhead anyway and we miss the lineout.
“So it was one of those games where we were just not perfect, and we played our guts out is what we did. They weren’t perfect and they played their guts out. Somebody had to win, and I’m grateful it was us.”
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