RUGBY.

Dominion, Volume 16, Issue 154, 17 March 1923, Page 16

RUGBY.

(By

“Five-eighths.”)

HOW TO BECOME A GREAT PLAYER

FIRST PRINCIPLES The football season is on us. Are U'e yoing to make a big effort to get back our lost prestige in the game, and raise the standard of our play to its pre-war level t How can we do this! By no better means than an appeal to the juniors, the young fry, to whom New Zealand will have to look in the future for material to worthily represent us on the internationaC playingfields. It is wiTh such a purpose that a series of articles have been prepared, dealing with the principles of Rugby, ■methods of training and practice, footwork, passing, kicking, scrummaging, attack and defence, and tactical problems, with the most effective and expeditious method's of solution.

Every schoolboy or young man can be his own trainer, so long as he puts his mind on to his subject, and. tries honestly to get fit and keep fit for Rugby. It is a golden rule not to eat between meals and thereby give yourdigestion a chance to cope with the food you eat at meal time. If you arc a cigaiette smoker, you will find it difficult to give over the habit, but it. must be given over; wind, is spoiled by any kind of smoking.

A simple method of training is to take a series of steady runs of evenings, after the day’s work is done and dinner is fully digested. This is the best way of regaining lung power after the lon|g period of slackness in summer. Once the season has commenced, however, the long runs may be dispensed with, and the skipping rope used to acquire speed in the sprints that are the greatest asset in Rugby. There are plenty of open places for practising sprinting —fifty yards is sufficient —and, if you can get a mate a little faster than yourself, so much the better, as it will make you go all out every time. If you take a ball out with you, confine its use to the practice of passing, dribbling, and kicking; but don’t mix anything else with your sprinting practice. At the school, individual training and practice with the ball can be had during recreation hours.

A groat English international thus described his method of training:—“l took long runs for a month before the season. When I started 1 smoked only after the game, and on Sundays. Before a big game I did not smoke for a fortnight. Mondays, I did nothing or took a sharp walk, according to how I felt. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday generally saw me down at the field, when my programme was a sprint, holding in the breath from the halfway lino to the goal posts, walk quickly back to halfway and sprint to the other goal line, this repeated five or six times ; then once round the football field as hard as I could go, back to the pavilion, five minutes with the skipping rope, a hot bath, cold shower.and a dry rub ”

Don’t over-train. An over-trained man loses his dash. Each man is the best judge of the effect of his training, and can best decide when to shorten or lengthen it. For instance, if you find about the middle of the season that you are getitng slow in the field it may' be due to the want or a rest, raither than more training. Anyway, it is worth while trying the restcure first. For your .training, the best kit is a jersey and sweater, to ensure getting hot, football or running pantsj and a pair of running shoes with spikes, if you can get them. You can t train properly in football boots, tor, however light they may be, they are far too heavy for the purpose.

A word on the main principles of Rugby. It is a form of warfare between sportsmen, and the rules of warfare may be pretty closely followed. There are about five main principles of Rugby. The first is the maintenance of the objective, that is. to score points. Tho second is offensive action. The final test of a team is its fighting snirit. Teams that go on to the field without the resolve to war will lose. The third principle is surprise. It is the most effective and powerful weapon in Rugby. Whether in attack or defence, your first idea must be to outwith your opponent. AH th© old and new dodges of selling tlie dummy, cutting through, cross-kicking, and reverse passing a.re merely ~ surprise your opponents. The tourtii principle is mobility, which' is only acquired by constant practice in quick thinking and team discipline. The tilth principle is co-operation. The team must act in close combination, each member understanding the characteristics of every ether. LOCAL MANAGEMENT The following notices of motion have been sent in for consideration at the annual meeting of the Wellington Rugby Union: — “That there be a committee, to be called the Junior Advisory Committee, consisting of 4 members elected by junior chibs and a member .appointed from the management committee who shall be chairman. The function of the junior advisory committee shall be defined by the management committee.” “That in Rule 17 ths following words be deleted: ‘There shall b'q proposed, seconded, and elected, by ballot at- the annual general meeting of delegates a management committee which shall consist of nine delegates.’ And BM O 17 he amended to rend as follows:. ‘rhe management committee shall consist of one delegate from each senior club, three delegates to be appointed by junior clubs and a representative of the Friary Schools’ Union.” ’This notice was not received in time, in accordnne with rule 22, but has been submitted to clubs gor their information and for consideration by delegates.