HINTS ON FORWARD PLAT.

Otago Witness, Issue 2520, 2 July 1902, Page 60

HINTS ON FORWARD PLAT.

QTICK BREAKING TP AND TACKLING.

I hay© always strenuously held that the front row of the fcorumniage should lock tight (says a prominent English international), but this advice allows of reservation. In saying that the front row should bind light, the binding must bo able to undo in a second Forward? must be able to brea'c up immediate!} , both for purposes of attack and defence; and to be able to break up at a given moment without delay the ball iirPT bk WiTCHFD. Forwards must remember that directly the hall is out of the scrummage they inU3t be out as well. The =hoving mu»t continue until the la=t moment, but when the ball has gore, break up and help your backs. Of course, the wheel and the quick rushes of forwards depend almost ffatiroig

on the quickness with, which the scrummage is broken up. Also, forwards must bear in mind that they have got to help in rh«> defence. When your opponents have got the ball and begin thsir pas=iug movementsall the forwards must be at hand to help tue behinds. How often I have seen a half or three-quarter run single-handed through a whole side of forwards, who simply stand stolidly still and stare at him, without ever thinking of laying a hand on him; or perhaps one, a little more awake than th'^ rest, will make a grab at his neck, or hair, or ear ! But a forward must tackle, tackle al-nay*. and tackle hard. High tackling is, as a rule, quite useless. The place to tackle is either just a>bove the knees or round the waist. The latter is perhaps preferable, as th© ball may be beld at the sam<? time. But the great thing in all tackling, for a forward or a behind, is to tackle hard and low, and always go for fcho man with the ball. Never mind llie other people who may get the ball, go for the man who ha-= got it. There are far tco many forwards just at tho present moment who are very weak in tackling, which is one of the most important points iv the Rugby game. Gentle tackling is useless (I don't wish anyone to misunderstand m» and think I am advocating roughness) ; you must throw yourself at the man and down him. One often sees quite a good tackier miss a man because he does not throw himself at him. It is fatal to think you can never tackle a certain individual, for then you never try. Make up your mind to go for him and bring him down at all costs. To me thero- is always pleasure in bringing off a good tackle. There is a feeling of satisfaction about it that does me a lot of good, and makes mo try border then ever for th^ rest of the game. Weak tackling among forwards is one of the most prominent features of the Rugby game in the South. One frequently scea a forward or several forwards make a fine dribble aud at the end kick the ball perhaps a trifio hard ; then, instead of leaping on the full-back, or whoever the player may be who has obtained possession of the ball, they appear paralysed, and quite possibly all the ground is lofrt again.