<--Back Dear Rugby Buddha, I live for rugby, and count the days when we start up again. But time and time again, I run into people who don't understand what the big deal is. These people, whom the members of our team refer to as "trackies", would rather run than ruck. What should I say to them? Can you describe Nirvana to those who have never experienced it? It is something that comes from within. All you can do is show the uninitiated the path. You cannot make them take the first steps to true enlightenment. In his book "The Changing Room", Victor Cahn has come as close as anyone to expressing what our Sport truely is: "In our country, true teams rarely exist ... social barriers and personal ambitions have reduced athletes to dissolute cliques or individuals thrown together for mutual profit ... Yet these rugby players, with their muddied, cracked bodies, are struggling to hold onto a sense of humanity that we in America have lost and are unlikely to regain. The game may only be to move a ball forward on a dirt field, but the task can be accomplished with an unshackled joy and its memories will be a permanent delight. The women and men who play on that rugby field are more alive than too many of us will ever be. The foolish emptiness we think we perceive in their existence is only our own." - Victor Cahn Ruck on! Rugby Buddha Dear rugby buddha I was online quite some time ago and came across a speech called "A forward's testament to backs" and, as a forward, I found it interesting and wanted to show it to the other forwards on my team. I bookmarked the page, but I don't seem to have it on my computer anymore. I really would like to remember it, it was very funny. Would you know the testament? And could you send it to me? Michele (a proud flanker/second row) Here you go Michele! *********************** Son, in this world there are scrums. And in those scrums you need forwards. Are you willing to do it? As a forward, I have more responsibility than you can ever fathom. You use words like "drunk" and "out of shape"; those words are the very backbone of a life I spent drinking and partying in, and you use them as a punchline. You weep for your wings and centers, and curse the forward. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of knowing that the front row, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, wins these games you play. Truth? You can't handle the truth, because deep down in places you don't talk about in your selection meetings, you want me in that scrum; you need me in that scrum. I neither have the time nor inclination to explain myself to a back who scores on the very blanket of ball retention that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just bought me a beer and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you crawl into that scrum and get dirty. Either way, I don't give a damn who you think is responsible. **************************** And here is another little tidbit for you, an except from an article by Didds: "Someone in the team always knows someone who knew a back that volunteered to play prop once and now spends his days mumbling into his soup and watching the birds on the lawn." Cheers! Rugby Buddha PS- Every Rugger should keep a Kipling Anthology in his kitbag and read it for inspiration. "Now this is the Law of the jungle, as old and as true as the sky; and the Wolf that keeps it may prosper, but the Wolf that breaks it must die. As the creeper that girdles the tree-trunk, the Law runneth forward and back... For the Strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the Strength of the Wolf is the Pack." - Rudyard Kipling Rugby B - As a winger, I often find myself being characterized as a pretty boy, wannabe, I'm out here because I'm fast kind of guy. But my play is intense. The team knows that I'm a hitter, but I'm never looked at as a defensive weapon. Is there something that I can do with my game that will bring about that status? Any training? Certain plays that I'm known for? How does a wing step it up in the critical eyes of his too-tall teammates? Ben A smack down collision artist with wheels Columbia, SC Ahh! Little Wing, You raise the question of the age old battle! Forwards v Backs. Forwards will forever look down on backs, it is the nature of the game. Everyone knows forwards win games, backs just decide by how much. But I like your attitude and see hope for you! As a wing you know your first priority is to make sure nobody gets outside of you or turns the corner. That is more important than any hit you can lay on an opponent. But there are things every Back can do to earn the respect of his forwards: 1)Ruck like a forward. If you are the nearest person to a breakdown, SECURE THE BALL! RUCK IT, MAUL IT, BUT KEEP POSSESSION! Once your forwards arrive, get out and get back in line. Too often Backs wait for forwards to arrive at a breakdown. In this critical time possession can be lost, and nothing will tick off a forward more than crossing the field to discover his backs lost the ball at the breakdown because the wouldn't go in to secure possession. 2)Keep up the good hits! They'll never let you know, but Forwards will respect any Back that hits hard. 3)Run up field. No forward likes running sideline to sideline trying to bail out a panicky Back. If you get in trouble cut back to your Forwards and look for help. 4) And for God's sake, Stop with the punting duels already! If your going to kick it, at least find Touch. 5) Buying a pitcher for your pack every once and awhile doesn't hurt either. With regard to being a defensive threat, every time your opponents cut or pass back inside rather than take it to you, you have just been a defensive threat. Every time you lay a smack on some little back and come up with possession, you have just been a defensive threat. (And you will be especially popular if said smack slows him down enough for one of your forwards to catch him next time.) Every time your opponents kick away from you to prevent your counter attack, you have just been a defensive threat. Everytime you chase down a kick and smack the reciever, you have just been a defensive threat. If you run hard, hit hard and retain possession, your forwards will respect you. They won't tell you because it is against the rules, but they will respect you. Happy Hitting! Rugby Buddha PS- The following came across my desk last week. You should share it with your fellow backs so they understand the true origins of Rugby. "On a crisp fall day in 1823 William Webb Ellis picked up a football in his hands and ran with it. To this day, backs throughout the world hail this moment as the birth of rugby. Forwards, however, know that the game was not really invented until 1.5 seconds later, when Roland Dimrumple drove a squealing Mr. Ellis' face into the turf, kicked him in the solar plexus and told him to "keep his sodding hands off the ball"."