by Michael King

Created on: March 05, 2009   Last Updated: March 07, 2009

My old rugby coach always taught me two fundamental rules to the beautiful game of rugby. Go hard and go low. It all sounds so simple. Genuinely, in those words is so much truth to be found. Injuries occur when one player commits 50-99% and the other player 100%. Short of saying that full commitment will avoid injury completely, the vast majority occur when there is hesitation.

Tackles should be taken from a low and powerful stance, feet apart and ready to move in any direction to follow the oncoming player's attempts to move away or around. The player should then, without hesitation hit low and hard, wrapping his/her arms around the other player and pulling tight around the knees. This is vital, without that grip the oncoming player may be strong enough to just keep on running. This way even if the force of the tackle is not enough to knock the opposition down he may not continue to run and will, eventually, be brought down without gaining any significant ground.

The diving tackle is a somewhat more advanced technique that only players that have mastered the standard tackle should attempt, having said that any committed player should be able to commit fully to a dive tackle almost instinctively. The principle is effectively the same, you shouldn't be aiming to hit the player high. I know games such as rugby 08 always appear to hit the opposition in the chest, but again; go hard and go low. The basic position is the same, feet apart and strength is the word of the day. The difficult bit comes now, when the oncoming player is coming into your territory. You will look like a right tit if you dive and miss him/her completely. The trick is not in perceiving where the opposition is going next, because sooner or later you'll be wrong, but instead to just get there first. With the diving tackle you will be left out of position and on the floor so there is absolutely no point in trying to keep formation until the last minute. Get in there; go hard and go low, before they even know you're coming.

Footnote:

1) Though rugby is an adrenaline pumped madman's game there's not point in injuring yourself unnecessarily, before any fully committed tackle, not so much necessary in close range drag down tackles, brace your shoulders and aim to keep the force of the tackle on one shoulder, not your neck.

As a general rule this should serve you well, though no technique can ever be mastered without the external eye of a coach, this is by no means a replacement for a team practices and coaching.

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