In the 1995 Rugby World Cup, New Zealand unleashed rugby sensation Jonah Lomu upon the world. Lomu was six foot five and weighed in at about nineteen stone. This was not particularly unusual in rugby except for the fact that he was a winger and could run the one hundred metres in some ridiculously fast time. He proceeded to light up the tournament, terrorising opposition defences with his unique combination of speed and power. One of the most iconic images from that tournament was of Lomu running through the challenges of English players Tony Underwood, Will Carling and Mike Catt to score one of his four tries in the semi final. As they were bulldozed out of the way, those English players must have asked themselves how they could have tackled him?
It's obviously very difficult if you have an opponent bearing down on you of the proportions of a Jonah Lomu. However, the basics of tackling in rugby are the same whether you're facing someone who is twenty stone or ten stone. Amongst the first words of wisdom that school coaches invariably convey to kids are the necessity to tackle low and hard. The principle is that if you wrap your arms around your opponent's ankles, then even Goliath will come crashing down. On the other hand, if you go to high and get them around the hips then they may be strong enough to career onwards, dragging you in their wake!
It's not just as simple as going low and hard, however. You also have to use your arms when making the tackle. Indeed the International Rugby Board's rules state that the tackling player "has to attempt to wrap their arms around the player being tackled to complete the tackle". This might seem very obvious but is a point that has at times had to be enforced by referees in order to maintain a degree of safety in the game. Indeed, I heard an anecdote that the tough tackling Tongans liked to launch themselves into tackles head first, with their arms tucked into their sides, and that this (in part) had caused the rules to be tightened.
We've seen, then, that the tackling player needs to launch himself (or herself) low and hard towards their opponent and wrap their arms around the opponent's lower legs. (You can also tackle them around the waist but it's less effective). It's also important, however, to do so in a manner that is going to minimize your own chances of getting hurt. Invariably, this means trying to ensure that your head doesn't make a jarring contact with the opponents legs or (worse still) their hip. Practice makes perfect in this regard and a few occasions of seeing stars will do wonders to install good tackling discipline! Another thing to point out is that a tackle is only truly successful if you manage to hold the ball carrier on the ground. If you knock your opponent to the ground but don't manage to hold onto them, then they are permitted to get back up and continue running.
So far, I've outlined what I guess could be called the ideal tackling template. There will be occasions, however, where you don't have the luxury of making the perfect tackle. Maybe your opponent is too quick for you to get close to, or you have too much ground to make up. In such circumstances, you may have to default to the premise that any kind of (legal) tackle is better than no tackle at all. One option may be to attempt a tap tackle. This is where you throw yourself towards a speeding opposing player and reach out with a hand to tap their ankle. It can be a great last ditch option and can be surprisingly effective at knocking the opposing player off balance. You sometimes also see instances where a player is only able to get their fingertips onto an opposing player's shirt and will attempt to hold onto them and drag them to the ground in that rather ungainly fashion. Still, if it works, then who cares how cultured it looks!
Tackling is a crucial part of the game of rugby. Good tackling can be the difference between a team winning and losing and this is especially true the higher up you go in the sport. In a recent Six Nations match, for example, Irish centre Brian O'Driscoll pulled off a last ditch tackle to prevent Scotland from scoring a try right at the end of the first half. This limited Scotland to a three point lead at the interval and Ireland subsequently went on to win the match by seven points. Had that tackle not been made then there is a very real chance that Ireland would have lost the match and their Grand Slam ambitions would have been left in tatters.
Tackling requires good technique as well as determination. However, to pull off tackle after tackle right through eighty minutes also requires great reserves of fitness and stamina. I read an article in The Sunday Times recently (with their Chief Sports Writer, David Walsh) which was talking about the value of French flanker Thierry Dusautoir. It mentioned that when France met New Zealand in the semi finals of the 2007 World Cup, Dusaautoir made an immense 38 tackles during the course of the match. To put that into context, that's nearly a tackle every other minute and meant that he's made more tackles than the entire of the New Zealand team combined! France won the match, despite being huge underdogs, which underlines how important good defensive capabilities can be.
Finally, I want to outline a few other points about what you're not allowed to do when tackling. We've already seen that you must use your arms when tackling, so shoulder charges aren't allowed. Additionally, you're not allowed to trip your opponent with your foot or leg and you can't tackle a player who doesn't have the ball! You're also not allowed to tackle a player around the neck or when they are off the ground. Rugby is a very physical game and safety of the players is paramount and these laws are designed to cut down on the number of serious injuries. Another practice which has been outlawed is spear tackles, where a player lifts his opponent off the ground and them rams them down, head first, into the ground. This has the potential to cause serious neck injuries and should provoke stringent sanctions.
So that's my introduction to how to tackle in rugby union and also a little on how not to tackle. For people, who are interested in reading more on the precise rules that govern tackling, then it may be worth checking out the IRB's rulebook. And for those who are just taking up the sport, then the best advice is watch lots of rugby to see how the professionals tackle, and then get out on a pitch and give it a go.
Sources:
The Sunday Times, article by David Walsh on Thierry Dusautoir, 15th March 2009.
http://www.irb.com/mm/Document/LawsRegs/0/COMPL ETELAWSEnglish2008_6019.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/w iki/Playing_rugby_union#Tackle