Rival Angels

[albone]

I'm really digging these Rugby posts, especially since they're helping me define Sabrina's rugby career.

Rugby's pretty damn fast and exciting. That one clip is kind of nasty though with sticking the needle in under the eye. 'Just put some stitches in.' Yeesh, I'd be out for a month.

I noticed that when a guy gets tackled, the play still continues. Does play ever stop, not counting penalties?

[Prestwick]

Martin "Johnno" Johnson is a legend. Probably the best player in his position at the time, an absolutely inspirational captain for both Leicester, England and the Lions. He's Captained the Lions twice which nobody else has done and one with them once. He also skippered England to World Cup glory and is currently England manager. The man is the closest to "win" as you'll ever get. In that clip he's off on what is called a "blood substitution." Literally, he's being subbed off just to have some remedial work done so he can get back on the field. So in this case he's just had the stitches in and he's back off to play the game.

Yeah, Union differs from Rugby League and Football in that play can continue as long as the ball is legally in play. The latter two however are structured in that when a player is tackled and brought to the ground, play resets and there is a period of pause (way over simplifying this I know).

To explain this properly though, we need to explain the tackle area with a guide to rucks & mauls. That guide will tell you what you need to know but it is safe to say that as long as both teams are competing at the ruck within the rules then play will more or less not stop unless someone throws a forward pass or fumbles the ball forward. It is in the ruck area that 70% of play is stopped however so if two teams are celebrating BOTCHAMANIA at the ruck then you're in for a very slow day

Another way to stop play is to do something incredibly heel-like. Perhaps this? CLOTHESLINE FROM HELL BY JIMMY COWEN!

EDIT: One thing you see time and time again in football are crazy tackles, body checks and so on which are trumpeted to the heavens as hardcore, extreme and what not. In Rugby, a lot of that stuff is illiegal as it can end a guys career right there and then. Also, we in the rugby universe know that theres more than one way to skin a cat...and that spear tackle by Edge is more painful than a Batista bomb by some steroid pumped Bob Sapp..observe

[albone]

Thanks man, I really appreciate all of the Rugby knowledge. Both for my own interests and for how its going to play in Sabrina's backstory. I think I might have to run that particular bit by you when I finally do get to it. That second clip, yikes, the guy got flattened. With the red card coming out pretty quick, it seems that the player wasn't too surprised if not disappointed, but it seems that the rules are pretty well adhered to. I fear that in the NFL, you'd see a player crying and threatening to go to court or something as whiny. That spear was pretty awesome, it was kind of funny how the commentator assured us that he'd be getting up, but doesn't before the youtube clip ends. XD

[Prestwick]

Hahaha yeah, remember, if the tackle is below the shoulders and you aren't body checking its legal which means you can pulverise someone's innards *safely* ;D

This was Matt Rodgers being nailed by Josh Lewsey. Rodgers had been pushing Lewsey around earlier and he decided to get his own back. Legally ;] Thats known as a 'big hit'

As for Cowen's red, usually something like that warrents a yellow but I think the suddeness of it shocked the ref into a red.

[albone]

Hahaha yeah, remember, if the tackle is below the shoulders and you aren't body checking its legal which means you can pulverise someone's innards *safely* ;D

This was Matt Rodgers being nailed by Josh Lewsey. Rodgers had been pushing Lewsey around earlier and he decided to get his own back. Legally ;] Thats known as a 'big hit'

As for Cowen's red, usually something like that warrents a yellow but I think the suddeness of it shocked the ref into a red.

ah, got it!

[Prestwick]

This week we're gonna talk about big hits, both legal and non-legal.

Here is one example of a good hit which is perfectly legal and earns the tacklers' team a penalty. This is by Leinster, Ireland and Lions Number 8 Jamie Heaslip on Glasgow full back Bernado Stortoni.

Note that Heaslip times the tackle to nail Stortoni just as he lands on his feet after catching the ball. This is vital as if Heaslip tackled Stortoni while still in the air, he'd be penalised for dangerous play. In the end, he gets his shouler in, his arms around Stortoni and WHAM!.

However, mistime it and make it clear that you're aiming to knock the guy cartwheeling in midair and you'll get binned or worse. Tried to find a video clip of such a case but they're surprisingly hard to find which is weird considering the number of times these incidents happen in a season.

EDIT: Sorry, found one from this season's 6 Nations. This one was has two big hits, one marginally legal from Scotland wing Simon Webster on Wales center Tom Shanklin and one illegal hit from prop Geoff Cross on Wales full back Lee Byrne (0:50 seconds onwards). Here the full backs' worst nightmare comes alive: you've jumped up to catch a ball, you see a player steaming at you and you know that he ain't gonna stop before you can get back on the ground safely.

The result? Cross knocks himself out cold after colliding with Byrne's knee. Byrne was lucky to get away with just some bruising. The event does have a hilarious twist as the referee yellow cards Cross as he's being stretchered off the field.

And here is an example of an illegal tackle. This game between the Super 14 sides Hurricanes & Otago Highlanders saw a silly piece of play by All Black center and occassional wing Ma'a Nonu (guy in yellow with the number 14 on his back).

Normally, he keeps the PAIN within accepted boundaries and he is a huge yet incredibly agile guy who can kill your team with tries or you personally with tackles. In this case, he arm wrestles a Highlander to the ground and seems to keep ahold of him for a long while. This is borderline strangulation and in this case, incredibly illegal for which he got banned for a week by the post match citing board.

[albone]

Is it bad that I laughed and yelled, 'ooooooh!' at that first hit? XD Great timing too, we see some of that good play in the NFL, but of course, all padded up.

The second clips have are interesting. I see that there is some bone on skull contact there, which is what's really laying them out. Yellow card? Man, that's just insult to injury, but I suppose rules are rules.

The third, man that guy ought to be a teacher in Rival Angels.

[Prestwick]

Not at all! When you hear 50,000 South Africans yell "BEAST!" or hear 80,000 Englishmen yell "weheeeey!" then you know you're among friends.

When you get a well timed hit like that and the ball gets spilled then its anyone's game because play doesn't stop.

[Prestwick]

Not at all! When you hear 50,000 South Africans yell "BEAST!" or hear 80,000 Englishmen yell "weheeeey!" then you know you're among friends.

When you get a well timed hit like that and the ball gets spilled then its anyone's game because play doesn't stop.

[BrendaRua]

Oh! OH! Do the guys on the field do the haka? I love that almost as much as my clan war cry.