Pre-match 'talk'

[Toby Warren]

Glad it works - as I say it seems to be a growing trend, if it works keep doing it!

[Adam]

At the pre-match brief I get the front row, scrum half, fly half and the captain if he wants to listen. I say:

Lads, the engagement sequence will be Crouch (1 2) Touch (1 2) Pause (1 2) Engage. Listen to my calls; don't go in early; bind long on the torso, not on the arm with your knuckles up. Do not push until the ball is put in. Front man at the lineout? I'm marking the defensive line today so when it's your ball give the space, their ball the mark is yours OK? 9? I will try and stay out of your way at the scrum however I do need to see the engagement so please don't rush me until we've engaged safely. 10? At the lineout if it's caught and brought down my arm will go up. Ensure your line stays 10 metres. It's your responsibility to set your line 5 at scrums and 10 at lineouts; any doubts ask me before the set piece OK?

Doesn't take long, gets the points I need across, and doesn't hang me out dry.

[Psychic]

Hi Psychic,
I deal with:
- front rows: CPTE, bind, body position, hooker's feet and purposely wheeling

Was that a test or a typo?
Or am I missing something...

[didds]

At the pre-match brief I get the front row, scrum half, fly half and the captain if he wants to listen. I say:Front man at the lineout? I'm marking the defensive line today so when it's your ball give the space, their ball the mark is yours OK? .

what do you do for when a lineout sees a member of the back row as front man? (may well happen at shortened lineouts) ?

If you are going to start briefing lineout settings then its best done with the entire pack plus subs.

Or set THAT stall out at the first l/o LOUDLY so everyone hears.

didds

[RugbyGeek]

Was that a test or a typo?
Or am I missing something...

Doh!

My bad

[Psychic]

Great stuff, Psychic. It sounds like you are going into this pretty cold - did you ever player the game?

I played SH for my school. That was about 27 years ago

However, my son started playing 2 years ago (U12 then) for our local club. He's got some natural talent for the game (player of the season 1st year, captain now).

In order to support him, his team, and the club, I signed up and did the ELRA & joined the society. Since then, I've been watching each junior game, and running touch for extra (adult) games when I can to get as much match experience as I could, and to gain some confidence to step onto the pitch with a whistle.

[Drift]

My pre-match talks:

Front Row: Lads at a scrum I'll stand on the mark until the first hooker gets there and he gets the mark. We will build around him as the central point. I have 4 calls and want to see 4 actions, at no point should your shoulders be below your hips. I will be keeping you there for a long time until I am happy and then we will move onto the next call, if you need to reset let me know. Questions?? Also who will be at the front of the lineout, at the first lineout I will set the gap and it's your job to keep it all day.

Captain: All talk comes through you, I am happy to explain decisions and will do a lot of management at downtime and on the run. If I take time off and call you out then it will really be serious and may even be a card. Questions?

Then I'll go and get changed slowly and a little warm up and then good to go. I have not changed that talk in about a season and a half and it works for me. Sometimes I will field questions from coaches in important or junior games although I will generally try and get out of there quickly as I don't want to interrupt their warm up and I want to do my own prep.

[upnunder]

The only other point I have included is

"Do you want the opportunity to take a quick tap at penalties?"
The answer is always yes.
"in that case, I wont be giving any information out if there is the chance of a quick tap for either team, so dont ask me, wait until the ball is out of play".

This came as a suggestion at our last society training meeting with Alan Biggs.

Other than that I only brief FR and FR replacements, Half backs and Captain, and sometimes a pack leader if the captain is out in the centres or further away.

[crossref]

I have 4 calls and want to see 4 actions,

if I was at your briefing I might ask exactly what action you expect to see at the command of pause


(and you'd probably mark me down as trouble maker before we'd even started )

[Drift]

The only other point I have included is

"Do you want the opportunity to take a quick tap at penalties?"
The answer is always yes.
"in that case, I wont be giving any information out if there is the chance of a quick tap for either team, so dont ask me, wait until the ball is out of play".

This came as a suggestion at our last society training meeting with Alan Biggs.

Other than that I only brief FR and FR replacements, Half backs and Captain, and sometimes a pack leader if the captain is out in the centres or further away.

Sorry, I forgot about that. It's part of my talk as well.