Broadstreet RFC

Hi there Readers of the 'Word on the 'Street' ! My name is Nick Thatcher and I am the current club captain of Broadstreet Rugby Club. This the first post here at 'Word On The 'Street' and I am looking forward to your feedback!

Playing Scrum Half

When I was requested to write a blog for the Broadstreet web site I decided to start somewhere within my comfort zone, therefore welcome to the world of Scrum Halves.

For players new to the game, the scrum half is the focal point for any team, one of the three key decision makers of how a team wishes to play, and the link between forwards and the backs. For youngsters looking to get into the game, scrum half is the position for you if you like to be the centre of attention, it will help to be loud, quick and skilful, and a scrum half needs to be willing to tackle.

The 4th Back Row

There are two types of scrum half both with their pros and cons, firstly the 4BR (4^th Back Row), this is a scrum half who defends just as a back row would. The 4^th BR will dummy more than pass, make more tackles than required, and boss his forwards for 80 minutes. Teams with strong forwards will often employ a 4BR as this will suit a team who like to keep the ball tight and play a territory based game.

The Passing Scrum Half

The second breed of scrum half is the Passer, normally a flashier version of the 4BR with a crisp pass, a good box kick and pace in abundance. The passer is the preferred choice of any fly half and back line that like to see plenty of ball and will be employed by teams who like to play a wide expansive game keeping the ball alive.

Advice For Players wanting to play Scrum Half

As for advice, I would recommend working on the following three aspects which I believe will help and budding scrum halves.

1. As one of the smaller players, we need to work hard on tackling correctly! By this I mean low and quickly, cutting down a player quickly at the knees will give your team the opportunity to try and steal the ball and will mean bigger forwards will not simply win a contest of upper body strength.
2. Be elusive, being surrounded by big heavy forwards opens a massive window of opportunity, work hard on fast feet and using dummy runners as opportunities to make breaks, and if you see a big forwards arm coming towards you shift your weight and DUCK this will normally give you a gap and the opportunity to offload to a player coming on at speed.
3. Learn the laws, scrum half is the perfect position to exploit some of the laws, quick taps penalties will give you 10 free yards to run at a defence which isn’t set, you are in prime position to disrupt opposition ball legally at scrums and rucks, and finally remember are looking after those not so intelligent forwards who will be relying on you to keep them onside at the breakdown.

For more information on scrum halves do your research on some of the most famous Scrum Halves: Matt Dawson, George Gregan, Joost Van Der Westhuizen, Fourie Du Preez and Gareth Edwards. Just watch a video of the drop goal that won England the world cup in 2003 Matt Dawson throws a dummy just 2 phases before which completely throws the defence, and positions Wilkinson a couple of phases later to drop the world cup winning goal.