• Help Support The Rugby Forum :

First-Five Tips

alex

Academy Player
Joined
Apr 10, 2010
Messages
241
Country Flag
New Zealand
Recently made a move from openside flanker to first-five. any tips/tricks for me?I'm 15 years, 6 foot, 65 kgs and run 100m in about 20 minutes.
 
Recently made a move from openside flanker to first-five. any tips/tricks for me?I'm 15 years, 6 foot, 65 kgs and run 100m in about 20 minutes.

Sure you don't mean seconds?

As for tips I can offer you no help sorry.
 
1st five is fly half. I don't and never have played it but i'm guessing:

-you need to be able to pass off both hands and practice kicks (you probably already know that)
-know when to kick and when to run
-pop inside balls softly (been on the receiving end of some passes that were popped up too hard and high and getting smashed)
-you need to know, including your team mates outside you, what you want to do before you get the ball (communication is important)

that's all i can think of at the top of my head! i'm sure someone who actually plays first five will give you better tips.
 
and you might wana work on your speed, you sound awfully slow :D
 
haha yes, i did intentionally put 20 minutes, don't have an exact time :D

thanks for the tips!
 
Run as fast as you can, while you can still change direction at any moment when taking the ball to the line. Keep the ball in two hands and make sure you keep shouting at your backline to keep them in line, so you always have options.

You might want to fill in for a touch rugby team a few times to get the hang of playmaking.
 
Run as fast as you can, while you can still change direction at any moment when taking the ball to the line. Keep the ball in two hands and make sure you keep shouting at your backline to keep them in line, so you always have options.

You might want to fill in for a touch rugby team a few times to get the hang of playmaking.

thanks, i do play touch in the summer. appreciate the feedback :)
 
hi alex

To me the flyhalf or 1st 5/8 is the quarterback of the team - the guiding player, the decision maker who decides when its on to run, pass or kick. I suppose he/she needs to be strong at game awareness and to be able to scan and make decisions quickly while under pressure. While touch footy involves a slightly different skill-set, passing and running lines - the speed of play and pressure to make decisions fast will serve you well going into full 15-aside play so by all means get involved in the offseason and just play :)

The usual suspects of working on your passing left/right and kicking out of hand should always be work-ons but practice the wrong technique over and over and you'll find yourself with some bad habits down the road which can be hard to shake. Drawing on AFL drills for improved kicking technique and both union and league passing drills will help you understand the correct mechanics.

There's plenty of others but each day just throwing the ball around, imagining yourself in flyhalf situations and getting the "feel" of the ball will help you. Tactics wise, it really depends on your coach so best to work hard on your own skill-set and let the game development happen naturally in the team environment.

Good luck, go well
 
Training for fly half is a toughie! Obviously the skills needed are excellent passing and kicking, as well as a good bit of speed for making breaks. However, by far the most important qualities aren't physical. You need to be able to look at a defence and know the right thing to do, for example if you see an overlap get the ball down the line quickly, if you see the full back out of position you'll know that you can put a kick over the line - that sort of thing. Experience is the best thing for this really, watch a lot of the top number 10's in action, look at what they do in different situations. Game time at 10 is also a must, going from playing physical, hard hitting rugby to playing a more mental game is something which takes time - be patient!
 
Thanks guys! well, I am playing tomorrow, i'll tell ya how I go. And I like to think I am alright at the mental side of things, I'm captain :p

The two main differences I feel are there is more emphasis on decision making, and each mistake you make is more distinguished at first-five/stand off/fly half.
 
Top