hi guys need a bit of advice new season coming up and been told i might be needed at tighthead for the season ! well it could be a problem as i am trying to loose some weight at the moment i am 5"8 112kg i was hoping to be around 100kg for the start of the season but 100kg will be way to light for the mighty 3 position any front row guys on here experienced anything like this or can offer some advice ( my lineout throw is very good last 6 games last season i did not lose a lineout god know why im needed at 3)
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Front Row Advice please ?
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Big Ewis
Hall of Fame
well here's my take on this: dump the chick you're trying to impress, yes love is on command and you can replace her later with someone you choose to fall in love with at first sight....and focus on Rugby, become a mighty tighthead and then come play in France coz we need them. A passport's only a piece of paper...you can still have your mint tea and hum Beatles songs. We'll give you more money, good food and the sun.
Also, when you say "at the moment i am 5"8 112kg". Keep those 112kg, but try to grow a little bit, like, up to 5'10. Size is important for a TH.
Also, when you say "at the moment i am 5"8 112kg". Keep those 112kg, but try to grow a little bit, like, up to 5'10. Size is important for a TH.
Big Ewis
Hall of Fame
you're not achieving much with that mindset, let me tell you.
Well, your lack in height might be an advantage if you move to tighthead. Being shorter gives you the advantage of having a lower level of gravity and you will be able to get underneath your opposing prop. Giving you a better chance of winning the contest.
Don't worry about the weight, muscle weighs more than fat. Try to go in with the mindset of becoming stronger and not losing weight. If you get leaner and still weigh more than 100kg's then you could become a very powerful unit.
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When it comes to scrumming it is all about technique, it don't matter if you're 150kg if you keep getting turned inside out every scrum. Make sure you are always trying to get scrum practice in, get on the machine and just keep going every session. Also in the gym neck and thigh execise is a must for scrums.
Big Ewis
Hall of Fame
I had a question for hookers actually: as exclusively a viewer (i.e. I've never played), all the info I could ever gather whether watching or reading up on Rugby regarding scrummaging has been on the 1 and 3 positions but never 2. I've never come across a hooker explaining what it feels like to be in the front row, and I've got absolutely no interesting detail about scrummaging for a hooker.
As far as I understand, he's a bind for both props, doesn't need a whole lot of mass or size or power (considering the dimensions of hookers at club or even test level, unless your name is Bismarck du Plessis), hooks the ball of course but doesn't play that much of a role in terms of pushing or adding power to the push, he's just there to stabilize the front row. Is that assumption correct ?
As far as I understand, he's a bind for both props, doesn't need a whole lot of mass or size or power (considering the dimensions of hookers at club or even test level, unless your name is Bismarck du Plessis), hooks the ball of course but doesn't play that much of a role in terms of pushing or adding power to the push, he's just there to stabilize the front row. Is that assumption correct ?
This is coming from a hooker who weighs 71KG and plays for fun, but a hooker definitely pushes and adds power. If a prop and hooker bore into a side you can do serious damage and especially if its not your scrum you can get a push on. It's why you hear about great scrummaging hookers like Wood. Particularly before this year the hooker was a scrummaging weapon but now as they have to hook there's often too much pressure to lift there leg because its enough for the other team to get a shove on.
Big Ewis
Hall of Fame
okay. Well surely they push, I'm thinking of a guy like Servat who had a reputation there, or you hear about props reconverting into hookers or vice versa; but I'd like to know just how much they influence a scrum as it isn't as clear to me as I'd like. Like I said, there's NO mention whatsoever about it, ever. You learn all kinds of info about props and scrummaging technique and criteria and all, but never the scrummaging of the hooker.
gaston le gaff
First XV
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I knew one hooker who really messed with our front row she would always turn up a couple of hours before the game dressed in mini skirt and low slung blouse and start getting our two props and hooker all excited by the time we came to KO they were just a big fat mess that was not much good to anyone, so we had to put a big black duffle coat on her and plastic bag over her head after that we told the oposition front row that she looked like their mothers and what we were going to do with her after the game.... it usually worked fight broke out at the first scrum and our hooker, two props got on with their jobs.. good advice for hookers dont bring your mothers to the game...........!!!!!!!
i agree with groundhog especially when its there put in the hooker becomes a 3rd prop and pushes hard or depending on how there put in is going i like to try hook there put in ( depends if the ref is letting them get away with a crook put in. when we were full strength last year we had a massive front row especially for the league we were in 1.110kg 2.(me) 112kg 3.130kg so we dominated
If you play tighthead, and your hooker is not such a fast footed hooker to actually get the ball hooked on the opposition put in, you as the tighthead can try to kick the ball when they put it in, the possibility is always there that the ball will ricochet off one of their players and go to your team's side...
thing is i really enjoy playing hooker but ill play were needed as long as i get a game
You should try all 3 positions in the front row. But I must say, for me personally, I enjoyed prop more than hooker. Even when I played prop, I still did the throw in's at lineout, mainly because I was a bit more accurate, and also because our hooker was taller and could pick up our locks higher than I could.
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Propping is not so much about weight and strength as it is about technique. I have seen a prop with great technique get the wood all over an opponent who was taller, stronger and heavier, but who lacked the skill to play in that position.
