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Making it as a pro rugby player.

there are lots of videos around of pros and its all cliche and basically boils down to "work hard"

if you are looking for more specific information then it would be a good idea to give us some... well lots of info on yourself. Age, size, experience so far, position, goals, strengths, weaknesses.

What you really want to do is give yourself the chance to be the best player you can be and then the opportunities will present and you have to take them.
 
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rugbyismylife said:
Can i have some advice on becoming a pro rugby player?
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Talent is less an issue nowadays with dedication and drive being more important to selectors. I'm friends with several professional players, some play for Fiji, some the Reds, some the Wallabies, and I have cousins who play for Samoa. Some of them are talented while some are just hardworking, I can guarantee that if you work hard, and get yourself to the level of professionals then you have nothing in your way.
 
Advice depends on whether you're a back or a forward.
 
If your in England it's more about getting into an academy and the right schools. If your in their system your likely to get more development in the key areas than anywhere else. So find out what you need to get signed into a major team! If you get rejected keep trying everywhere else and then keep trying some more.
 
something else which you could do if u wanting to be a pro player is watch the best wingers in rugby and look at what they do that makes them good and try to practice it
 
one thing I wish I did was focus on rugby. I would play cricket over the summer, bowled fast and practiced a LOT to improve my speed and accuracy and it ended up being stress fractures in my back from bowling which basically put an end to my rugby

my advice:
- focus on rugby, even over the summer don't play a summer sport. Work on your fitness and rugby skills.
- evaluate your strengths and work on improving them to be your main weapon/tool. If its your sidestep work on your agility, footwork and balance. There are lots of types of wingers around, you need to figure out what type you are and focus your training on improving those skills you have to give you an edge.
- work on your all round skills. kicking, high ball, pass both ways, offloading, support, tackling.
- Learn to use the ball, be able to transfer it from one hand to another to protect it from defenders and fend. or hold it in front of you to manipulate them and pass quickly if needed. A player with the ball under one arm is predictable, a player with the ball in front of them is not. they could pass either way, run or kick at any time.

with a good skill base you then have options, this is where I think the most important part of a wingers game comes in. Option taking, Ben Smith - probably the best winger in the world right now and a lot of that owes to the fact he seems to always make the right decision. He has every trick in the book and seems to use the right trick at the right time.

That means quickly evaluating whats in front of you. Knowing where key opposition and team players are. Where is the space, where are the gaps? Gaps in the front line? Run at/into them. Gaps out wide? Look to create an overlap and run your team mates into it. Gaps in the middle? Chip kick or grubber into it. Gap at the back? kick and chase or look for the line to gain territory. Who is in the defensive line in front of you? Is it a prop you can run straight past, is it a lock you can step or is it the opposition 12 who is sure to tackle you and you would be better off drawing and passing. Always consider your own team mates when making decisions. make sure you have the proper support.

Being able to read the game is what makes a good player great. Have options, read the game, take the right option, be unpredictable.

That's my 2p - in a nutshell, I think just asking and being willing to learn puts you at the top of the game. Puts you above a good percentage of the players around you.

If your really serious about it be careful about what happens after the game. Drinking/pot and other stuff, late nights with team mates. The Social aspect of rugby is a good thing but be mindful of the effects and how it may impact your performance and chances. learn to relax and have a good time with mates/team mates without getting ****faced and being out all night. If you know being a professional rugby player is what you want to do then that means you want to be a professional athlete, nutrition will become a big part of your life, eating and drinking the proper combinations of the right things - and not drinking alcohol at all would be a smart option. You will know you are giving yourself the best chance to succeed. In the same way smoking would be something you just don't do without question.
 
at 14 you probably only too old to start training to be an Olympic gymnast :)

as far as everything else goes the world is your oyster, its a solid age to start playing rugby. You can even set a goal to make your school top team in 2 years time?

be active, eat well, work on your speed and skills with the ball.

Make sure you stretch well and warm down after trainings and exercise.

Play touch rugby at lunchtime and after school, Im not sure what school breaks are like in the UK but when I was at school we played league or touch at lunchtime pretty much every day unless its wet and then we would play hackysack. Its what Kiwi kids do and a one of the reasons I think we do so well at rugby and other sports.

be prepared to maybe change positions in future if something suits you better. when I was 13 I was a prop and a bit chubby, by the time I was 15 I was a winger, slim and taller and the fastest guy in my team over 40meters then i naturally bulked up a bit end ended up playing center or flanker.

keep up with your school work, a good player is a smart player and your brain needs exercise as well.
 
Do everything you normally do well but do it much quicker, the higher the level of rugby the quicker the rugby is: speed kills......the opposition.
 
Take a ball everywhere you go. You go town with a mate? Take a ball. Barbecue with the fam? Take a ball. Walking the dog? Take two balls. Play with it all the time, passing will be second nature. If you're a winger, kick it too. Kick it high, then catch it. Don't be afraid to drop it ever, have the confidence to stick your hands out and catch it, rather than catch with the goddamn forearms like so many seem to do. Practice enough now and it'll be second nature.

ALWAYS go to training, always. No matter how crap it is, it's rugby and at your young age you should fit in as much as possible. Its all reps. Reps reps reps. Reps mean muscle memory, and that means being able to carry out the task without the slightest bit of thought. Remember when you were learning how to ride a bike? Tricky? Fall off? Now you can jump on and peddle away without worrying about falling to the floor and dying (it happens, bro).

Same goes for tackling and the contact area. Get as much practice in as possible. That moment just before the person you're meant to be tackling hits you, a blanket of fear comes over you and causes you to either tackle them high or stand off and get unbalanced. It usually results in a missed tackle or being boshed onto your ass. At the very least you'll concede metres. Precious metres that the best of them seldom do concede. If it helps, think of something that provokes an emotional reaction from you, something that makes you angry might work, causing you to lunge into them with your shoulder. Everyone loves a winger who can tackle. For example, a few years ago I realised the 100th anniversary of world war one was coming up. The image of men, British soldiers, running over their own trenches to almost certain death randomly popped into my head during a contact training session. Whats one 'brave' tackle compared to such mass heroics like that? Seriously? If they could do that, I could easily do this wussy bit of contact in a damn contact sport. It might seem far, but imagery works!

Practical pathway information for a young (english?) lad like yourself would be to get into the county squad, any way you can. Get your coach to recommend you for the county, get a mate who is already in to speak with the coach to get you to a training session. County opens the pathway. From there, get in the starting team. At u16 level you will play the other counties for a chance to try out for your region. This is North, Midlands, south east and south west. Then these play eachother to get into the England squad. England u16B, A and elite. This repeats for under 18s so you potentially have three cracks at this. You may find an academy picks you up along the way, which is a better pathway than getting into the England squad because by then you will be under contract and under the eye of an established club and its player development officers.

In the end it, it comes down to hard work and perseverance. If you're good enough, it will happen eventually. Ben Morgan and Mike Ross weren't childhood stars but look at them now, established test players and big names in rugby this side of the equator. Work hard, bro.
 
rugbyismylife said:
Do you think i could still have a chance even though i am 14?
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Sure. Lots of great advice in this thread, too. But it all boils down to determination and perseverance. The determination to take the advice given and to improve your skills as a player, and the perseverance to keep at it for years to come. Make sure you really want to be a rugby player, and it's not just a short-lived obsession that will be replaced by something else in a year or two. It may be good to weigh the pros and cons of professional rugby, just to make sure you know what you're getting into. This may help you determine whether or not you're looking at a pro rugby career for the right reasons (love of the game vs. fame and money, for instance).

das
 
I guess the main thing to acknowledge with questions like this is that every little thing you do counts. Doesn't matter how big or how small, it will count. As a 10 myself, my training regime will be slightly different to yours, but the principles are always the same. When it's pouring down out side on a Wednesday night, the temptation is always there to give up and put your feet up for the night. Not good enough. As someone above has stated, if you're serious, you're serious. If you train and work harder than everyone else, you will come out on top. Others might get lucky every now and again but generally, the harder you work, the greater chance you have of succeeding.

As a winger, speed and footwork is obviously key. They are simple things to work on and only really require simple drills to improve on. I recall dodging around a heavy punch bag a few years ago in order to improve agility and footwork which helped a great deal. As I say, do it regularly and often and will become instinctive movement, completely second nature. Same applies to catching a high ball for example. Have a ball in your hands as often as you can and just practise kicking it up into the air and catching it. Doesn't need to be ridiculously high, just high enough in order for you to solidify your technique. Your core skills are you're bread and butter and need to be worked on everyday. Ultimately, you need to work hard to control what you can control. That's the best advice I can give you I guess.

I was unlucky with injuries for a good few years which really hindered me, so you do need an element of lucky in order to get that break. As I say though, every little thing you do counts. Good luck my friend.
 

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