Whats a good weight for a under 18 flanker?

[ccc19]

Height: 6'1
Weight: 75 KG (this was recorded 3 weeks age, put on a bit of weight maybe a couple pounds.)

I know weight is not everything but I am just curious. Basically I want to play open side flanker for next year, I have a good a sprinting speed and I am one of the faster players on the team. I play for a really bad school in England, we never play the top teams in the country or are in the top tournaments.

Basically I have more then a month to train and prepare before the season starts.

Should I work on bulking up and what weight should Ideally try to get to?

Or is my weight ok and should I focus on speed and conditioning?

thanks

 

[bushytop]

Ultimately it is about talent but if I were you I would try and concentrate on 'filling out' a bit over the next few years. It will happen naturally to a degree but you can aid this by low rep, heavy weight training (retain good form though obvs), high protein consumption (at your current weight I would be eating no less than 150 grams of protein a day) and adequate rest periods for recovery (growth) between training sessions. Stick with it and you should start seeing genuine results within 2 months.

 

[Not Mike Brown's Sock]

That's the same weight and height I was at that level playing 7 and I got on fine. Focus on exercises that will allow you to maintain a strong shape at the breakdown and explosive exercises. Jump squats are a helpful one as well. Good luck!

 

[Five Meters Out]

I'm guessing your a rangy tough bugger and I've always liked those type of players. 75kg is probably a little light and ideally you'd be 80kg+. However it's "all shapes and sizes" and you've got to utilise your strengths. If I was watching you as a selector, I'd not be worrying about your size, I'd be looking at what lines you run, how you run with the ball and distribute, how many tackles you make, how brave you are in the tackle, if you hesitate at rucks or get straight in with accuracy, etc etc.
What I'm getting at ccc19 is that there are plenty of things for you to work on, while your drinking those protein shakes.

 

[RedruthRFC]

He's in England Five Meters Out, it's highly likely that any selector watching him will only be looking for physical dominance (and wondering why England haven't had a proper seven since Lewis Moody).

 

[Pieter Steph du Teague]

I'm an U18s flanker (blindside though, so should be a bit heavier) and weigh 88kg currently. I'd recommend bulking up a bit to ~80kg but it depends on the way you play; if you're playing at 75kg and not getting bulied physically then there's no need.

 

[Which Tyler]

Depends on the weight and maturity of your skeleton, not the position you play, and not just height; it will also depend on the distribution of the muscle.

Dont fixate on a number (no right answer exists), fixate on where you feel the best compromise between flexibility, speed and power.

You need enough muscle mass to provide the power you need to do your job, and enough to pad your long bones and protect them from injury; but too much will reduce your flexibility and speed, reducing your effectiveness, and increase you risk of joint injury, especially with an immature skeleton (full amturity reached around 22 years old). Muscle distribution towards the limbs rather than deep intrinsic muscles will also increase your risk of injury, providing you with power but without the control.

FTR I've written about skeletal maturity (with a different emphasis) before here: https://www.therugbyforum.com/threa...d-young-props-hookers-play.36973/#post-774746
Though apparently I need to find some new X-rays for illustration, the one remaining image up there is the 20 year old.

ETA: Done; for an U18 player, those physis plates of cartilage will be larger than that shown (at 20 the shoulder and wrist also still have those physis plates aged 20 - aged U18, you can add elbow and ankle as well)