In Rugby, which position should your biggest player play? BTW, good idea to explain each one/their responsibilities to this rugby neophyte.
Rugby is a complicated game. I played it in high school for a few years as a scrum half and still don’t have a complete understanding of the game. But generally speaking, you want your biggest players as forwards. Your forwards are the group of guys that wind up forming the scrum, which you may have heard of. As opposed to the backs, which are the guys lined up in back of and away from the forwards and who run with and pass the ball. You’d probably want your biggest player as hooker (one of several “forward” positions), which is the guy in the center of the scrum fighting (with his feet) to get the ball and pass it (again, with his feet) back behind him to his teammates (or, more accurately, control it while his side of the scrum pushes the other side of the scrum backwards).
This is all from hazy 15-year old memories, btw. I’d explain the different positions, but there are too many, and it’s been too long, so I’d probably get them wrong.
Which rugby code? Union or league?
What do you consider biggest - heaviest or the tallest?
For union the tallest players play in the second row. Their main tactical function is to win possession in lineouts.
Heaviest would play in front row i.e. as hooker, loose head or tight head prop. They are usually short as being tall is a disadvantage and technically dangerous.
In league there are no lineouts and the scrum is not the centrepiece of the game so the forwards are much more even in size. Second rowers have the role of tackling machines. Front rowers would tend to be the “biggest” players.
It’s been a few years since I played rugby, too. On my team the biggest guys were the props. There are 2 props who make up the rest of the front 3 forwards (along with the hooker). The idea was that the bigger guys could best support the hooker, making it easier for him to win scrums.
Here’s a good diagram of a standard 15-man set.
Here’s a good link to the laws of the game
Good luck!
The differences in size between players is gradually disappearing - you have wingers like Jonah Lomu who weighs in at 1.96m (6ft 5in) tall and 118kg (18st 10lb). In the modern game, every player on the field needs to be big, strong and fast.
Just 368 days to go until Rugby World Cup 2003…
Grim
Traditionally your largest playes are the props who support the scrum.
The hooker (who is between the props in the scrum) is shorter so he can hang and use his feet to hook the ball in the scrum.
The locks (my old position) are traditionally the tallest, mainly for lineout where their height is advantageous in getting the ball.
The scrumhalf is also traditionally a smaller player as he is required to get down quite low to put the ball properly in the scrum.
The rest of the team follows along what Grimpixie said. They can be any size as long as they are fast. Compare Lomu to South Africa’s own Breyton Paulse. They are opposites in size but play the same postion.
I have played rugby for about 15 years or so, and can give you a run down of the types (physical and personal) of players to fit each position (the names in brackets are other terms) :
1 2 3
4 5
6 7 8
9
10
11 12 14
13
15
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Loose-Head Prop (front row-forward) - Usually a large (fattish) kind of forward with a mean head. Props are tough, but looseheads are the lesser od the species. Often thugs - Think Richard Loe from NZ.
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Hooker. Hookers all wish that they were breakaways. They are generally quite skilful, as they usually have the job of throwing the ball into the lineout, and ‘hooking’ the ball back in the scrum. Often make good leaders - think Phil Kearns, Sean Fitzpatrick, Keith Wood.
-
Tight-Head Prop (front-row forward) - Usually shorter than a loosehead, the tighthead has been described as follows by Alex Evans, a former Australian assistant-coach and Welsh Coach, :
“The most important player in the team is the tight-head prop, and the second most important is the reserve tight-head prop.”
Think - Ewan McKenzie, Andy McIntyre.
4,5. Second-Row (Lock) - Tall, often skinny - are often seen running from scrum to scrum behind the props. They jump in the lineouts. Think John Eales, Ian Jones, Colin Meads.
6,7. Breakaways (Flanker) - Two types here - openside breakaway - quick, fit, read the play well, secure the ball. Think David Wilson, Michael Jones. Blindeside breakaway - usually bigger, big defender, still quite quick. Think Jules Guerassimov, Willy O.
-
No 8. (Lock) Cross between an openside and a blindside flanker. Often a third jumper after the second-rowers. Think Toutai Kefu, Buck Shelford.
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Half-back (scrum-half) Feeds the ball into the scrum, feeds from the ruck and maul. Quick, small, mouthy. Think George Gregan, Nick Farr-Jones.
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Five-Eighth (fly-half, first five-eighth) First Reciever, usually the ‘playmaker’ and often the kicker, both in general play and for goal. Think Michael Lynagh, Stephen Larkham, Andrew Mehrtens, Jonny Wilkinson. Often the ‘star’.
11,14. Wing. The quick boys and the try scorers. Can be small and fast, or big and fast. Often “brilliant” apparently. Think David Campese, Jonah Lomu.
-
Inside-Center (Second five-eighth). The ‘barge man’ - usually does a crash ball up the middle of the field, or slips a quick ball to his outside centre or winger. Often a good defender. Think Tim Horan.
-
Outside-Center (Wing-three quarter). Quicker than the ic, more ball playing than the winger, good defender. Think Jason Little.
-
Fullback. Last line of defence, like a winger/center in attack. Usually a good kicker. Think Chris Latham, Serge Blanco.
Sorry about the Aus/NZ and tighthead prop bias and length. In answer to your question - big boys should play prop/second-row.
- Bubba.
Sorry about the positional formatting - I’m pretty new to this. 1 -8 are the forwards, and 9-15 are the backs. Think that 9-13 go in a diagonal (usually - we’ll forget center aside at this stage) with 11 and 14 on the wings, and 15 down the back.
- Bubba.
If you have one player who is not only heavy but also tall, and is not easy to pair up with another player of matching stature in your team then he may well end up as the number 8, the single one at the back of the scrum.
This has an advantage in a good scrum where your team is pushing and making ground since the No8 can keep the ball at his feet but allows plenty of room(which is why No 8’s are selected for height) for his scrum half to recover the ball at the critical moment.
Whilst the ball is still in the scrum, no opposing player may pull it out from there until it is released, and if forward progress is being made the play will not be called dead.