Introduction ──── Chapter 1: Positions Chapter 2: Proper Body Position Chapter 3: Engaging in the scrum Chapter 4: Cadence HOW TO PROPERLY Conclusion and Summary EXECUTE A RUGBY SCRUM MACKARTNIE GANDY Eng-466 INTRODUCTION April 18, 2018 Professor Westerson When explaining the proper execution of a rugby scrum, it will bring a greater understanding to the audience of rugby organizations, players, and aspiring rugby athletes. The sport of rugby is high intensity and it is crucial for athlete’s safety to know how to properly perform motions like a scrum. When analyzing the risk of injury, it will only benefit the rugby community to strengthen their knowledge of executing the scrum with the upmost proper form of technique. http://archive.boston.com/sports/blogs/bigshots/2011/09/big_shots_for_september_22_201.html 2 Chapter 1: Positions When creating a scrum like with every sport it starts with positioning. When positioning there is eight positions that athletes are needed to be positioned into. In the front of the scrum there is three people, on the left there is the Loose head prop who is the number one. The player that is placed in the middle is the Hooker who is number two. The player to the right is the Tight Head Prop who is the number three. Then behind the first three players, there are two other players known as the second row. These two players positions are locks, both athletes are the numbers four and five. As the scrum is continued, there are two players that link onto the back of the locks they are known as flankers they are the positions of six and seven. Lastly, the directly behind the locks who links with their shorts is the Eight man, and their number is eight. When looking at the overall process of a rugby scrum, the first step to creating one is putting together your forwards in their positions and deciding where their strengths ultimately are. https://www.bing.com/images/search?view.html 3 Chapter 2: Proper Body Position When looking amongst the scrum each position previously explained has to have a common understanding of proper body positioning. Having proper body positioning ensures success through engaging in the scrum and promotes safety for the athletes participating (Morel & Hautier, 2017). As seen in the photo bellow it exemplifies the proper aspects to the ideal body position. The athletes back are parallel to the floor, eyes are looking directly forward while the head is up. Also hip and knee joints are at a ninety-degree angle, and front shins are parallel to the floor. http://mpatterson.us.mylogin.co/wordpress/?page_id=200 4 Chapter 3: Engaging in the Scrum Next, acquiring the proper body positioning, the athletes are ready to engage into a proper rugby scrum. After the positioning is decided then there is the process of linking the scrum together as a cohesive unit. When bringing the scrum together, athletes start with the front three positions which goes Prop, Hooker, Prop. As seen in the picture below this is there proper placement. Prop to use their inner arms to grab the Hookers shorts so the Hooker is tightly in the middle of the scrum (Quarrie, 2000). After props get into their proper positioning the locks must come in between their legs and bind on the side of the props shorts or front of their shorts. While linking onto the Prop with their outer arm, their inner arm stays bound onto the lock next to them. In the picture below it shows an example and execution of a Lock bound onto a Prop. https://www.rugbycoachweekly.net/rugby- management/the-front-row-hooker 5 When engaging into the scrum the flankers which are numbers six and seven are the last two to add to the scrum. As a flanker they are there to pinch the scrum together, so nobody falls out of their body positioning. The flankers set into the scrum after the engagement of the five-front position. Lastly, the eight-man engages into the scrum with the flankers. The eight-man inserts his or her head in between the hips of the two locks while the outer arms are engaged onto the locks hips. http://rugbyfix.com/what-is-rugby/ 6 Chapter 4: Cadence After all the athletes are secured in bound into the scrum, there are still two more steps until the scrum is properly executed. After the referee calls cadence which is crouch, bind, the last call is set. After the front three athletes are linked together they do a “crouch”. Crouching is a rugby call for the forward pack to do a squatting position, so the rest of the scrum can become engaged together (Preatoni, Cazzola, Stokes, Trewartha, & England, 2016). After the two Props and Hooker are crouching, the locks begin to engage on the rugby call of “bind”. Binding is when every forward involved in the scrum attaches together as a cohesive unit (Preatoni, Cazzola, Stokes, Trewartha, & England, 2016). The last call of “set” is when the all the teammates are engaged with each other and the front row binds with the other front row of the opposing team (Griffin, McLellan, Presland, Rathbone, & Keogh, 2017). In this scenario the engaging of the opposing team falls upon the props, but the overall weight distribution is contributed from all the other positions. When both sides of the scrum are engaged the goal of the scrum is to push to gain the ball. https://sportycious.com/beginnerss-guide-basics-rugby-union-positions-92833/ 7 Conclusion and Summary The rugby union started in 1823, this Olympic sport has been around for one hundred and ninety-one years (Loria, 2014). There have been many modifications over time to make the scrum safer, and technical so athletes can truly put their strength to the test. For aspiring rugby players, current athletes, and their coaches knowing the proper way to execute a rugby scrum can bring more confidence and safety to their playing techniques. When observing the positions and each of their jobs in scrum it brings perspective for athletes to understand what their purpose is. Also, athletes being knowledgeable about the proper way to execute their job, can only bring overall strength to the scrum. 8 References Griffin, J. A., McLellan, C. P., Presland, J., Rathbone, E., & Keogh, J. L. (2017). Quantifying the movement patterns of international women's rugby sevens preparation training camp sessions. International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching, 12(5), 677-684. LORIA, K. (2014). AFTER THE SCRUM. PT In Motion, 6(10), 26-34 Morel, B., & Hautier, C. A. (2017). The neuromuscular fatigue induced by repeated scrums generates instability that can be limited by appropriate recovery. Scandinavian Journal Of Medicine & Science In Sports, 27(2), 209-216. Preatoni, E., Cazzola, D., Stokes, K. A., Trewartha, G., & England, M. (2016). Pre-binding prior to full engagement improves loading conditions for front-row players in contested Rugby Union scrums. Scandinavian Journal Of Medicine & Science In Sports, 26(12), 1398-1407. doi:10.1111/sms.12592 Quarrie, K. L., & Wilson, B. D. (2000). Force production in the rugby union scrum. Journal Of Sports Sciences, 18(4), 237-246. .