any late starters to playing rugby here

gonnaplayrugby

just wondering has anyone started playing at kinda an old age?

WeeBushy

Cronin_j has a great thread documenting his start to playing rugby. Not sure what age he is, but it's a great read.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055611380

If you're looking to take it up I definitely recommend it to you, you can never be too old to play rugby - there's a bit up on the leinster website about a guy playing into his 4th decade of rugby :eek:

This season is coming to an end, so you might be better waiting until next season, but that might be a good thing if you're new to playing the sport. It'll give you a chance to up your fitness/strength levels a bit if you're not used to playing a contact sport.

Good luck and enjoy

gonnaplayrugby

ye i follow the leagues so no season is winding up. btw im 19 years old.

WeeBushy

gonnaplayrugby wrote: »

ye i follow the leagues so no season is winding up. btw im 19 years old.

Ah jaysus, that's not old! Sure Hayes didn't take up the sport till he was 21/22 and look at him now.

I don't really understand what you mean by 'no season is winding up'. All Junior leagues and u21s leagues are coming to the end of their season.

gonnaplayrugby

sorry i meant i know the seasons are winding down now

thanks for putting a positive spin on it as well

WeeBushy

gonnaplayrugby wrote: »

sorry i meant i know the seasons are winding down now

thanks for putting a positive spin on it as well

Ah right, I get ya now!

No worries, its a great sport and a lot of fun to play... If you live anywhere near UCD I suggest that you come down and play for us next season
Great facilities, team spirit, coaches, great bunch of guys and the U21s have teams that are always looking for new players - you'd be very welcome.

I'm not trying to promote UCD at all, promise!

gonnaplayrugby

man im very close ucd, about 15 minutes and im gonna be going there next year as well. that would be great

WeeBushy

Brilliant, see you next September so! Welcome to Collidge rugby

gonnaplayrugby

cant wait ha. so any other stories of inspiration :P

castie

I started when I was 19 then was unable to play due to being away from 22-25 and now Im back playing again

gonnaplayrugby

how you find starting out? i've always been a fan so would know the rules and stuff pretty well but i imagine on the pitch it is a bit of a shock when u first start out.

castie

Positioning on the field was the hardest thing for me.
I knew the rules and had the strength to tackle but being caught in the wrong position by a good 10 gets old real fast your first year. (I started as a winger)

WeeBushy

I guess it completely depends on your strengths and weaknesses, but I always think starting out at flanker is a good idea. You're involved in the action the whole time, and have the rest of the pack around you to help you out. Its harder to be caught out positioning wise or one-on-one tackles out wide which can be tricky. I think it gives you a chance to get used to playing the game, and developing a rugby brain, with a bit of help around you.

I might be wrong, but it's always been a theory of mine.

Obviously though, if you can run 100m in 11 seconds and weigh 10 stone this probably doesn't apply.

castie

aye i was weighing in at around 12 stone .

Now weighing in at 17

WeeBushy

castie wrote: »

aye i was weighing in at around 12 stone .

Now weighing in at 17

Are you still playing wing? Images of Lomu come to mind!

gonnaplayrugby

any advice on workouts to prepare? atm im just doin 3 day full body(squats/bench press/barbell/row/deadlift/military press(alternate between the last 3)

castie

haha nope. my 3 years of no rugby put pay to my back career.

an Unfit Prop atm.

Robin Wren

I didn't take it up until well into my twenties.
Played lower leagues and had a lot of enjoyment.
I played back 5 of the scrum.

As for training I would suggest getting your running right.
Spend 80 minutes walking for 10/20 seconds broken up by short fast sprints for 20/30 metres.
That'll help you get match fit.;)

WeeBushy

gonnaplayrugby wrote: »

any advice on workouts to prepare? atm im just doin 3 day full body(squats/bench press/barbell/row/deadlift/military press(alternate between the last 3)

To be honest, if you're looking for weight training tips your best bet is to go over to the fitness forum. There are a lot of people over there who can give you very sound advice on what exercises you should be doing, technique tips etc.

I think the off-season is a great time to put as much effort into putting on bulk and worry less about aerobic fitness. You don't have to worry about burning yourself out for matches or training, and you'll go through a full pre-season training next Aug/Sep. Just try and keep the fitness levels ticking over if possible, and put on the pounds between now and then imo..

gonnaplayrugby

great thanks

Morf

25. I started with a team in January. Battling with long-term feet problems so i may or may not get a game this season but i'm enjoying it so far.

wendelsailor

WeeBushy wrote: »

I guess it completely depends on your strengths and weaknesses, but I always think starting out at flanker is a good idea. You're involved in the action the whole time, and have the rest of the pack around you to help you out. Its harder to be caught out positioning wise or one-on-one tackles out wide which can be tricky. I think it gives you a chance to get used to playing the game, and developing a rugby brain, with a bit of help around you.

I might be wrong, but it's always been a theory of mine.

Obviously though, if you can run 100m in 11 seconds and weigh 10 stone this probably doesn't apply.

This is really really bad advice. This position is probably one of the most tactical positions on the pitch and in no way should it be viewed as a position where you can just "slot" in. Having the pack around you will make little or no difference because most of the time you are leading the pack by being first to the breakdown/running off your 10/12. Your flanker needs to be the player that is most involved in all aspects off the game.

Bad advice imo and I play wing before any "what position do you play questions".

irishbucsfan

wendelsailor wrote: »

This is really really bad advice. This position is probably one of the most tactical positions on the pitch and in no way should it be viewed as a position where you can just "slot" in. Having the pack around you will make little or no difference because most of the time you are leading the pack by being first to the breakdown/running off your 10/12. Your flanker needs to be the player that is most involved in all aspects off the game.

Ban advice imo and I play wing before and "what position do you play questions".

Dont think it was bad advice at all.

By a long, long way the positions that are easiest to fill in at are from 4-7. For someone with 0 rugby experience to come straight in and play in the backs is extremely hard. I play 7 but I had to play on the wing, due to injuries, at the start of this season and I found it's an extremely difficult position to play with no prior experience (defensive positioning is completely different to any other position on the pitch).

If you're naturally fit and strong, and most importantly have a high workrate and can quickly cop on to the mechanics of tackling then you'll make a good 6. If you can then add pace and defensive rucking technique to those attributes you'll make a good 7.

If you don't have any of those things then you should play second row with all the other untalented people



Then there are the people who are "too small" to play in the pack. If you're intent on playing in the backs then you should know that it takes experience to become a good player in any of the positions there, you need to learn how your defensive line works, you need to learn how to time your running, you need to learn to pass off both hands and the higher occurence of open field 1-on-1 tackle situations means that you can look silly early on if you're not a natural tackler. There are probably more things that a more experienced back could point out.

WeeBushy

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Dont think it was bad advice at all.

By a long, long way the positions that are easiest to fill in at are from 4-7. For someone with 0 rugby experience to come straight in and play in the backs is extremely hard. I play 7 but I had to play on the wing, due to injuries, at the start of this season and I found it's an extremely difficult position to play with no prior experience (defensive positioning is completely different to any other position on the pitch).

If you're naturally fit and strong, and most importantly have a high workrate and can quickly cop on to the mechanics of tackling then you'll make a good 6. If you can then add pace and defensive rucking technique to those attributes you'll make a good 7.

If you don't have any of those things then you should play second row with all the other untalented people

Then there are the people who are "too small" to play in the pack. If you're intent on playing in the backs then you should know that it takes experience to become a good player in any of the positions there, you need to learn how your defensive line works, you need to learn how to time your running, you need to learn to pass off both hands and the higher occurence of open field 1-on-1 tackle situations means that you can look silly early on if you're not a natural tackler. There are probably more things that a more experienced back could point out.

Couldn't have put it better.

I play 6/7 and have also had to fill wing (and centre) this season due to injuries and despite having a decent rugby brain (well I'd like to think so ) the technical side of back play - particularly in defence is hard to grasp.

stephen_n

We have players who started playing in their 30's so no OP it's certainly not to late.

I'm playing 6 at the moment and have always alternated between 6,7 and 12,13 through out my time playing. At the higher levels these positions do require very specific skill sets and very good positional knowledge but at the lower levels and younger ages they are the easiest places to pick up the game IMO. In the near 30 years that I have played rugby I have played pretty much every position on the pitch at one stage or another and in terms of learning defensively and positionally the back three is with out a doubt the hardest. Having said that I'm still learning new stuff about playing 6 now which proves that all positions always need work and improvement!

wendelsailor

stephen_n wrote: »

but at the lower levels

Fair enough

WeeBushy

wendelsailor wrote: »

Fair enough

At what level did you think he was going to start?

castie

Didnt everyone else start their first game in AIL to see where they were at?
Or was that just me?