Quick question regarding boots

hardCopy

Whats the story with wearing blades/moulded-stud boots? Ive seen refs let guys wear them but was just wondering if they need to be the ones with steel caps or anything. Would just like to be clear on it before i shell out for a new pair.

Any input appreciated.

electric69

No,there is no restrictment on moulded or bladed studs.Only studs that are sharp are banned or that are too long.

shoutman

I think blades are suppose to be banned, but im not positive about that
In my opinion they arent any good anyway, especially in muddy conditions they will have you sliding all over the place.
Considering you will be spending at least 70 quid on a pair of football blades you might as well just pay for the addidas rugby boots.
They do boots for backs and forwards.
I play scrum half and have been impressed with my boots, got them in arnotts for about 80 quid.
Previously I had canterbury boots, but the sole of them snapped after about a month so stay clear of them.

hope that helps regards

Edit: sorry was writing message at same time as one above was being posted, so they arent banned

Amz

I'd never wear blades/mouldies for playing rugby, they've terrible grip and as has already been said if you're shelling out money for a decent pair of boots why not buy rugby boots, or a decent pair of studded boots.

electric69

I wear blades, and have done for about a year now so they are definately not banned.One should buy their boots according to their position.backs really just need light boots, whilst front and second row need big boots with long studs.

Amz

Agreed.

I wear normal football boots as I play on the wing, they're light and do the job, but when I played front row in a game I found that they weren't any good to me at all, with regards to grip etc.

RuggieBear

I've always gone for addidas or nike rugby boots with as many studs as possible....better grip and more studs to ruck with :eek:

evilhomer

I think blades will be banned in the near future, they can cause awful facial injurys if you get raked in the face(even by accident).

I had a pair of Cantebury Forwards boots with 11 studs in each boot. they were good for me, as long as you give them a clean every once in a while the leather stays good.

Next pair will probably be Adidas though. they seem to be much better.

daveirl

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besty

Mizuno boots have always done the trick in my experience. Not too expensive either...

Downtime

The only blade boots that are legal are Adidas - any others eg Nike etc are illegal. Moulded boots are allowed.

Steffano2002

I'm just after buying myself a pair of (studed of course!) Canterbury boots in Elverys for €60 EUR and I'm delighted with them so far (only played one match mind you)! Great grip, although it was a nice dry day, and very very comfortable. And I love that stud that is kind of at the boot, right under your big toe! That wasn't put there for grip in my opnion...

I wouldn't bother with blades to be honest... And they are definitely dangerous. Should be banned immediately me thinks!

kenmc

I dunno why blades would be banned, but I wouldn't be bothered with them. I used used the high backed forwards boots but then about 14 years or so ago I switched to the lower soccer-style ones. Usually managed to get ones with a 6+2 stud placing, cos I'm in the front row. Last pair I bought were Nike Air(to my shame) but they're comfy and have lasted about 5 years I think. Next pair will be Kooga or Canterbury I think.
The secret is to never clean them. When I used clean boots they only lasted a year or 2. Since I stopped doing that, the mud seems to form a preventive layer around them. I think it may also glue them together.

Downtime

Kooga IMHO make sh**e boots. I had a pair of them last three months. I go through about 2/3 pairs of boots a year and mostly wear Umbro X mouldies and studded depending on the surface. My current boots have lasted me for the year and I have kept them in good nick with Vaseline and Dubbing.

Had a pair of Canterbury boots and found them too heavy.

Blades IMHO are dangerous. Say a 15 year old get his cheek and lips split open after coming into contact with them. I do find them better for speed work though.

kenmc

I had umbro ones years ago and they fell apart in weeks. had a couple of pairs of asics as well, they lasted a long time.
how would bladed boots do any more damage than aluminium studs? is it cos the edges of the get ragged, like plastic studs? the refs should be checking that...

Downtime

Definitely do more damage than alu studs. What should the refs be checking? I believe most referees check all studs before games.

kenmc

should be checking that they're not sharp on the edges.
i still fail to see how blades can do more damage than a well placed aluminium.... in fact I'd think that they should *less* damage - same force distributed over more area than a stud.

Downtime

In raking or "rucking" or across the face they will do more damage. In stamping etc more than likely not. Depends on the scenario. I reckon referees do those checks but not all of them.

daveirl

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Sundy

certain types of plastic are allowed, but nylon studs/blades are not. Of course blades are more dangerous in certain situations for example on the face. A sharpe blade would slit a cheek like a knife.

Personaly i wear canterbury cause im a front row. they are very heavy but comfortable all the same!

daveirl

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Pancho

I wear blades and have found them grand, adidas tend to make the better bladed boot. Found them to be a bit hard to wear on hard ground but are well suited to winter junior rugby.

rugbug86

i just had training in the raining and i was wearing my studs. they were grand and i didnt slip once. i suppose its each to their own. i also have other boots with plastic blades but they're more for the hard ground.

SparkyLarks

I play in the front row and I'm on my third pair of Mizuno( over 12 years)

I used to have the high backed ones and ther is no need for them. Mizuno is a tough light boot with plenty studs and are really comfortable.

They are the older yellow and black boot, not the new green one.

Best thing to do is get the boot that feels the most comfortable on you

AS for studs
IRB changed the ruling on blades, they are no longer illegal

kenmc

SparkyLarks wrote:

AS for studs
IRB changed the ruling on blades, they are no longer illegal

Agreed, I asked my brother who's a referee. As long as they're not sharp/ragged they're ok. Apparently Adidas threatened to sue the IRB when they talked of banning the bladed boots.Not sure if this is true or not.
I wouldn't think they'd be much use in an irish winter though, maybe a frosty or very dry ground would be about all they'd be useful for.
K

omb0wyn5ehpij9

I played in a pair of Addidas Preditor boots for 2 seasons, they had blades instead of studs and found absolutely no difference between blades and studs!

daveirl

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Downtime

Funny you should bring it up again. I was talking to well respected international referee about these the other day and he confirmed that only Adidas made metal bladed boots can be worn.

Also regarding the munsterfans board - I was coaching a team last year and one of my players had his cheek and lips slip open by blades - probably would have less damage from studs.

daveirl

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Steffano2002

I fully agree. Blades should be banned! I mean come on! Look at their name! BLADES!

Eoin

daveirl wrote:

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Interesting article, but one thing that I don't think that has come up yet, is the damage that they can do to the player wearing them. According to a physio who my club are in contact with on a pretty regular basis, there has been a marked increase in non-contact injuries to players who wear them. So far, they have all been backs and the typical injuries seem to be ankle and knee caused by a twisting of the joint.

I don't know whether the problem is that blades grip too much, or not enough - but he really seems to think the blades are a factor in causing the injury.

daveirl

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