14 year old rugby player benches 110kg

Obviously strength is important in so far as it's a contact sport but the contact in rugby is increasingly becoming more power based and even then that sort of stuff is really just a bonus to go with your basic skills and tactical knowledge.

You can play rugby if you can't bench a lot but have a good skill set and good game knowledge while if you don't have those but can bench a lot it's not really much use.

Obviously its no harm to work on strength/power but it's not as big a deal as some would have you believe.

D14Rugby wrote: »

Obviously strength is important in so far as it's a contact sport but the contact in rugby is increasingly becoming more power based and even then that sort of stuff is really just a bonus to go with your basic skills and tactical knowledge.

You can play rugby if you can't bench a lot but have a good skill set and good game knowledge while if you don't have those but can bench a lot it's not really much use.

Obviously its no harm to work on strength/power but it's not as big a deal as some would have you believe.

Nail on the head. I would say most coaches at under 14 and under 15 would be more impressed if he could spin pass accurately 8 metres or further off both hands, use footwork before contact, scan to see space, execute a 2 v 1.

RuPi wrote: »

Nail on the head. I would say most coaches at under 14 and under 15 would be more impressed if he could spin pass accurately 8 metres or further off both hands, use footwork before contact, scan to see space, execute a 2 v 1.

big time. There is plenty at older grades as well who should think like this.
Accurate passing off each hand from 7/8 metres plus for 14 and 15 year olds is far more impressive.
More than enough time to build strength later years.

I was always told as a kid that doing weights before 16 risked stunting your growth. But then I was 16 in the 90s and I'm sure sports science has come a long way since.

Good luck to the lad.

dor843088 wrote: »

His spin pass is accurate off both hands 10 metres. Decision making is good. Sub 5 minute bronco test. Excellent tackling. Good jackaler.

What school / club is he with?

I played youths with a bunch of lads that age. 50% of them ended up going to Rugby schools got much better coaching and were miles ahead of most of us. Why? Their technique and reading of them was far superior.

Then a few years later a load of them had given up and had no interest in the game.

I am still involved in the sport as a ref. But I love it. Think I'd also be a good coach but don't have the time for both.

So some lessons for me.
1. The ability of the coach is so important in player development in rugby. The schools lads had professional coaches.
2. Focus too much on something when you are young and you might be sick of it when drinking, socialising comes along and the glamour aspect of the game isn't there.
3. It doesn't really matter sometimes how good you are. I was better at Soccer than I was at Rugby. But, I preferred Rugby and found a role in the sport where my lack of explosive strength wasn't an issue but an ability to read a game and general fitness was a plus.

Tim Robbins wrote: »

What school / club is he with?

I played youths with a bunch of lads that age. 50% of them ended up going to Rugby schools got much better coaching and were miles ahead of most of us. Why? Their technique and reading of them was far superior.

Then a few years later a load of them had given up and had no interest in the game.

I am still involved in the sport as a ref. But I love it. Think I'd also be a good coach but don't have the time for both.

So some lessons for me.
1. The ability of the coach is so important in player development in rugby. The schools lads had professional coaches.
2. Focus too much on something when you are young and you might be sick of it when drinking, socialising comes along and the glamour aspect of the game isn't there.
3. It doesn't really matter sometimes how good you are. I was better at Soccer than I was at Rugby. But, I preferred Rugby and found a role in the sport where my lack of explosive strength wasn't an issue but an ability to read a game and general fitness was a plus.

you really over do the comparisons with clubs and schools too often Tim...
Not all schools coaching is all that good...

Lucas44 wrote: »

To answer the original question, his strength matches up with an interprovincial player in his position at u18s or so, some school players may be stronger due to the access to S&C coaches and gyms 5 days a week... best advice I could give is to get him playing with the age group above or maybe two ages if possible, he’s certainly strong enough to hold his own and when he goes to play games with his own age group he will notice a considerable difference between pace of the game and quality.. makes every player much better and will give him the chance of making it

theres lot more in clubs doing s&c, etc.
But playing up sometimes can be far more detrimental than anything else. Especially a 14 year old.

Lucas44 wrote: »

I think you’ll find there’s very very little clubs doing S&C before u18s whereas schools will be pumping lads in the gym from junior cup onwards which can be second year for some... Playing up an age grade for someone strong enough is no harm think you’ll find nearly every pro rugby player played either u16 as a 15 year old or jct in second year or sct in fourth year or even look at Karl Martin from
Boyne playing two years above his age for Ireland u18... it definitely improves players for when they play at their own age and gets them ready for eventually senior rugby at 18

playing up one year is fine but two in many cases isnt.
And from my experience high enough numbers club players are doing S&c before 18s

That's pretty impressive for a lad his age.
Think I recognise him from an U14 game we played against ye last Nov (friendly). Plays for a Midlands club? I'm a coach with Barnhall's U14's.

Tim Robbins wrote: »

Youths is generally someone's Dad coaching the team. Some of them do all the IRFU courses and are really good. Other's are doing a job no-one else wants to do.

The top Rugby schools have professional coaches and are by and large outstanding.

For me that's why Schools is a much higher standard. Youths has caught up a lot and will always produce quality players. The gap is closing and a decent youths team will give any School a run for their money of not beat them but in general if you took the top 20 SCT schools and the top 20 clubs, my money would be the schools would win at least 16 of those matches.

once again big generalisations there. Youths isnt as much just someone's dad anymore and the coaching has improved a lot with coaches being much more knowledgeable now than ever before.comparing top schools and top club sides isnt really a fair comparison in leinster but is more in the other provinces

madds wrote: »

I think you're both right. Many of the lads who played in the AIL during the late 90's and 2000's have sons and daughters who are now playing Mini or Youth rugby. Their playing days are over but they want to stay involved and want their kids to enjoy the sport they loved, but also receive good quality coaching. If I look at my own club, the number of coaches now involved at Youth/Mini level who played AIL rugby is huge compared to those involved ten or fifteen years ago.

That said, schools teams will always have the edge as they are training ~5 times a week versus a club team who train at most twice a week with a match at the weekend. It's a skill-based game and you can't beat time on the pitch. The gap is not as wide as it once was though.

Barnhall are also a bit of a blip. From my experience, they always put out strong teams, with decent coaches. I would say there are usually at the same standard of a Section B school and their stronger teams would be stronger again.

It's a big catchment area and club is well run.

They are one of the few AIL clubs, especially in Leinster, with no obvious link to a Rugby school.