Many rugby questions.. help?

Question

Do i need to buy rugby shoes?

or can i wear a pair of my soccer cleats?

I just purchased a ball, just a simple training ball and i am going to a football field to practice my conversions, and penalty kicks.

are US football uprights the same size? or smaller?

and what is a good conversion distance to practice from?

any other things i should know, if im gonna go practice?

Answer 1

yes, you do need to buy rugby shoes.  soccer shoes have different priorities.  and buy fins, not studs, when you do buy your new rugby shoes.  (asuming you are going to play first five eighths, or a back.)  a good distance is around 20-30 metres, 40 for long distance.

Answer 2

The best place to practice conversions from is the side-line , both sides of the paddock.

Answer 3

What position do you play?

If you are getting into rugby, which position do you expect to play?

Rugby uprights are higher and may be a little wider but as someone already said, the difference isn't apparent.

As for the distance of a kick, kickers tend to kick from 22m to as far back as they would like.

And other things you should work on is getting your cardio better. In rugby you are constantly running, and you need good endurance. You should also work on your leg strength and upper body strength to lay out the big hits, stay strong in rucks and scrums.

Good luck!

Answer 4

Ok, If you're going to be kicking conversions, i'm going to assume that you're not a forward.  In that case you'll actually want to have soccer shoes instead of rugby boots.  The soocer cleats won't be as high up on the ankle and will allow you more maneuverability.  If you were in the tight five, i would say that you need to go invest in some steel studded rugby boots.  

In regards to kicking conversions, i'll be the first to admit that as a hooker i'm not expert, however for our Div I college club uses plain ol' football uprights.  Rugby ones might be a touch wider, however the distance between them is negligible.

In regards to kicking goals, the distances should be close enough that you'll have the distance to put them over, but far enough away that you'll have a good angle to kick from.  In rugby, the conversions occur straight back from where the ball was touched down so you could have to kick from the side lines.  Be sure to get a variety of angles in, and at practice and before games to remind your players to try and get as close to the posts as they can since it'll make your job that much easier

Lastly, the best thing for goal kicking is repetition.  Go out and kick lots and lots of goals..

Answer 5

You say youll be kick so stay with your soccer boots. rugby boots are to awkward to kick in and are not built for that purpose.