Rugby Lock Question?

Question

I've been a lock for 4 years at my college and we've recently lost all but 5-6 Vets on the team with 30 or so new guys coming in to fill spots (Yeah it was a pretty bad loss of guys last season) Anyways, Im haveing difficulty locking with these new bunch of guys, even after I explain to them what to do and show them things, I still find my head extremely and dangerously lose doing a scrum. Any tips as to how I could possibly better my situation? If not, what are some lock tips you'd like to share, as Im always willing to hear what people have to say. Thanks again

Answer 1

If your head is loose in the second row, then it sounds like a binding problem in the front row.  This is really common with new front rowers.  Their rear ends always tend to skew out while their upper body turns inwards... almost always this happens after the "engage".

There are a few things you can do but 99% of it is only fixable by the props.  First off, the new props will have absolutely no idea that they are not straight "up and down" the field.  They probably feel like they are very much square to the goal line, so you will need to demonstrate it to them visually for them to understand that they are not.

If you can get a couple of experienced players to pack down and make the new guys see what it is supposed to look like with everyone's body square "up and down" the field.  Then one by one, switch the new guys in and let the others see what happens.  I can almost guarantee the new guys backside will twist outwards.  Once they see it for themselves, they will have an understanding and know what to "feel" for since they can't actually see it when they are in the scrum themselves.

Secondly, you may want to check the binding.  A lot of props will bind on the hookers jersey.  This is fine if they have good technique but a jersey has a lot of stretch in it and so the binding can lose effectiveness after the engage.  Binding gets loose and thats when gaps appear and you have a loose scrum that gets broken apart.  I get my new props to bind on the waist band of the shorts.  Most shorts only have an elastic in the back now so it's less likely the bonds will stretch or become loose.  Get the binding grips tight and make the props concentrate primarily on getting their hips glued to the hooker, before they concentrate on pushing upfield.

Technique is key in everything, so get the binding and body position sorted before working on the pushing.  Another possible helping thing is that you can get your flankers to push the props butts inwards.  This will give you some immediate help but you obviously lose some forward push.  It will help your props get a feel for good technique until they can master it themselves.  The flanks should know how to do this anyways since you will often find yourself (as a prop) outmuscled or "out techniqued" so you will need a hand now and then anyways.

Get your props to engage a scrum at practice with no pushing and keep them down in position and correct every little thing they are doing wrong... foot position, chests out, shoulders back, backs flat, heads looking up field, everything and make them stay in that position for a minute so it sticks in their brain.  Once they can "feel" the right technique, it will become second nature.

For you and the other second row, your binding should be tight but that is far less important than the front row.  Keeping your feet apart and level, rather than letting them get too close together (scrum stability and pushing power are almost zero) or having one leg bent and the other straight (far less push).  If you can get the props and second rows to all have parallel feet and bent legs before the ball comes in, then all you need is for them all to straighten their legs for a half metre push as the ball comes in.

Get to work on the props and I am sure you will feel a world of difference, but like I said, you can't just tell them what they are doing wrong because everything in their brain is telling them they are square to the goal line, you need to show them so they can see for themselves.

Answer 2

Hawkeye and the other dude have pretty much answered your question. A few tips to add - first, got scrum machine to practice with ? - machines are pretty good for sorting the basics cause they don't push back.

The tight five have to work together as a single being - binding is everything.

I played a lot of my early rugby at lock - I always preferred  binding between my props legs and grabbing a fist full of his jersey. Get a lower body position and I always felt stronger than when binding on the prop's waste

Of course it really depends on how your front row feels about their jersey getting munted. Some of the biggest mutton head props can often be full on fashion victims. Some just get all out of joint and prefer you to bind on their waste.

When I went to my first practice run in Japan I was thrown into the second row - trying to bind between the legs did not go down well at all, I later discovered the team had to buy their own jerseys - home and away strips - about 500 NZ dollars worth !

Answer 3

Wow great answer Hawkeye.  I agree with almost everything you say but I wouldn't put ALL the blame on the props.  (though as you say it probably is a front row problem)

As far as the lock position, make sure that you are well bound to your partner lock before you bind to the props.  Do you bind around the props waist or between the legs?  I always found that between the legs worked better (but you gotta 'work things out' with your prop if you get my meaning)

Flankers can also help to solidify the tight five by pushing in at a bit of an angle instead of pushing straight forward only.  (I've played both lock and flanker)

I have to share with you a quick anecdote.  I was playing lock once and we were involved a long scrum battle where both front rows eventually broke up.  There I was bound in with my head sticking out right into the opposing scrum whose locks were in a similar position.  One of the opponent locks got an arm free and landed and upper cut on one of our props who couldn't defend himself. (yeah scrummaging gets a bit fierce at times)  

Anyway I knew the guy to be a dirty player and while I don't usually get involved in that kind of thing I wanted to stick up for my teammate but my hands were bound.  I was however close enough to give the guy a good head butt and he couldn't get out of the way so I gave him a second one for good measure.  When the scrum broke up and play moved on I could see the guy trying to stand up on wobbly sea legs (quite comical)

I don't care for that kind of stuff normally but the guy had it coming.