College Rugby Training

Match Recap from Saturday

This weekend we played our neighboring state rival. They beat us last year, though we may have beat ourselves as I definitely thought we were the better team.

It was raining, cold, and the field was covered in mud. Like something you would see in a movie. This also lead to the games being very physical, since it’s a lot harder to pass and run fast in the mud.

The A side game was a blowout in every sense of the word. They rolled on our opponents from the opening kick off and never stopped. The final score was 57-3.

The B side game was the most physical game I’ve ever been a part of, just a straight dogfight for 80 minutes. We went up 15-0 at the half, could have been more but like I said above, passing was miserable.

In the second half, the other team had to borrow several of our players, as they did not bring enough (D*** move by them) and they suddenly got better when our guys when in for them (Surprise!).

The final score was close, but the game really wasn’t, with us winning 15-8.

I played the first half of the B game at 2nd row, and the 2nd half at flanker. I felt like this was probably the best game I have played this season, maybe ever. I probably had 10-15 tackles, and I took a man into touch 4 times. Their 8 man kept trying to pick up out of the scrum and never got more than 3 meters when he came to my side. All in all, I played very physical, and beat my opponents for a full 80 minutes. It felt great.

As of now, we are 3-0 and in sole position of 1st place in our division. We’ve scored the most points so far this season in our conference. Next weekend we go on the road for a neutral site game against the team in 1st place in the opposite division, who has given up the least amount of points so far this season in our conference. It’s a huge game, and if we win this weekend, we are pretty much guaranteed a spot in the conference tournament.

Monday Lifting and Conditioning Practice

Warm up/Stretching

DB Inline- 35x10, 45x10, 50x14
Squat- 165x5, 185x5, 205x5
Chest Supported Rows- 3 sets
Abs- 3 sets

Conditioning Practice

500 meter row
10 minutes on the bike
500 meter row
10 minutes on the bike
Stretching

Tuesday Practice

Warm up/Stretching
3 drills, focusing on passing and offloading
worked on mauls in the open field and off of lineouts
a ton of conditioning

Wednesday Lifting and Recovery

Warmup/Stretching

Bench- 155x5, 170x3, 190x1
GHR- 3 sets with bodyweight
Lat Pulls- 3 sets
Abs- 3 sets

Hot tub/pool for 20 minutes

I hate playing in the wet and cold. Running in mud does no favour to your ankles.

Keep up the good work.

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Thursday Practice

warmup/stretch
drills working on mostly rucking
B versus C side scrimmage

[quote]theBird wrote:
I hate playing in the wet and cold. Running in mud does no favour to your ankles.

Keep up the good work.

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Very true, my right ankle was swollen and numb for the second half of that game

Saturday Match Report

This weekend we traveled 6 hours to play a neutral site game against a big opponent. As I said earlier, we are currently in 1st place in our division, and the team we played was in first place in the other division, as well as being nationally ranked. This team is traditionally one of the top teams in our conference, so this game was huge for us.

The A side game was very hard fought and physical. I could tell from the get go that this team was very good and very disciplined. They pride themselves on defense and you could tell. They didn’t miss many tackled and they were very physical.

The game was fairly back and forth, but we were able to break their line several times and put up some points, especially in the second half. The final score was a win 26-13.

The B side game was much the same as far as physicality and style of play. We broke their lines and made long drives several times but could finish them off with scores. We had 3 tries held up, including 1 by myself (which was a terrible call). The final score here was a loss 7-15.

I played all but about 10 minutes of the B side game, coming out twice for a few minutes each. This was done mostly because we had unlimited subs, so we wanted to keep fresh legs in the game. I played 2nd row the whole time.

I thought I played pretty well, not exceptional, but good. My coaches and teammates must have thought otherwise because several of them told me I played a great game. I must be doing something right.

As of now, we are 4-0 with a 2 game advantage on the next team in the conference (not just division). We may also be getting a national ranking out of this win.

Next saturday we play an out of conference game for our final home game of the year.

Monday Lifting and Conditioning Practice

Warmup/Stretching

DB Bench- 4 sets, 50 total reps
Squat- 170x3, 195x3, 225x3
Chest Supported row- 5 sets, 50 reps
Abs- 3 sets, 50 reps

Practice- rode 10 miles on the bike in 25 minutes

Tuesday Practice

The fields were closed due to rain, so we practiced in a parking garage. Since everything was concrete, we mostly did a ton of conditioning and a few ball drills.

The conditioning was a circuit style set up, it consisted of:

flipping tires
sprints
a few agility drills
ab work
a couple passing drills

After the conditioning we did a couple of ball handling drills and called it a night

Wednesday Lifting and Recovery

Warmup/Stretch

Press- 95x5, 105x3, 115x1
Back Raises- 3 sets with body weight
Lat Pulls- 3 sets
Abs- 3 sets

Hot tub/Pool for 20 minutes

Thursday Practice

Warmup/Stretch

Full contact fowards on fowards drill (5 vs 3/4)

B vs C full scrimmage

Tonight was a fun practice, the forwards drill was full contact for 45 minutes. We really got a lot of hitting in and I like when we do drills like this, as it is something that really happens during games.

The scrimmage was fun too, and the coaches have said that we will be having a B vs C scrimmage every thursday practice, which is a great idea. This gives us as players so much more game like experience, and allows the coaches to evaluate players a lot better.

Friday Recovery Work

30 minutes of dynamic and static stretching

20 minutes in the hot tub/pool

Saturday Match Report

The game this weekend was an out of conference opponent, but it was a match that was very important for our team. Last fall, this team came down and beat us handily, and we played like crap. It was this loss that made us turn everything around, and since then we have gotten better and better. Since that game, we’ve only lost one game (against a very good D1 men’s team by 3 points). This game was our team’s chance to prove how much we have improved.

We had 6 starters on the A side out for this game. Even though the game was important to us, it is still an out of conference game, so the coaches sat the guys that are a bit banged up, so they can be as healthy as possible for the next conference game.

Even with these guys out, the team didn’t miss a beat. The reserves stepped up big time, and the A side won 47-17.

Unfortunetly, our opponents weren’t able to bring a B side, so we played a full B vs C match. I was the B side starting 8 man, and I played the last 20 minutes or so at prop due to injuries. I think I played fairly well, and I scored a try in the first few minutes. The other team had a lineout 10 meters out from us scoring, I went straight for the flyhalf and met him right when he caught the pass, stripped it, and set it down for the score. I also had a few longer runs and a couple good offloads.

I don’t know the final score, but if I had to guess I would say it was about 50-20, with the B side winning.

As a team, we are now 5-0. We have 2 bye weeks now and then we will travel for our last 2 conference games before post season play begins.

Monday Lifting and Conditioning Practice

Lifting:

Squat- 185x5, 205x3, 235x1
Swiss Bar Press- 3x10-15
Chest Supported Rows- 3x10-15
Abs- 3 sets

Conditioning Practice:

Ran a mile in 8:20, then put in 10 minutes on the row machine

Tuesday Practice

Basically we just did a ton of drills, nothing interesting

Thursday Practice

Did a bunch of drills, just like tuesday

Then we played a bunch of touch, boring

Friday Lifting

Warmup/Stretching

Bench- 160x2, 170x2, 185x2
Back Raises- 3 sets with bodyweight
Lat Pulls- 3x10-15
Abs- 3 sets

Then I put in 10 minutes on the Jacobs ladder, it was a lot more tiring then I thought it would be

Monday Training

Warmup/Stretch

Squat
165x5
195x5
215x5

Assistance - Db press, chest supported rows, abs

Conditioning - 50 yard sprints x 20

Tuesday Training

warmup/stretch

Bench
135x5
155x5
170x5

Assistance - Lat pulls, lateral raises, pushdowns

Conditioning - 20 mins on the Jacobs ladder

Pool/Sauna for 20 mins

I was just planning on doing some conditioning and getting in the pool today, but decided to get some benching in as well. The Jacobs ladder was brutal as it always is