Rupert's Polar Bears Rugby Experience

Hey, So i cant even remember who we played last week but we won 51-7. 7 was our only points scored against us the whole season. I am only gunna talk mostly about the reserve games because i dont really play the prems games, they just need me for the bench. Prems had a mid week game wednesday and i was on the bench for that. But this week i had training tuesday, prems game wednesday, reserve practice thursday and prems "captains run" frinday, with 2 games saturday. I didnt get any game time in the prems on saturday but i played a half in colts reserve. It is starting to get annoying missing reserve game time because im on the bench for prems but O well. The game I played yesterday was a good one though. We were losing 10-5 at half and then I went on, HAHA with 3 or 4 other good players and we totally changed it. The final was 25-15. I think i played alright, i had some good carries with the ball but that is about it. We didnt lose any lineouts but yea. I think i just wanna keep my head up and watch there the next play or phase is going to be, try and be one step ahead of how im playing now. Another thing to work on is going into contact too high. The coaches dont give a lot of feedback but that is what some other players have said. I talked to the div 2 coaches and asked about senior mens div 2 but they have sooo many people that want to play so i doubt ill play for them. Either way, next week the prems team has a by, and our reserve game have 2 tour games the next 2 weekends so ill be getting heaps of game time. Things are looking good because we are the only team that is 4-0 so i am happy. I also bought a car and im going on a short lil trip tomorrow (expect fb vblog) haha, thanks guys, ttyl.

Hey everyone, we won this game 34-0, so we have ZERO points against us so far. I played the last 20 of the prems game then got a ride to the reserve game as well and played right when I got there for probably 60 minutes. We won the prems game as well 84-0. The reserve game was pretty sloppy but we cleaned it up more in the second half. I think we played worse as a team because we played down but I think I played pretty good. I made 4 or 5 big hits, like drove them backwards, and my shoulder is skill red and sore. My knee was hurt from the prems game but I just popped 2 pills and was good to go for the reserve game. I really suck at lineouts still and they were stealing some of our scrums (we had so many scrums) but I told the half back to put the ball in right away which worked better for us because it didnt get the hooker a chance to get it. Either way we got the win and we are 2-0! ttyl

Hey everyone i know it has been awhile but this is a good one! Belfast were the champions of Colts Reserve last year (beating HSOB(my team) in the final last year)) which is the division i am in. I actually made the Colts Premier roster as back up hooker and prop so i was on the bench for their game at 1 pm then right after that game finished our Colts Reserve Manager drove me out to the Colts Reserve game. The Premier team had a draw against Lincoln university 29-29. When i showed up to the Reserve game i was like 10-15 minutes late but they put me on right away when was great. Belfast was pretty slow, big guys with crappy cardio. We had a lot of random players come out for the game that have never been to practice. Belfast is renowned for being real dirty which is just up my alley being from Winnipeg. I came in at prop because this random guy was hooking and it was great. I was loose head and kicked this guys ass, like pretty much he was trying to be really dirty and i was just laughing in the scrum because i didnt let it phase me so he just got more mad. We only had one mistake in the scrum in which i couldnt get my bind up and i accidentally hit their flankers head trying to grab him. I just grab far on his back as loose head and put your head slightly underneath him. I let him twist be and he kept trying to pull me under with his elbow, i just kept strong and told the ref to watch for it. It was fantastic. Our backs were amazing as well because their defense was horrible, it was really like poor Winnipeg rugby, just scrappy and sloppy play. I had a couple great runs and 2 big tackles. I hit the other hooker in a head to head collision and he got concussed haha, and he had to get subbed off which was good for us because they were getting a ton of penalties so we won every scrum after that because it went to un-contested. A lot of people got tries and i could have gotten one but just missed out. If i were to rate myself i think i would have got 6.5/10. I know i can play better and i look forward to rising to the occasion. The finial score 44-0 win! it was a great start to the season. I just got back from the club house with a brand new polar bears hoodie for 30$ and it was great! Things to work in from the coach is staying low on contact because i pop up when at the line so ill try and remember that! till next time guys, take care! O and the manager talked to me at the club house after because he wants me to be Captain of the Colts Reserve team, the only down thing is that if i am i cant play Colts Premier. Either way i think it is pretty cool and i hope i can rise to the occasion!
Rup!

had training camp all weekend at a Maori lodge it was pretty cool. We did a lot of fitness running up hills and sprints which sucked but we got drunk on saturday night. I just couldnt be bother to make so many blog posts. When i get real bored ill write a nice big blog for ya'll. I talked to the coach and he said ill be in the reserve squad which is better if you look at it, more game time and starting. Either way it is not permanent and everything can change. Maybe ill play div 2 seniors i dunno. But for the rugby community this training camp was pretty legit, it is a must for teams i think. Really good team building stuff and professional. We discussed team philosophy, like our attitude and requirements this year, we each filled out a player profile card. We are getting a team card with phone numbers for all coaches, other players and general info. Talked about some kit we are getting and we just trained a lot. That is it for now, later.

Hey guys, blogging is really tiring… If anyone is still reading this, I wouldn’t mind some feedback, maybe some questions or anything. The coaches didn’t announce the prems or reserve squad. I don’t think I was the only one that was choked and in suspense. Practice went pretty well for me but I was pretty tired from work and not all there. We did a lot of ball handling and just understand space and stuff like that. Communication was really important. We did the regular salt and pepper drills in the usual grid to warm up after a game of touch. The coach wanted us to always do something different and we had to decide which play we are doing. After we divided into 2 squads of equal forwards and backs to split up and do more drills. They had 3 drills and one ground went to one and the other group went to another. We did each drill for 30 minutes maybe. The first drill was attacking 2 on 1, and then 3 on 2. The defender joined the attackers after the 2 passed the 1. And then after the 3 on 2 (wide as end goal to 22m) the attackers went to the defensive position. It was about waiting in depth and hitting the line hard at pace. Second drill was easier and more run. The grid was an L shape. We started spread out on 1 side and the first person had to run around a cone in front and catch the ball from a coach and had to run and attack towards the perpendicular direction without going to wide around. Late is great and it was about communication. I did well in that one. The last drill was with everyone and there were 4 cones in a large grid, they divided everyone into those corners. 2 sides were attackers and 2 defenders, the coach pointed to one each corner with a number for attackers and defenders to come forward. It was fast and confusing because it was always different. Sometimes he called 3 attackers from one side and 2 from the other attackers cone and 2 defenders from each cone. Stuff like that, so it was random. After that we did more fitness which was pretty crappy and then we had a long stretch. We have training on Thursday with a bbq after. We have an overnight training camp this Saturday too. Later.

So it was a pretty nerve-racking day. The seniors game was at noon so I got a ride to the field with Mank at 10:30 because everyone needed to be there an hour before their game. I was definitely nervous but I figured it will just go away after the first ruck ya know. So everyone just warmed up by themselves for a little while then the coach just organized some passing drills. We played 2 20 minute halves and it was still really tiring lol. The first half was better for me because I just did a lot of useless running so I got into the play more. I had 3 good runs off a ruck, 2 of which I got totally killed in contact but I held the ball. The third time I broke 2 tackles and made a pretty decent run. Line-outs went pretty good even though it was pretty unplanned. Scrums were ok, we only had 5 per side but I think I did good, I stole 2 balls from them. In the second half I listened to the stand-off more so I didn’t hit as many rucks but stayed on the defensive line more. I also knocked on the ball once from a kick start. I made a decent number of tackles but I think I still need to work on them more. I bought a lot of Vaseline and took an advil before the game so it was pretty painless although I feel pretty stiff now. I think that is pretty much it and we got practice Tuesday. Ttyl.

Practice went pretty awesome for me, the one time when the main coaches arnt there, but at least the forward coaches were. We did shit training for the first 15 minutes, 15 minutes of touch after, 15 minutes of forwards and backs, 15 minute ruck and run. I still am not that good at throwing in but I have been practicing an hour a day and will continue to do so. Touch was slow I didn’t really do much in that. I did some lifting in the line outs and the other pack we played against were all from the same school so they just kicked our ass with special plays. The ruck and run was great though. So here is the deal, I think I am gunna be alright because I think I have an advantage playing with senior mens of Manitoba because of people like Momo and Scott Lake and the rest of the other players like them. They play a lot faster here but I think I have pretty good cardio. We only had 6 forwards per team and playing flank last year gives me an advantage as well. I did pretty good compared to the other forwards. 2 forwards got injured which sucks but it also makes it good because there is more room for prems players! The other hooker got called up to play for the senior mens trial as well so that benefits me. Either way I did pretty good during the ruck and run and went pretty hard, I got the only try in the 15 minutes we played too! Im gunna show up for all the games on Saturday just if they need me but that’s it for now! Cya.

So there is quite a bit of new information and some personal updates. I will break down this post into 3 sections, the front row club before practice, the practice, and personal updates. We started off with recapping what were the body position basics from last time. We did some 1 on 1 to warm up and progressed to 2 on 1 pushing. Also just rolling shoulders or grappling warm up like in wresting. After that we packed down 3 vs. 3 and tried to get some reps in. Mostly talking about scrum position, each hooker took a turn leading the scrum so when the 6 of us were down they would say move left, middle, right, then drive. It was pretty good and the coaches were looking for getting your legs at a 135 degree angle and driving up with your legs far back and shoulder width apart. It is working like a piston, not fast but just under control. Extend your legs first, then catch up with your feet, make sure you are driving straight. We also talked about head position trying to get your shoulder or your head underneath your opponent, or driving towards the loosehead with your tighthead to break him from the scrum. When binding it is better to bind with your tighthead first if you are going to drive towards their loosehead, having said that don’t let your loosehead stand alone. As a hooker it is important to get your front right foot back as fast as possible and hit the opposition before they get their footing. I think that was it for the front row club.

For practice we divided into 4 teams again and played 2 mini matches against each other. They mini match was like 30 minutes and the rules for the game of touch were changing throughout. We started with the tackler having to take a knee until the ball is out, and then they added that 2 defenders have to hold hands to create space. In addition they also added that the attacking team has to commit 2 other players to the ruck after the ball carrier was touched. The final rules were that we could pass the ball forward once and kick it once per set of 6 touches. I got a try during the game and it was pretty fun but pretty tiring. After that we had a water break and split up into forwards and backs. We set up a scrum and it we were lacking quite a few players to make 2 separate packs. They named me and the other hooker as like team leaders. Out of my first 5 I was the only one wearing cleats so I feel like it really made me look bad but I think it could also be because we are not use to working together yet. Either way we got some reps in and it was hard for me to change what I have been doing with body position. I found that my commands are quite good, such as: “grips” for props binding after I am set in my position, “seconds”, for when I want the locks to join, “squeeze” to tighten the pack together, and “sink” to crouch when I am ready. Personal body position was key though and I have some work to do on that. After that we practiced some lineouts and it was pretty unstructured because we were short props and locks but I think my throwing was not bad. The coach didn’t want me to time the ball for now but just throw it when the lock is up there. I still need to practice power, accuracy and distance so just more reps in general. After that we did 10 minutes of “shit” training, which was shit… lunges 15m, 30 push-ups, 15 burpees, bear crawl 15m, 20 push ups, 10 burpees. After that a shuttle run with 2 cones going across the field, one at center and one at the far side, we had to run to each cone twice and then we were done the shit. After the shit was worse, there was a cone on each corner of half the field and we were divided into 2 teams. One cone was at center where one team started, and one starting center at the end goal. You had to beat the other team running around the cones doing one lap. We ran it 4 times and my team won every time, it was so tiring but I wasn’t the last guy for our team. The coach caught me cutting a corner, but it was only 2 steps, but still.

After practice I was talking to a Welsh guy who knows more of the guys on the team then me. 75% of the Colts all went to high school together and have been playing together for quite some time, which gives them a big advantage. He said that from hearing the other guys on the team they think I am pretty hardcore like rough with contact and intense or hard hitting. He also said that the coaches are not only looking for people that are gunna go hard but also fitness and knowing the game as well. I also think it could be a bad game for this inter-team game because it kinda puts a target on my head. Either way im gunna make some big hits and just sacrifice my body. If this is my last rugby season so be it. The Saturday games start with senior mens trial at noon, our game is at 2. Im gunna get there for 1130 I think to check it out. After this game we are splitting into 2 teams(premiere and reserve) and going to weekend camps with another team then playing them at the end of the weekend. After that weekend we are playing University of Lincoln which got 1st place last year for my division. The week after that we are playing a team called Burnside which got 2nd last year. The Bears Colts (my team) got 5th last year. After those preseason games it is Easter weekend then the season starts the weekend after that. I really hope I make the prems team and I just gotta see myself there and work for it. That is all for now!

At the beach today with pretty poor weather we had a beach sprinting professional come and help us with our explosiveness and agility. We started with a 20minute warm up run which was pretty hard because the sand is so hard to run in. After that the professional had us lay down in a line with our toes on a line, we had to get up as fast as possible turn around and run to a 10m line and get back down. We ran back and forth 4 times of 2 sets. After that he had another drill in the shape of a T, so if you could imagine a cone at every end and one in the center. You had to run around each cone starting at the bottom. To the center one and back, then the left to the center and back down, then the right then center then back down and again to the middle one and back. We did that twice. It is sorta like shuttle run, suicide run, man makers but in a short small area with a lot of turning on the sand. It makes your legs feel like jelly. He changed it so that every time the person comes back to the cone a new person joins which got really crazy and turned into a lot of confusion. It was good practice and a lot of work. After that we had a flag race. There were 9 of us and 7 flags. You do the math and if you didn’t get up, turn around and sprint 10m fast enough to get a flag then you are out. When it got down to the 5 I think we did 1 at a time. I made it all the way to the final! I lost to a winger though lol. It is really about strategy. After we did a tackling drill which was pretty cool. I did so horrible though I don’t think I made a single tackle, I was pretty upset with myself. It is because I wasn’t getting close enough to the person, they said I was just reaching. The grid was shaped like a 15m V. so the ball carrier starts at the bottom where it is closer and the defender on one of the top corners, we switched half way through. If you went loser to the ball carrier you would get rewarded because the grid gets smaller. If you waited for the bal carrier to come to you they had more room. We did that for about 10-15 minutes, then had a relay race in the water. It was so tiring but they allowed pushing and tackling or anything which was pretty fun. You had to run out to waist deep water, around another guy pretending to be a cone then 30m to another guy in waist deep water and back to shore. Me and the guy I went against just walked between the guys because it was so deep, but they brought it in more. After that we just played in the water and I body surfed which was crazy. I didn’t know how powerful those waves could be, I got tossed and turned underwater quite a bit. It was a little scary. That was all though, and I definitely need to work on my tackling. Cya.

I learned a lot today as well. The coach I asked to help me with my line-outs taught me a ton. First you want to have your feet planted shoulder width apart and in line. Have you butt back a little and tighten your core. Keep your main hand at the back of the ball and your bad hand on the side just for guidance. He first showed me a warm up where you stand with a partner about 3m apart and just pop the ball back and forth from chest to chest, use your wrists as well to get the power. When throwing the ball, make sure you keep your elbows in because that makes it a lot more powerful. Also make the throw come from your core because that way you won't make your arm sore. He said I improved a lot from the 15 minutes but I still wasn't accurate enough, but repetition is what is more important. I am gunna keep practicing every day and I should get better.
Before starting practice we were all in a circle and just said our name and where we were from. To start off practice we played a big game of touch to get started, there was about 13 on 13. The rules were changing but they called out 3 numbers at a time and the numbered players on the defence had to go to ground. When someone got touched he turned about and 2 other players on the attacking team had to commit to the "ruck” and just stand beside him protecting the ruck, a third player came to be the halfback. The rules changed to the ball carrier going to ground and the tackler lying on top of him, before the ball can be played another player on the attacking team had to clear off the tackler from the ball carrier. After the warm up we split into 4 equal teams consisting of equal numbers of tight 5, loose forwards and backs. We actually split into teams before the warm up and just paired up with another of the teams for the touch game for it was 2 teams together vs. the other 2 teams. After the game of touch tho, 2 teams went with the forwards coaches and 2 with the backs. I was with the forwards first and we practiced rolling mauls. The ball carrier goes into contact with a shoulder and the 2 next attacking players want to come up on either side and pretty much in front of the ball carrier to get past him and him the tacklers. After those 2 the third man comes in and takes the ball. When he feels ready and has at least 2 people with him he can be rolled to either the left or the right. Hopefully this makes sense but some gripping techniques were crucial as well as body position. It was about 7 vs 7 and we walked it through like 3 times each team and then went 50% then 100%. We did this for half the practice, about 30 minute's maybe. The total practice was 80 minutes. After the mauling we were with the backs coaches and they had 3 separate drills. We got a water break in between. The first drill we were in a box about 10m by 10m. We had 3 or 4 on either side and we had to attack the center of the grid going in different directions, all against 1 defender. Each side of the grid went at a time but it was still pretty quick. They were emphasising communication depth and committing the defender. After that drill we move into another box with everyone divided onto 4 corner cones. One player was between 2 cones and it was just fast running back in forth pop passes. The center person had to keep going back in forth and it was concentrating on reaching for the pass and making it one swift motion from the catch to the pass. It was pretty tiring being the center person but it wasn't too long. The wanted the people on the end to be in depth as well. The third drill was the hardest probably because it was the most confusing. We had to start off passing through a line then the last guy passed it to the coach. Everyone in the line had to run around a cone and attack coming from a different direction. The coach would pass the ball back to a random player in different ways, sometime throwing it up in the air, a pop pass or rolling it on the ground. The defenders can only more in a horizontal line, not towards the ball carriers. The second part of the drill the coaches wanted the ball to get passed through all the hands of the attackers. It was pretty tricky. Also remembering communication, depth and reaching for a pass to make the smooth motion from catch to pass. After that we just brought it in and talked about the upcoming beach run on Sunday. Later! hopefully this picture makes sense.