What I'm here for

Rugby has been my passion (some would say my obsession) for more than half of my life. I've played at various levels and encountered hundreds of players of various standards of experience and skill, which are not necessarily linked!

Having moved to California, I had naively resigned myself to the fact that the game might be less influential in my life. It was largely for this reason that I gave in and had a long overdue ACL replacement to force myself to 'retire' and ease out of playing before I emigrated. I vowed to enjoy everything that my new life had to offer and escape the Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday schedule within which I'd existed for 15 years.

How wrong I turned out to be. For those of you involved in the game, this will come as no surprise, because it is simply unavoidable. Especially in this environment where it is very much marginalised, I'd say that the supporters are potentially more passionate than those back home who take coverage, news and live viewing for granted.

I quickly became involved in a social side to keep my hand in both on the pitch and in the pub. More importantly, I became involved in coaching a women's team, a concept that I never thought I would entertain!

It is this experience that I feel it is important to share, as it has helped me to reconnect with why I first got involved with the sport. After years of going through the motions of endless, seemlingly pointless, drills in the rain I had forgotten how much of what I do on the pitch is not intuitive, but has actually been learned directly and indirectly from players and coaches along the way. 

Rugby can be a difficult game to play or watch for a newcomer, as there seems to be intricate moves and often random rules, but once you've grasped running forward and throwing backward then the rest is just details.

By no means am I purporting to be an expert on the matter, or a world-class player, but I do have a strong understanding of how to break the core skills down into their simplest forms, to help make them easier to learn. Once the tricks and skills can be stripped back and demystified, anybody can have a go and see if they make their playing life easier and more successful.

Although we are nearing the end of activity with the team for another season, I will endeavor to post training notes, objectives and outcomes as I feel necessary. 

I would also beg for some leniency over the style and frequency of my blogging. I am new to this, but think that I will build up a useful library of hints & tips, news and, who knows, maybe some funny stories.