What is the difference between blind side and openside

Now you have two players that cannot be considered jumping options and the opposition will mark your other jumpers accordingly. Shorter lifters mean less elevation for a jumper. The Wallabies have historically had issues with this when playing two openside flankers on the same field. In the s they experimented with this strategy using George Smith and Phil Waugh.

More recently, they tried the same thing with David Pocock and Michael Hooper. The result was a significantly depleted lineout. This depends on the specific game, time of possession, gameplay and also the definition of a tackle. For example, if you complete 9 tackles as the tackler and an additional 9 as the tackle assist, that would be a huge performance.

Similarly, if your team is in possession for 60 mins in a match and you secure 25 Rucks on offense, maybe 9 tackles is a huge effort. This is more of a Hooker question than one for openside flankers. In general play, hookers and opensides have very similar functions and abilities. But at the set piece, they have vastly different roles. To switch effectively from openside to Hooker, you would need to add some significantly bulk in order to handle the physical stress of scrummaging.

So, how challenging? Very challenging. Better get out to the pitch and start tossing lineouts. Smith is to the Blitzboks what Michael Hooper should be to the Australian 7s squad. His contributions at the World Cup helped South Africa get out of the pool stages in great shape.

But perhaps his best 15s performance was for the Barbarians against the All Blacks in where he kicked ahead and went stride for stride with Waisake Naholo. Given that he led the Springboks to a Rugby World Cup in , you could be forgiven for thinking Siya Kolisi should be higher on this list. But his versatility hurts him a little bit. Kolisi can play at 6, 7 or 8 and looks at home in any of them. His leadership is exemplary. At his best with ball in hand, Savea makes more run meters than any other flanker in world rugby.

The unsung hero of the Welsh Rugby squad. Tipuric is the best on-ball openside flanker running around in the Northern Hemisphere right now. Nearing the end of his illustrious career now, Francois Louw has been a stalwart of the Springboks throughout the s. There are 3 mini-skill sets you will need to master to do this effectively:.

With all else equal, the selectors for your team will look at your lineout ability as a deciding factor for whether you will make the team or not. Become comfortable with the idea of being a go-to man at lineout time. At rucks, flankers should be as annoying to the opposition as the referee allows. Flankers must anticipate where the next tackle will be made, and ensure that they get to that breakdown first, before the ruck forms.

A rugby flanker will make around 12 to 14 tackles in an average game. This is close to the highest tackle rate in the team. Your shoulders will take a beating, so you need to be tough. Beware of attempting to use your long limbs to make arm tackles on players who are far away. This can often lead to an arm slipping up, for a high tackle or a missed tackle because there was not enough weight behind it.

Get your shoulders in there! Watch the video below for clarity on what your defensive role is as a flanker:. You need to be agile and quick to move around to the lineout position you will be lifted from. Agility drills might look stupid, but they can prove effective if this is an area you need some work in. Becoming comfortable in the air is also a worthwhile investment of time. When you are worried about falling, it is impossible to pay full attention to catching the ball being thrown at you.

You can become more explosive by doing exercises like box jumps and speed squats. This will help you get in the air faster at lineout time. Flankers need high levels of strength in their entire body. You need especially strong legs and pressing muscles triceps, chest, shoulders. These will build a stable base for you to grow from. For more on this, go to the rugby workouts page. To be effective on the rugby field, you need the right gear.

If your goal is to become THE rugby hero on your team, your mindset will drive all the changes I have suggested above. Dominate every tackle, every scrum, every ruck.

Ultimately, all this information is useless to you if you do nothing with it. There is no way that anyone lacks the ability to become THE rugby hero on their team.

It all comes down to whether you are willing to put in the work. So, today my call to you is that you work on perfecting ONE skill that will make you a better rugby flanker. And some only at 7? Is there a difference between the two flankers' roles? Both an openside and blindside flanker get their names from their positions at the scrum. They don't line up left and right, but rather, their positions depend on where a scrum is on the pitch.

An openside will pack down on the side of the scrum that is furthest to the touchline, and is usually the side that teams have the majority of their backline, while the blindside flanker covers the narrower of the two sides. When defending a scrum, it's an openside flankers job to get out to the opposition backline as soon as possible, in an attempt to minimise any tackles his outhalf would have to make.

Outhalves are traditionally the worst tacklers on a rugby pitch, because their job is to direct a team, not make tackles. Opensides also have to cover number eight picks on their side, or if the scrumhalf decides to go himself, the openside also covers him. A blindside has less responsibilities at the scrum, but it's more noticeable if they don't do them. Any short side moves, or blindside number 8 picks are the sole responsibility of a blindside flanker, and any missed tackles will usually result in big gains for the opposing team.

This of course, isn't the main debate of what a natural openside is, or why a blindside can't swap over, but it helps to know where the names of these positions actually mean. So what's a natural 7? All of those players listed have the attributes of a natural 7 - breakdown skills and intelligent supporting link play.

The breakdown aspect is the main difference between an openside and blindside flanker. An openside's job in defense is to get over the ball to try and steal or win a penalty. A good openside will know when there is an opportunity to jackal the ball, and when to back off and keep the defensive line. Players like Sean O'Brien are extremely good over the ball, either stealing it, winning penalties, or slowing opposition attacks down.