Soldiers
play smart rugby
Safer approach to game preparation
 |
Cfn
Dale Donovan, 17 Const Sqn, participates in the Smart Rugby
program at Randwick Barracks in Sydney.
Photo by Bill Cunneen |
By
Cpl Alisha Carr
THE ADF’s Rugby Union players can rest assured their game
is safe and in line with national standards – this is the
message from Army Rugby’s Development Officer Capt Tom Wall.
Capt Wall, who is also the Safety Co-ordinator for Defence’s
Smart Rugby program, said Smart Rugby was an Australian Rugby
Union (ARU) initiative.
“The aim is to provide access to the sport for people of
all levels and to reduce the occurrence of injuries,” he
said.
“It is directed to all players and coaches, from base level
right through to elite competitions.
“Australian Services Rugby Union (ASRU) has been very proactive
in supporting women’s rugby within Defence. We recently ran
three Smart Rugby training camps – one in Brisbane, Sydney
and Albury-Wodonga – and we had a reasonable number of female
players turn up, however, they were all from the Army.”
He said he encouraged female players from the other services to
take advantage of the Smart Rugby program.
“During the one-day training camps we run through a series
of drills and basic assessments of the players to see what level
they are at.
“We teach them the new dynamic warm up – the latest
in sports science from the Institute of Sport – and work
on basic skills and different aspects of the game, including defence
and attack strategies.”
He said the dynamic warm up was based on the principle that stretching
and flexibility training was best kept to cool downs, rather than
warm ups, because it is conditioning the muscles to relax.
“There are a whole range of exercises that work the joints
and large muscle groups to get people warm and active before they
get into the game.”
Players who attend the Smart Rugby training days have the unique
opportunity to have a skill assessment carried out by Defence’s
national coaching staff.
“All aspects of the game are covered – ball handling,
tackling, ruck play, agility, scrum and lineout work. It’s
a very comprehensive and full day of training, starting at 7.30am
and continuing until 3.30pm.”
Capt Wall said Smart Rugby’s focus was on safety and developing
the game from base level.
“In the three recent training camps about 80 people have
participated. From this, there has been one injury.
“We encourage our senior players to attend because it gives
the new up and comers the opportunity to mix with them and see
what the top standard is. It also sends the message that we are
not an elitist organisation – we are constantly looking for
new blood and trying to develop the game at the grass roots.”
He said the Smart Rugby training camps had been incredibly successful
and thanked WO2 Anthony Rogers for his assitance in organising
the events.
“The training camps are run continuously throughout the year
and we are looking to expand to other regions. The current operational
tempo makes it difficult for people to get time off work to attend
sporting events, hence the reason we run the camps on the weekends.
“It’s a case of coaches and players giving up their
own time to ensure our sport is safe.”
Capt Wall said the main aim of the Smart Rugby training camps
were as follows:
