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.Sport
Playing
it smart
Air Force rugby players to be trained under new
SmartRugby program
By
CPL Simone Liebelt
Volume
48, No. 3, March 9, 2006
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An
Air Force player flies for the ball in a lineout during
the Burn-Merz Shield held last year at RAAF Base Amberley.
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Photo
by LACW Alice Gardiner
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ALL
Air Force rugby players will have to complete a new health and
safety program known as SmartRugby before they can play the popular
contact sport.
The Australian Rugby Union (ARU) has instituted the mandatory
program for all Australian-based rugby organisations, with the
aim to provide coaches, referees and players with the knowledge
required to ensure safe practice of the contact elements of the
game.
From this year no game will be permitted to begin unless coaches
of both teams can show the referee their current SmartRugby certification
card.
Coaches and referees undertake a certified train-the-trainer session
which equips them with the knowledge to pass on to their players.
The
session covers:
- Balance
and stability;
- Tackling;
- Post
tackle support;
- Scrums,
lineouts and restarts; and
- Foul
play.
The
techniques learnt will become integral for Air Force personnel
who participate in games either at unit or inter-base level, or
at tournaments such as the Kapooka 10s or Mons Cup.
The Air Force Rugby Union (AFRU) (along with Army and Navy), as
the controlling body for the game within Air Force, has mandated
that member who participates in a game of rugby within the Service
environment must have completed the full SmartRugby session with
an ADF SmartRugby-certified coach during the same rugby season.
This will be an ongoing requirement from the 2006 season on.
To meet this, AFRU will be running three development camps in
Adelaide, Darwin and Williamtown, all of which will include the
full SmartRugby program. This will ensure that an opportunity
exists prior to all of the Service rugby tournaments (including
the Kapooka 10s) for players to be certified.
AFRU will maintain the certification database for Air Force players,
and will coordinate with Army and Navy to ensure compliance across
the board. Players who are unable to make one of the programmed
camps may seek permission from AFRU to attend camps run by Army
and Navy for the same purposes.
It is expected that all players selected for the AFRU National
Squad will have attended a development camp, and will be SmartRugby
certified. However, the program will be run again in the lead-up
to the national competition to ensure that all players are current
prior to the games against Army and Navy.
The SmartRugby initiative has been instituted to ensure the safety
of all who play rugby, and therefore RAAF members who do not seek
and gain certification will not be allowed to play rugby Union
within the Service environment.
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