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Originally posted by LDiCesare
HAha, you never threw, did you?
Here's a typical half of a hooker match (the other being scrums, which I can't discuss in a single post, and Havak would probably have more to say):
Beginning of the game. After the warm up (one ruck), a back kicks the ball out. Your turn to throw. Your locks suddenly look small, while the opponent locks look like they are giants. Despite your telling your mates a nice thing like "Abnegation 43 27 89", only the first jumper, the one you won't throw the ball to, looks like he's ready to jump. The referee looks nervous, your scrum half is shouting silly things at you the way he usually does.
You throw.
Sh*t! Not straight. There has been a sudden blast of wind. The ball nicely reaches the opponent second jumper, and the referee doesn't think it is worth whistling despite the obviously not straight throw in the bad direction.
You swear heavily and charge the maul immediately, hoping to get the ball back, but not really believing you will. You never do, after all.
Two scrums later.
This time it's one of your own backs who kicked the ball. You stay near the hooker, looking menacingly at the opponent prop who's busy preparing himself to lift a 'quintal' (100kg.) of second row meat. The ball flies. Obviously right into the hand of the said second row. Obviously not straight, but it being in the same direction as the last time, the wind blowing and the fact it doesn't show as much on a short lineout as when you throw far, or maybe because the referee is blind (I mean, he penalized your team when the opponent prop fell and collapsed the scrum last time!), he doesn't whistle. You charge the scrummy as soon as the ball gets out, but the weasel manages to get rid of it before you reach him, and the fly half is already kicking.
Now your turn to throw. The opponent first jumper obviously got the ball only because it wasn't straight. So you try again, "Rugby 79 99 21". Throw. Nice throw in the middle. For less than half of a second, you feel happy with yourself. Then you realise that the opponent jumper managed to jump in front of your own lock, and get the ball.
Sh*t. This one is lost, but only because they've got a better jumper in front. You charge the maul, noting for later that you should throw to the second jumper, because their first lock is too good.
Three scrums later.
Now your pack managed to push a maul out of the field, and apparently the opponent were holding the ball at the time. You throw on the second jumper. The ball flies nicely, the jumper jumps well, but the flanker who's supposed to lift him seems to suffer from a brain fade. When the ball reaches the place where the jumper was one fraction of a second ago, the lock has already fallen down, and the opponent seizes the ball. Damn flankers. Because they have been running along the pitch, they pretend they are exhausted and don't listen to the combination.
One scrum later.
This time, the opponent lock throws obviously not straight into the hands of his second jumper. The referee warns us that next time, he'll whistle.
Two scrums later.
Okay, so this time the referee used the whistle thing. Problem is, it was against you, not the opponent. " I had warned you to throw straight", said he. Nope, he warned them. Looking at the captain, you think it may not be a good idea to tell the ref what you think.
They kicked for a lineout, so they throw. Our second jumper catches the ball in a rare display of coordination between his lifters and him. Unfortunately, the ref whistles again because your first jumper pushed his vis-a-vis and prevented him from jumping. The fact that the ball flew more than one meter above his outstretched arms, and the fact that the opponent first jumper clearly didn't even try lifting his heavy frame from the pitch, doesn't matter.
After a few scrums and a pause in which the teams change sides, you get to throw again. This time, everything works well. The thrower (you) throws straight. The second jumper jumps high, his lifters lift him. Even more surprising, he doesn't get pushed or pulled while in the air, and the forwards manage to create a nice maul. This usually happens once or twice in a good match. You try very hard to remember this experience in order to be able to talk about it while sipping some Bowmore after the match.
The rest of the match is more of the same, except for the last lineout I depicted, which, as I mentioned, only happens once or twice for your side in a match, but much more often for the other side.
HAha, you never threw, did you?
Here's a typical half of a hooker match (the other being scrums, which I can't discuss in a single post, and Havak would probably have more to say):
Beginning of the game. After the warm up (one ruck), a back kicks the ball out. Your turn to throw. Your locks suddenly look small, while the opponent locks look like they are giants. Despite your telling your mates a nice thing like "Abnegation 43 27 89", only the first jumper, the one you won't throw the ball to, looks like he's ready to jump. The referee looks nervous, your scrum half is shouting silly things at you the way he usually does.
You throw.
Sh*t! Not straight. There has been a sudden blast of wind. The ball nicely reaches the opponent second jumper, and the referee doesn't think it is worth whistling despite the obviously not straight throw in the bad direction.
You swear heavily and charge the maul immediately, hoping to get the ball back, but not really believing you will. You never do, after all.
Two scrums later.
This time it's one of your own backs who kicked the ball. You stay near the hooker, looking menacingly at the opponent prop who's busy preparing himself to lift a 'quintal' (100kg.) of second row meat. The ball flies. Obviously right into the hand of the said second row. Obviously not straight, but it being in the same direction as the last time, the wind blowing and the fact it doesn't show as much on a short lineout as when you throw far, or maybe because the referee is blind (I mean, he penalized your team when the opponent prop fell and collapsed the scrum last time!), he doesn't whistle. You charge the scrummy as soon as the ball gets out, but the weasel manages to get rid of it before you reach him, and the fly half is already kicking.
Now your turn to throw. The opponent first jumper obviously got the ball only because it wasn't straight. So you try again, "Rugby 79 99 21". Throw. Nice throw in the middle. For less than half of a second, you feel happy with yourself. Then you realise that the opponent jumper managed to jump in front of your own lock, and get the ball.
Sh*t. This one is lost, but only because they've got a better jumper in front. You charge the maul, noting for later that you should throw to the second jumper, because their first lock is too good.
Three scrums later.
Now your pack managed to push a maul out of the field, and apparently the opponent were holding the ball at the time. You throw on the second jumper. The ball flies nicely, the jumper jumps well, but the flanker who's supposed to lift him seems to suffer from a brain fade. When the ball reaches the place where the jumper was one fraction of a second ago, the lock has already fallen down, and the opponent seizes the ball. Damn flankers. Because they have been running along the pitch, they pretend they are exhausted and don't listen to the combination.
One scrum later.
This time, the opponent lock throws obviously not straight into the hands of his second jumper. The referee warns us that next time, he'll whistle.
Two scrums later.
Okay, so this time the referee used the whistle thing. Problem is, it was against you, not the opponent. " I had warned you to throw straight", said he. Nope, he warned them. Looking at the captain, you think it may not be a good idea to tell the ref what you think.
They kicked for a lineout, so they throw. Our second jumper catches the ball in a rare display of coordination between his lifters and him. Unfortunately, the ref whistles again because your first jumper pushed his vis-a-vis and prevented him from jumping. The fact that the ball flew more than one meter above his outstretched arms, and the fact that the opponent first jumper clearly didn't even try lifting his heavy frame from the pitch, doesn't matter.
After a few scrums and a pause in which the teams change sides, you get to throw again. This time, everything works well. The thrower (you) throws straight. The second jumper jumps high, his lifters lift him. Even more surprising, he doesn't get pushed or pulled while in the air, and the forwards manage to create a nice maul. This usually happens once or twice in a good match. You try very hard to remember this experience in order to be able to talk about it while sipping some Bowmore after the match.
The rest of the match is more of the same, except for the last lineout I depicted, which, as I mentioned, only happens once or twice for your side in a match, but much more often for the other side.
Havak talk about the finer points of scrums? What could he have to say apart from, "Ouch, not the nuts again!".
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