shepherding and inside breaks
Question
Hey, i'm a wing from south africa. I play for my university's third side but were the strongest in the league. I have a lot of confidence in my tackling and, because i'm real quick, tend to shepherd my opponents to the side line and tackle them side on! the problem is i get beaten with an inside step quite often. Is my line of entry wrong? or should i wait even longer before committing to the wing "trying" to round me? i feel so bad letting my outside center tackle the guys on my inside and sometimes he is not fast enough to get them in time!
please help. thank you.
Answer
G'day Francois,
It is a tough call mate as I personally have trouble visualising the exact situation from your description. If you are being beaten by an inside step then you may want to just hold back a little. If you come up too fast you expose yourself to being stepped. Give the guy the feeling that his ONLY option is to take the line side, then make sure you can catch him. It should bring the amount of times you get stepped down.
Also remember it is actually your inside centers job to cover the inside so don't sweat that too much.
Rugby Rule regarding tackling or contact above the shoulders
underweight for rugby