Duties of a lock, flank and eight man in modern rugby

Question
My son an ex triathlete age 16, height 6' 4", weight 90kg plays lock.
As he is big he has always been taught to stay back waiting for the ball to be passed to him as he is difficult to stop.
He is now staring to play at a higher level with the trials to get into the under 16 provincial teams.
His role at this level is what a lock should be and because he has been taught to hold back and wait for the ball he is now unsure of what to do.
He is now jumping for the first time in line outs simply because his previous team mates could not lift him.
He runs fast for a boy his size and prefers to play flank or eight man.
I would appreciate any feedback

Answer
Hi Mike, sorry for the delay.

I will paste an e-mail below that helps with ruck, maul and field play. First i think it is important for your boy to hook up with a veteran player on a mentor level. It might be worth talking to the coach to see if he can formally assign a senior player to teach him the tricks of the trade. He should spend a little time simple mirroring the actions of the good players in his team. Simply asking the coach what his expectations are is also a good thing. Hanging back if done properly is not a bad thins as if he is not needed in a maul or ruck because it is obviously won then hanging back to be a runner is better and vice versa - if the maul or ruck needs winning he needs to get into it and be a tight forward to help win the ball. A good player has the ability to know when to play loose and when to play tight. This changes from game to game and coach to coach.

Here is a recently answered question and some useful links:

Answer:  G'day Jord,

When running into a ruck you need to quickly determine if you are actually needed. If the ball is obviously won and you can see that all the 1/2 back has to do is pick it up hang back and be an option for him to pass to you.

You always want to be running to a ruck from directly behind it, this is acheived by running loops around the field rather than running straight to the ruck or maul.

If you run straight you might get ther quicker but you will come in from the side which is illegal and not a strong attacking position to be in.

Coming from behind gives you more options, you can be a ball carrier taking a pass from the left or right of the ruck or if you are needed you can engage the ruck from the legal amd efficient area directly  coming from behind.

Keep your head up and eyes open look for a member of the opposition to take out or join you team mate pushing much like a scrum.

As a prop you can be safe to say that in general you wil be needed in ever 2nd phase of play. You will be in 1 ruck and when it moves on by the time you get to the next one it will probably be over so you will be a ball carrier or supporting the ball carrier to either take a pass or join the next ruck.

Here are some links for you:

All technique: Scrum, Running up the Ball, Tackling

http://www.rugbysmart.co.nz/plan/technique.html

http://www.rugbytactics.com/

http://www.talkrugbyunion.co.uk/


Skills and Technique, video:

http://www.joberrugby.com/