Pchools rugby is a massive partof the game in Ireland, withthe schools system consistent-ly producing most of our inter-national players. While manyof us associate the sport at

school level with the elite Dublin clubs –Blackrock College, St Mary’s, Terenureand so on – in fact, rugby is played byover 36,000 children in 1,131 schoolsacross the country every week!

Keep fit, make friends, get activePlaying rugby as a kid or teenager at school is simply a great way to form friend-ships, keep fit and boost your confidence for years to come.

From as young as five, kids can get involved in tag rugby – all you need is apair of boots and clothes that you can run around in.

John Byrne, 18, started playing rugby when he was eight and loved it from thestart. “All my friends were playing, so I played,” he says. John played centre andfull back at St Michael’s College in Dublin and has now been coaching at OldBelvedere for three years, training under-11s, under-12s and recently under-14s.

SBuild your confidenceand have fun

What’s great about rugby is that it’s asport you have to be fully involved in,says John – even from an early ageyou can’t hang back. Not only does itkeep kids fit and get them playingand working with other kids,it’s also building up theirconfidence all the time.

“It definitely helped medevelop my confidence,” hesays. “When it gets to sen-ior level you have to eitherstep up or step out.”

You learn social skills aswell as sports skills everystep of the way. “Trust inyour teammates, know-ing your teammateswell is hugely impor-tant. Communicationis key.

“Rugby is a socialgame – you train hardand then have the craicafterwards.”

Schools rugby at theRugby Show

Schools rugby will be a huge part ofThe Rugby Show Live 2009 at theRDS. Young players can talk and lis-ten to Reggie Corrigan at the ScrumClinic – find out the right way to gointo a scrum and how to train prop-erly, and much more.

Brent Pope says: “If I was a youngplayer coming down to the RugbyShow I’d be saying, ‘Okay, whatshould I be eating? When should Istart weight training?’ Or, if I had aknee injury, I’d ask what I should bedoing to strengthen that. Ask ques-tions of the guys at the show – that’swhat it’s there for.”

Schools rugby has never been inbetter shape, and with so

many peoplep l a y i n g ,

T h eRugbyS h o w

L i v e2009 isa fan-t a s t i c

opportu-nity toup your

game.

Blackrock College's Winning Senior Cup Team 2009

Schools rugby is a great way to make friends, keep fit, and has produced some of our top international stars,

writes Ben Murnane

INVOLVEDDON’TMISS!COACHING &TRAININGACADEMY Hone your ball skillswith great Irish players!

Photos: Patrick Dowling,

www.rockphotography.ie

FACT BOXESRugby is said to have been invent-ed in England in 1823 when a guypicked up the ball during a soccergame and decided to run with it.

The first rugby balls were madefrom pigs' bladders.

Rugby was once an Olympic sportand was last played at the 1924Olympic Games in Paris.

The first World Cup of Rugby wasplayed in 1987 and was won byNew Zealand.In 2003, England was said to havethe most rugby players with634,460 England. Ireland had only15,000.

Pope John Paul II was a rugbyplayer. He represented Poland atrugby.

TRY

SCRUM

TACKLE

LINE OUT

DROP GOAL

PENALTY

HOOKER

WINGER

PROP

OUT HALF

RUGBY

TOUCHLINE

You can't pass the ball forwardYou can't knock (drop) the ball forwardYou can't tackle above the shoulders (high tackle)You can't talk back to the refereeYou must always wrap-up during a tackleYou must release the ball once you are tackled to the groundYou must be on your feet to play the ball on the groundYou can't block

RUGBY WORD SEARCH

T R Y T H S P O R P

O A N E W Y B G U R

U L C R L O U D P N

C P O K P M U R C S

H R U N L G N O Y H

L E T C I E N P I E

I K H Y W I N G E R

N O A L I N E O U T

E O L R O C R A N L

H H F P E N A L T Y

TOUCHLINE

KIDZ ZONEKIDZ ZONE COLOUR IN WITH YOURTOP TEAM COLOURS

DON’TMISS!SKILLS

COMPETITION

Learn new skills

and test yourself

against the best!

Western Samoa's first international was againstFiji in 1924. The game kicked off at 7am sothe Samoans could go to work afterwards andthe match was quite unusual because it wasplayed in a local park, and there was a tree inthe centre of the pitch!

RULES OF RUGBYRULES OF RUGBY UNSCRAMBLE the names of thesefamous rugby clubs:

1. MUNSTER, 2. WASPS, 3. LONDON IRISH,4. LEINSTER, 5. TOULOUSE, 6. SCARLETS,

7. EDINBURUGH, 8. ULSTER, 9.CONNAUGHT

Rugby union was famously an amateursport until the IRB declared thegame 'open' in 1995, removingrestrictions on payments toplayers.

15

DID YOUKNOW

1. NSETRUM 2. PSWAS 3. NOLDON HISIR 4. INSTLERE 5. OULTOUES

6. LSCETARS 7. EINDHGRUB 8. LSTURE 9. ONNCTHUAG

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