Rugby passes

Unlike sports such as American football, in rugby union the ball, when passed, must not travel forwards (i.e. towards the opposing goal line). "The ball can only be passed in a line level with the receiver or, more usually, behind that line." [Williams, T. & Hunter, G. (2001) "Rugby Skills, Tactics and Rules", David Bateman Ltd. : Auckland. Page 43.]

Passing is an integral part of rugby union, as it is one of the few legal ways of distributing the ball to a team mate and has the highest success of contributing to the team’s chances of scoring a try while keeping possession. [Carter, Dan (2006) "Skills and Performance". Hodder Moa: Auckland ]

To grip a rugby ball for a pass place your strong hand on the back of the ball and your other hand (the one you do not write with) on the front of the ball. "The hand behind the ball provides the thrust, the other is the guiding hand." [Vodanovich, I. (1982), "New Zealand Rugby skills and tactics". Summit Books: Auckland. Page130.] You then push the ball from one side of your body, swinging your shoulders from one side to the other, before releasing with both, creating a linear motion. This pass is called the standard pass, and provides the basis for the main passes used in rugby.

Types of pass

The main types of pass and how they are completed are as follows:

Dive pass

The dive pass is a pass which is used in situations where the player has been unable to get himself into the proper position for a long passWilliams, T. & Hunter, G. (2001) "Rugby Skills, Tactics and Rules", David Bateman Ltd. : Auckland.] . The player should dive and release the ball in the direction the player wants the ball to travel. Then when the arms are at full stretch the ball is released. This is a quick pass meaning the player with the ball is under time constraints. [Cite web|title=Basic Rugby Skills|Accessdate=2008-03-24| url=http://www.joberrugby.com/Page4-43.html]

Dummy pass

The Dummy pass is the ‘faking’ to pass the ball to a member of your team and instead running it yourself or passing to a different member of your team. It is effective as it can confuse a defender who is trying to tackle the ball carrier, and can leave the other side of the field open for attack.

Flick pass

Similar to the standard pass except the ball is passed with a flick of the wrists rather than exaggerated body movements.

Pop pass

This is a short pass. The ball is simply popped up in a small loop to a player who can collect it and continue running.

crum half pass

This pass is used when distributing the ball from the scrum to the back line. If passing to the left, the right foot must be nearest the ball. The foot placement in this pass is important as this allows the player to push off on the right foot and create more power. The other foot is positioned about a hip’s width away pointing towards the receiver, the knees are slightly bent. "Make the arms extended so that when the player receives the ball he can swing through a wide arc, with the force of his whole body in one movement."

piral Pass

"In this pass, the hand opposite the direction of the pass comes up over the ball as the pass is thrown, causing the ball to spin." The reason for the spiral pass is "a spinning ball travels quicker than a non-spinning ball, due to less air resistance, which in turn means the trajectory of the ball can be flatter and less likely to be intercepted."
*Passes in rugby are not limited to the six main ones talked about here. There are several other "passes" but all carry the same or similar actions as the passes talked about above.

External links

* http://www.joberrugby.com

References