What's the greatest piece of individual skill you have done on a rugby pitch?

What's the greatest piece of individual skill you have done on a rugby pitch?

It can be in training or a match. Can be an awesome pass or a try saving tackle? Can be a side step or an audacious drop goal let everyone know. Describe it. toot your own flute!!

Mine (and I've decided I'm having two ) the first was my second ever game and I was starting on the wing. Caught the clearance kick right on the touchline took the ball up a bit then stepped outside the first defender in about 2m of space then gased it stepped inside another then was tackled but managed to offload the ball.

Other one was tip in training. I was scrumhalf had a 2m blindside with our winger on it. They had one guy behind the "ruck" so knew we couldn't go blindside normally in 2m of space. Picked the ball and went openside ran a few steps then blindly flicked the ball blind behind me to the winger who scored the try.

Who's got a good one?

Touchline conversion with my skinny little 13 year old legs from the wrong side for a right footed kicker.

Still remember it going over.

And of course in those days the pitches were five miles wide, typhoons were running 24/7 and the ball was made from wet leather and concrete.

greybeard wrote:Touchline conversion with my skinny little 13 year old legs from the wrong side for a right footed kicker.

Still remember it going over.

And of course in those days the pitches were five miles wide, typhoons were running 24/7 and the ball was made from wet leather and concrete.

that's an awesome description!!! Ever land one like it again?

Phill Bennett side stepping 6 players, underneath his own posts, in the New Zealand Barbarians game.

Are you Phill Bennet Alyn Davies??

pete (buachaill on eirne) wrote:

greybeard wrote:Touchline conversion with my skinny little 13 year old legs from the wrong side for a right footed kicker.

Still remember it going over.

And of course in those days the pitches were five miles wide, typhoons were running 24/7 and the ball was made from wet leather and concrete.

that's an awesome description!!! Ever land one like it again?

Lets just say I retired at the top of my game

Playing on the wing on our own 22 we had a quick turn over wehre the ball went out the back line .switched with the full back to come back inside and a hand off to their second centre. ran the rest of the pitch to touch down under the post.

Kev-
BOOM!

Love that feeling.

Ah Grey you could have been the next ROG!!!

As a front row forward it was a rarity I got the ball in open play, however I'm not a wee chap shall we say. I tipped the Scales at just over 16st when I was 19 years old.

So picture the Scene, Kirkcaldy 2nds vs Falkirk 2nds 2004.

I took the ball at pace from about the 7th phase just inside the 22. Ran straight through their 2nd row on the blind side who was a big lad too, bumped through the tackle, sold a dummy to the fly half and side stepped the full back to score a try between the posts!

Not a bad effort from a hooker!

I tackled Tim Rodber in the Newcastle sevens.....

pete (buachaill on eirne) wrote:Kev-
BOOM!

Love that feeling.

Ah Grey you could have been the next ROG!!!

Thats nothing you should see me on a tag pitch

haha boom!!!

I played against the All Black scrumhalf a couple of months ago, he retired won 8 caps or so was playing when Justin Marshall was about?? feck what's his name!?!?!?! Robinson or something?

RuggerRadge2611 wrote:As a front row forward it was a rarity I got the ball in open play, however I'm not a wee chap shall we say. I tipped the Scales at just over 16st when I was 19 years old.

So picture the Scene, Kirkcaldy 2nds vs Falkirk 2nds 2004.

I took the ball at pace from about the 7th phase just inside the 22. Ran straight through their 2nd row on the blind side who was a big lad too, bumped through the tackle, sold a dummy to the fly half and side stepped the full back to score a try between the posts!

Not a bad effort from a hooker!

gwan mr brits

pete (buachaill on eirne) wrote:Are you Phill Bennet Alyn Davies??

I wish I must be the only person who was such a bad player I started at 15 and worked my way down to 1 or 3 .

Scoring the winning try in a Grand Final against our arch enemies at TG Milner Field.

Did a bit of a 1-2 with the 5/8 and split the defence wide open just inside their half. Had to negotiate some cover defence with my trusty fend off, and step around the fullback and finally planted it down beside the sticks. Sort of panicked and didn't improve my position when I could have.

Final score 8:4 (yes, it was a while ago!)

Linebreaker wrote:Scoring the winning try in a Grand Final against our arch enemies at TG Milner Field.

Did a bit of a 1-2 with the 5/8 and split the defence wide open just inside their half. Had to negotiate some cover defence with my trusty fend off, and step around the fullback and finally planted it down beside the sticks. Sort of panicked and didn't improve my position when I could have.

Final score 8:4 (yes, it was a while ago!)

I don't think I played a game using old currency! that is a while ago!

Rugger that sounds slick to say the least.

Linebreaker- back in the glory days eh?

2002. An Epic South Africa v New Zealand clash in Durban was locked at 17 apiece.

Referee David McHugh has just given South Africa turn over put in from a crumpled New Zealand scum.

Like a marauding wildebeast in flight from a cheetah, the majestic Peter Van Zyl ran on to the pitch, cunningly disguised as a South African fan and tackled the offending referee with a copy book tackle that knocked the man from his feet resulting in a mild concussion.

Chris White, notable as the only Englishman in the sport without a knighthood was rushed into action as a replacement for the prone referee, where he prompted awarded New Zealand the controversial penalty that sealed a famous victory.

Then captain, Reuben Thorne still recounts this moment as one of the greatest pieces of individual brilliance to turn a test match and forms one of the most interesting chapters in his biography "What do you mean, 'who are you?' I'm the captain. (Yes, for the full 80 minutes)".

Rugger that sounds slick to say the least.

Linebreaker- back in the glory days eh?

pete (buachaill on eirne) wrote:Rugger that sounds slick to say the least.

Don't let that fool you mate! I was a decent ball carying hooker but I normaly just smashed up into contact. In this particular case I knocked the tackler onto his bum and to be honest did not really know what to do after that and basicly made it up as I went along.

It was only the 3rd try I ever scored and sadly was to be my last

this is the lad I was playing against a couple of months ago, I was the opposing 9 so needless to say I got done

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Robinson_(scrum-half)

pete (buachaill on eirne) wrote:this is the lad I was playing against a couple of months ago, I was the opposing 9 so needless to say I got done

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Robinson_(scrum-half)

i can't believe you got a mention in that. a touching tribute

Hahaha! if only!


At the end of the season we pulled off a really simple move but done really well. We had a scrum on their 22. We put 4 backs on the openside and 2 on the blind.

8 picked blind and popped to me, then I made a pretty sweet skip pass to our winger who ran in for the try!

Definitely tooting my own flute but who cares!

pete (buachaill on eirne) wrote:Rugger that sounds slick to say the least.

Linebreaker- back in the glory days eh?

Yes pete, the glory days of the 'trophy' with cheap flaky fake gold-leaf on plastic base. Still have the dusty old pennant with my name textered on. Needs a wash but frightened it will fade even more.

I have never accomplished anything of note on a rugby field as i was a woeful flanker and an even worse centre.

The only possible achievement i can claim is that i didn't die on my single outing for my regimental workshop against 4th armd workshop. Many brave airtechs died that day, may they live long in our memories.

Someone els has to have something awesome! Come on lads!

I've got one from messing about in training and one from a match.

Training - playing at outside centre (more commonly played at full back). Was running fairly laterally to my right with the defender covering, so chipped the ball with my instep over his head, nipped round to catch on the full and run in from 30m. Was one of those things you'd never have the guts to try in a match, but that time worked perfectly.

Match - Defending one in from the right wing when the opponents tried to attack from between their 22 and 10m lines. They moved the ball left and tried throwing a high mis-pass beyond me (i'm shall we say low to the ground). I jumped and intercepted at full stretch before setting off towards the try line. Problem is I'm not the quickest, so I had to step 4 covering defenders and ended up scoring half way between the left wing and the posts (remember, I took the ball close to the right wing). Pity there's no video cos even I don't really know how I ended up over there...

haha! Dummy that sounds pretty tasty!

It's so satisfying beating someone with a step I think, makes you feel awesome!

Playing last year in the pouring rain with the ground offering no purchase, first scrum and we drove them back 20m and got the penalty. Just to prove it wasn't a fluke, we did the exact same thing next scrum. I save my steps for the dance floor.

OK true story.
Whilst playing for the Colts (17 yr old) on the 2nd team pitch, the second team's (who were playing on the first team pitch) captain called for me to come on and play centre following an injury.

The very first play saw me lining up right under my own posts in the centre as they had a scrum out on the right on our tryline.

Their fly half fumbled the ball which landed at my feet. I picked the ball up and ran the length of the field to score...

I never played for the colts again.

In a training match i was playing outside centre (usually played wing) bit isolated as i got the ball so did a little chip over the top which i then ran onto before stepping the full back and going in under the posts. Best try I have ever scored! Shame I got completly mangaled the next time I tried it in an actual match!

Playing in a U16s game against another school, my best mate, the scrum half was the goal kicker. We had just scored a try to go about 8/9 points clear with 5 mins to go and the conversion was slightly off centre.

He missed the kick and one of their team caught it and sprinted it towards the halfway line to hurry back for a quick kick off. For some reason, my mate had a mental blank and thought that they had taken a 'quick tap' and had begun playing, so soon after tossing his kicking tee to the touchline, he preceeded in dump tackling the little speedster with the ball!

We couldn't believe what we had seen and the rest of their team piled on ontop of him, he got a right shoeing! Most of us were laughing too hard and in too much of a confused shock to be able to help him out!

After 30s he got dragged out by our lock and received his marching orders, which he duly accepted. To this day, he doesn't know why he did it and can't explain it. Idiot!

hahahahahahahaha! Hilarious!

Best thing I ever did was when I was playing for Merthyr under 10's against Treherbert. I caught the ball and just ran through every body to the oposite side(we only used to play inside the 22 width ways) and scored a try, they used to have a suppliment on telly about try of the month, and all the parents said I would be on it for that month. The funniest thing I have ever seen was, when I was about 19 and I had stopped playing as I was not good enough, but my mates kept on playing for Troedyrhiw and were loosing with about 10 mins to go, so one of my not so bright mates decided to give the old NINETY NINE shout and all of the boys ignored him but all of the oposition just piled on him, I could not stop laughing for ages.

Once, and only once, I scrummaged properly!

I can't even imagine being in a scrum! The Horror!

Dummy switch from flyhalf on the halfway went straight up the middle chipped the full back went to dive on the loose ball in the try area and knocked it on

Driver!!

I remember one of the lads having a Dominici when we playing u16s. We turned over the ball and worked a 3 on 2 overlap breaking from our own half leaving the winger through and to run it in. He worked his way under the posts and then dropped the ball as he went to put it down. This happened 7 years ago now and still to this day he gets a good slagging for it in the pub!!

That happened in one of our matches, we were playing The Emerald Warriors, ireland's only all gay rugby team. At the time they had not won a game in 6 years.

We were easily winning this game, no bother, easy peasy etc.
Our 13 broke through the line ran half the pitch unopposed was jogging by the 5m line then just dropped it before he got to the line. He wasn't tackled he wasn't placing the ball on the ground he jsut dropped it.

Another awful one was we got a penalty right under our own posts and our 10 went to clear it. He kicked for touch but it didn't make it, there winger caught it before it went out and walked over our try line.


lads.....

urm two for me,

one was we were on own our try line and they took a tap and go penalty and this 18+stone prop ran at me thinking just bulldoze me over, well lets say he started off further from the try line than he started (he was shocked)

second one was we had lost the match and last play of the game and i was a bit "annoyed" was their lineout between their 22 and 10m line and they attempted to pass the ball to the scrum half on the loop, i interecpted crashed through the 10 and and then their fifteen went to tackle me around 5 metre area, half stepped/ changed direction and their fifteen ran straight into their other player chasing me i stumbled and went over (would try and say it was a dive but more of a fall)

dont have spectacular moments to be honest i just do the unseen irritating work and generally be irritating- but was quite happy with those two moments from last season

One from me, during an U20s game (normally playing at 6 or 8) I found myself in the 10 position on our own 10m line after multiple phases of play with only a prop and hooker outside me. Being quite skillful (if i do say so myself for a forward) i dummied a kick then stepped there outside centre before putting on the after burners to head for the try line handing off the fullback on my way too. Pure brillance if i do say so ;-)

Another story was playing at U18s, my friend was playing wing as normal, the other team attacking with the ball when there 10 hoisted a monster of a Gary Owen aimed at his direction . Picture the scene a 5ft 8" winger about 12st watching a hanging ball coming towards him with 2 players over 6ft 2" and easily 17st plus charging at him full tilt (he knew if he caught it he was getting properly smashed but wasnt going to let the ball bounce either) what does he do you ask? A volley bouncing into touch of course simples hahaha

copied mark ring trick of kneeing the ball over the oppsition once and managed to catch the ball and pass it to a team mate for a try

(nearly got me kicked out of the front row union though!)

Certainly my most surprisingly good moment was my first game for a new club, playing for the 3rds. We only had 15 and I was asked to play 10 (normally a running 15, 11, 13, or a 9. Before the game I said "I'll play 10 guys, but I must warn you, my kicking from hand is not the best. First line out of the game behind our 22, passed back to me about 10 yards from our line so I put boot to ball. Never hit the ball sweeter in my life. Proper spiral that flew diagonally across the pitch before bouncing once and going to touch in their 22! Even in training I've never kicked it that far before or since. Comments along the lines of "if kicking's not your strong point I can't wait to see you tackle!"

Not allowed to play any more thanks to injury. Dammit.

A few years ago, I got the ball and did a (ROG versus England 2007) chip gathered it,broke a tackle and kept on running. Offloaded to the winger on the half way line who galloped home. Not bad for a hooker!

In the mid 90's I was captain of my uni rugby team, and unfortunately flirting with relagation from the league. We needed to win our last game of the season, away from home, to stay up.

5 mins to go and we are losing 13-12, when i suddenly find myself standing in the 10 channel (i was playing 7) on the edge of their 22, without a seconds thought I swung my leg at the ball and sent a drop goal through the posts! We won 13-15, avoided relagation and fame was mine! ...except the local paper spelt my name wrong....and really no-one actually cared that much

I played in a charity rugby game last year and the first thing I had to do in the game was tackle former Glasgow and Scotland number 8 Johnnie Petrie (who was still a total behemoth).

When I say tackle I think it was more like I got in the way and he tripped over me.....

When nottins carried on the water for Eastmoore 2nds team on a rainy afternoon. Took precision with the timing and how to hand out the bottles.

When at school I scored a try for a Canadian touring side against my school by anticipating the scrum half's pass to the outside half from a ruck on their line. The in goal area was only five yards and the outside half was standing flat to launch a counter attack (we were getting smashed and their tails were up). It was an excellent piece of skill as it involved timing, concealment, athleticism, catching ability and cunning. It ended up the Canadian's only try and I was their hero. I was 17. It all went down hill after that.

Glas a du wrote:When at school I scored a try for a Canadian touring side against my school by anticipating the scrum half's pass to the outside half from a ruck on their line. The in goal area was only five yards and the outside half was standing flat to launch a counter attack (we were getting smashed and their tails were up). It was an excellent piece of skill as it involved timing, concealment, athleticism, catching ability and cunning. It ended up the Canadian's only try and I was their hero. I was 17. It all went down hill after that.

i remember i went through a stage of intercepting, i remember in a match the opposing team were in their 22 and i could see their winger coming round for a crash ball so intercepted the ball as the 10 tried to pass inside and i was away with this winger on my heels and scored, then the ref goes you cant have been that quick you must have been offside!!!!!!!!!!! (and i wasnt , i was being a good flanker and was on the back foot)

Yeah, well I was offside, but the ref was the outside halfs dad and he was feeling sorry for us. Still had to catch the bloody thing!