Chapter 6: Lineouts

Click here for Chapter 1:Chapter 1: Specific Body Parts

Following the previous scrum installment, I'd like to talk about lineouts this time.
They aren't as insane as scrums, but they are quite
interesting as a tactic.
Even people who don't know rugby can understand them just by watching,
and it's a part of the game where you can really get a sense of
“knowing what's going on.”

■ Basics: First, a talk about normal lineouts

The rules change constantly depending on the era,
so I don't know what they are right now.

Back when I was playing,
lifting people in lineouts was perfectly allowed.

It's that thing where you throw the ball that went out of bounds
into the middle of the opposing teams,
and fight for it in an aerial battle.

The important thing is to
share a code in advance to
ensure your teammate gets the ball.

For example, suppose there is a call of "5-5-4-4-2."
If the "second digit plus one" is the jumper's number,
in this case, it means "throw to number 6."

Generally, you aim for the locks (numbers 4 and 5), who are tall and can jump.

Therefore,

· The lock catches the ball

· The number 1 or 3, who “usually can't jump,”
lifts that lock up

This division of roles is the foundation.

Furthermore,
as the “safest” option,

throwing a short ball into the number 1's chest and immediately forming a ruck

is also a frequently used tactic.

That's the normal stuff.

■ Advanced: The insane tactician, Senior Specific Body Part

The problem starts here.

Senior Specific Body Part, who isn't intimidated even by white guys from overseas,
and whose front-row theories are world-class, despite
having surely shrunk a size from too much scrumming
.

This person was also somehow broken when it came to lineouts.

For some reason, they assigned me, a number 3 who should only have to worry about scrummaging,
three different codes to handle.

■ Code 1: Shoving me into the 'number 1' spot

First of all.

It started with them shoving me, a natural number 3, into the number 1 position position.

A number 1 short is usually an option used to safely form a ruck.

But the 'Specific Body Part Senior' had a different way of thinking.

"Charge forward with a number 1 short."

It had been converted into an insane breakthrough tactic.

——For starters, don't give the ball to me, a number 3, and make me run.

It hurts, you know.

■ Code 2: 'Launching' a 170cm number 1 into the air

And the second code.

The idea was so out there that I think any opponent seeing it for the first time would be genuinely confused.

Having a 170cm-ish number 1 (me) 'catch the ball in the air'.

Normally, a lock would jump. But with this tactic, it goes like this:

· I (acting as number 1) take one step back

· Number 2 (number 4 lock) lifts me up

· The opponent's number 2 gets confused, thinking, 'Wait? He's jumping?'

· In that split second, I catch the ball in the middle position

In short,

it is a cunning method of forcing the opponent into 'unfamiliar movements' to cause confusion.

That is what it is.

But even if it was cunning, the logic held up.
Thanks to the 'buoyancy' provided by number 2, I can stay just a little higher than the opponent.

And that 'little bit' is everything in a lineout.

■ Code 3: Number 1 breaks through the 5m gap and
crushes the wing.

And the third one.

This one completely revealed

'If you die, but we score, then it's fine'

as the underlying philosophy.

From the number 1 position,
at the same time as the thrower's signal, sprint full speed through the 5m line.

If I can shake off the opponent's number 1,
I go straight into crashing into the opposing wing.

If the wing is crushed,
one of our backs will be left open.

In other words,

a high-success-rate finishing tactic is established.

However,

all the pain is mine.

Tackles come flying from the front, the side, and behind.

The 'Specific Body Part' senior
was a devil who would go for points
while using my body as a weekly 'offering'.

■ Summary:

In that way, as a third-year student, I

· Had a chip implanted in my head

· Almost had my neck shaved off in a scrum

· Was thrown into the air during lineouts

· Was crushed and trampled in the rucks

· And was occasionally sent out to hunt down the wings

I had become something like,

“a sacrificial robot offered to the gods of rugby every week”

a presence like that.

By this time, I no longer knew how I appeared to others.

The only thing I can say is,

within the structure of the forwards,
the piece that was me had been completely integrated.

Chapter 7 is here: Chapter 7: The Idea of a Submarine
(may not be published yet)

■ This article has been published

I have published a book version that includes original short stories in this series.
If you would like to read them all together, I would be happy if you picked up a copy.

In the book, following the record of my rugby days in college, the story leading up to my subsequent MBA studies is contained as a single narrative.
Also, seven original short stories are included exclusively in the book.
I would appreciate it if you would take a look if you are interested.

• Paperback version (1518 yen)

• Kindle version (780 yen:)