potentially dumb

potentially dumb question coming up, so feel free to chuck some banter my way cus i realize i'm likely the only one that doesn't know this. but in terms of in the game AND real life, i don't know the difference between loosehead and tightead props, whether or not a different role is played by 4 and 5, and the difference between inside and outside center. also only recently learned difference between blindside and openside flankers but i have a suspicion i don't know it all

i'm just putting it down to being young and dumb

Meeeeeeeat_ wrote:potentially dumb question coming up, so feel free to chuck some banter my way cus i realize i'm likely the only one that doesn't know this. but in terms of in the game AND real life, i don't know the difference between loosehead and tightead props, whether or not a different role is played by 4 and 5, and the difference between inside and outside center. also only recently learned difference between blindside and openside flankers but i have a suspicion i don't know it all

Hi mate,

in the game, not a load of difference between 1 and 3, though some research shows that number 3 props tend to be more important in the scrum (well this research was a long time ago so dont know if there's any updated stuff. Basically, for the front three you want your props to be the tallest (normally around the sameish height) and your hooker to be shorter than both of them, otherwise you will have a disadvantage in the scrum. Again with 4 and 5 there isnt a lot of difference, but again im going with old research that said 4 is more important as a jumper (so normally your tallest or best lock goes at 4) whereas 5 is often used as more of a scrummaging/open play lock, though of course both need to be good in the lineout. As for blindside and openside flankers, 6 tends to be the slower, bigger tougher guy, often with higher defence, yet the 7 is normally more nimble, quick and still good defensively. I like my 8 to have good attack, but other than that I see him as having pretty much the same abilities as a flanker.

Hope this helps a bit!

Matt

Loosehead binds to the left of his hooker, so only the right side of his head is in contact with an opposition prop leaving his head loose to the left. The tighthead binds to the right of his hooker, so his head is between the opposition hooker and loosehead leaving his head in a tight position.

In broad terms as a consequence of this line up most of the pressure comes onto the tighthead prop, so he's the one who tries to anchor a scrum. Whereas the loosehead is a little freer to attack and disrupt a scrum. Only in broad terms mind, in practice many variations result.

The 4 and 5 might be seen to have different roles. Again in broad terms teams might look for an 'enforcer' lock who'll dominate tight phases and would tend to scrum behind the tighthead being the stronger lock. The other lock tends to be a lighter player who scrums behind the loosehead and dominates the lineout. As to which number is which varies a little, oldies like me tend to number as per the lineout which sees 4 as the enforcer, the more recent lineups often see numbering as a left to right when looking at rows in the scrum, and hence 4 is the lineout lock.

None of these distinctions really apply to BR, in this the players operate as part of a unit. With the ME seeking to use where possible the player with higher rated skills.

Inside centre Vs outside centre is open to even more variants. Really the only constant is the inside centre lines up close to the 10, and the outside in a wider channel. Such players can have (virtually) wholly fungible skillsets, or have very different skill sets, and even when skill sets are very different there's no one school of thought as to whether that makes a player more an inside than outside centre.

ahh thanks guys a lot of detail there. but really the main part to take is when i'm picking my squad i only really need look for say a prop, not worry about whether he's better/more utilized at 1 or 3

EDIT: never seen you put Matt before, only ever m. I feel very privileged

I would say that in RL 4 & 5 are completely different positions, in game I am not so sure.

With the change to allow the changing of positions in the lineout the positions came closer together but I think they are still different. 4 normal stands at the first jumping position where the main ball is taken on the 5 yard line, leading to a shorter time to get to the top of the jump. Therefore strength and power are more important where as agility and technique are more important for 5. Jumping in the middle of the lineout the number 5 has the option to step forward or backwards to gain the momentum for the jump.

These difference are also involved in the scrum, where the main tactic is generally to force the loose-head out to create a weakness. If you can weaken the front row then the second rows can not push. To help with this the 4 can be placed on the right and the 5 on the left.

As for game I do not think it makes any difference but I still like to set my second row up this way. Sadly 4 seams to jump at the front and is on the left of the scrum so the way I set them up depends on the tactics for the game.

This works for me but others will disagree and do something different, depending on their experience.