Positional Sense: Second Row (Lock)
The role of the second row has changed more than anyother player in recent times. No longer a member of afront five who just scrummage, he now needs to be adynamic, ball handling, cover tackling member of the backfive forwards.
Physical importance
He needs to develop explosive power in his arms and legs for jumping in the lineout and at restarts. As part of his personal warm up, second row players can spend five minutes on their own doing a jumping circuit.
This has four jumping stations with two, 10 metre sprints between each station. The player should perform five sets of each exercise before moving on.
Jumping stations workout for second rows
Vertical jump:From a standing start players jump ashigh as they can straight up. They can jump againsta post or wall with markers on it so they canmeasure their improvements.
Run and jump:Players run two or three metres andjump vertically as high as they can reach up with thearms.
Restart catch:Working in pairs, one throws the ballup in the air simulating a restart kick. The otherplayer runs to the ball and times his jump to catchthe ball above his head in the air. Once caught theplayer pulls the ball into his chest and lands in astrong position. The thrower can run towards thecatcher to put him off once the catcher becomescompetent with the catch.
Back and up:Players take three quick stepsbackwards and then jump vertically up extending thearms.
Key technique
The second row’s primary role in the game is winning clean lineout ball for his team. The technique for lineout jumping requires a lot of attention to detail and a lot of individual practice.
The jumper gets set by being on the balls of his feet,dropping his hips and bending the knees slightly. He pullshis arms back so his hands are by the pockets of hisshorts.He then explodes vertically up by driving his hands upabove his head and simultaneously driving up with hislegs. His legs are together and his hands achieve fullextension above his head.On the way down he turns slightly so his back is to theopposition. He lands in a controlled strong position pullingthe ball into his chest.
Tactical nous
He has to think like a back row in open play, focusing on winning the ball on the ground and dynamic rucking. When he gets up from the scrum he probably won’t make the first breakdown (the back row will deal with this) so he should run behind the backs and either make himself available as a ball carrier, or be in position to clear out the next ruck to secure fast possession.
Mental strength
He needs to have no fear as he might be taken out in theair at some point either at a lineout or restart. If thishappens, he needs to put this behind him and be ready towin the next ball with the same precision and aggression.