It was a fairly mild summer morning on February 4th at Amity High School in the suburb of Woodbridge, New Haven, Connecticut. The lush green sports fields surrounding the school were packed with around 50 dogs dressed in different coloured training jerseys with boots and long socks; passing and kicking oval shaped balls to each other. Others were practicing rucking and scrumming and some were jogging and stretching. Everyone who had attended were all warming up and preparing for the tryouts for Amity Regional Rugby Football Club for the North East State & College Canine Rugby competition.

In the car park next to the oval, a very expensive 2008 Audi A4 Turbo Diesel vehicle pulled up in one of the parking spaces next to many other cars and vehicles. As the vehicle came to a halt and engaged the kill switch, four very fit, determined, competitive canines; wearing gym clothing and carrying sports bags; exited from the back seats: A young schnauzer, two mongrels, and a sheepdog. Then the canine driver emerged from his seat in the vehicle, also carrying a sports bag and wearing gym gear: Another near-middle-aged schnauzer; who was likewise determined as the other four.

They all shut the doors of the Audi and headed down towards to sports pitch.

“Woah, big crowd!” The sheepdog, Mooch, exclaimed as he looked at the numbers of canine rugby players on the pitch. “We could be in for a bit of tough competition ‘kay?”

“All part of the deal of tryouts, Mooch.” The older schnauzer, Tramp, explained. “Each and every one of these players will be playing their hardest and working to their limits to get a spot on the roster; so hard that there could be some tough selection for the coaches at the end of the day because of so many good players.”

“Gotta rise above that, though.” The younger schnauzer, Scamp put in. “Let’s just focus on our own individual performances and not worry about the competition around us; otherwise they will gain a psychological advantage and they will make it to the team faster than us. Are you all up for it?”

“You bet, Scamp.” The brown mongrel, Scratchy, responded. “After all the fitness training and mental preparation that we have gone through this past fortnight, who could be more prepared?”

“This is the day that it all pays off.” The older grey mongrel, Sparky put in. “We have all worked so hard and today is the day that we take it up to the next level. Let’s all be strong with confidence, play hard, impress the coaches, and win us all a spot on the field of glory. Put your paws in.” Sparky put out his paw flat in mid air. The other four put their paws on top of his before chanting together:

“Canine Eagles, bark and soar!”

Then they broke off and raised their hands in the air in a celebratory way before continuing the walk toward the rugby oval.

They reached the club house where the administrators were waiting for players to sign the tryout forms, and they filled out their own personal details. They also wrote their names on a paper with numbers listed next to other players’ names; and they were given their listed numbers to put on their jerseys so that the coaches could recognize who they and the other players were and be able to assess the individual performances. The forms also listed a $150 seasonal fee to be eligible to play.

“What does this cover?” Tramp asked the administrators after noticing this while signing.

“This is to cover your uniforms and playing gear, but most of that goes towards your personal insurance cover.” One administrator explained. “It means that if you get injured and you receive an escort to the hospital and have to receive care; examinations; or operations, you don’t have to pay for the resulting expenses: They will already be covered by the insurance that you put down. Otherwise you would have to be paying too much of your own expenses on your hospital bills.”

“I see.” Tramp replied, feeling a little freaked out at the mention of uninsured loses because of how likely it would be for him to get injured with his ageing body. “So is there a date that it has to be paid by?”

“You can wait until the end of the pre-season to pay. After that, until the fees are paid, you will be ineligible to play.” The administrator then indicated to the bottom of the form; where a bank branch number and account number were displayed. “Now you can either pay upfront in cash here at training sessions, or you can pay online using online internet banking. These are our banking numbers if you decide to pay online.”

“Okay, thanks.” Tramp responded before putting his signature on the dotted line along with the current date at the bottom of the form. He then turned to the others, who were likewise listening to the insurance details. “Sign away, boys.”

And the other four canines also signed their forms before they walked to the side, sat down on the benches in front of the clubhouse, and striped off their tracksuit pants and jackets, revealing the skintight lycra gym training shirts, football shorts (with holes for their tails to go through), and knee-high socks. They then took off their Asics running shoes and pulled out fresh pairs of Adidas football boots from their bags and fitted them on their back paws. At this point they were all just about ready to run out onto the field with the half-a-century number of canines and start warming up.

But before Scamp got moving, he took out a roll of athletic trainers tape and black electrical tape and strapped some to his wrists. He then strapped some around his head to also cover and protect his ears, like how he saw some forwards do on TV.

“What are you strapping that around your head for, Scamp?” Scratchy asked, slightly clueless.

“Some forwards strap their heads or wear headgear to prevent concussions and protect their ears from either twisting or bruising when they go in to drive and push in the ruck, maul or scrum; commonly know as ‘cauliflower ears’.” Scamp replied. “Because they tend to go head-first most of the time in those situations, the ears can sometimes be at risk of damage; such as swelling, loss of flesh, or hearing damage because of all the rough activity that goes on in those huddles.”

“Good thinking ahead, son.” Tramp remarked. “Better safe than sorry.”

“So you want to be a forward, do ya, ‘kay?” Mooch asked.

“Either a flanker or a second rower.” Scamp responded. “I wouldn’t mind getting a bit involved in the driving and pick-and-go offensive play as well as counter-rucking and mid-field defense. And you guys?”

“In the backline.” Tramp responded first. “I would like to run the ball a bit and become a playmaker in the centre or fly-half position.”

“I want to play in the front row and drive in the scrums and rucks for possession and breakdown advantage.” Mooch responded second.

“I want to play in the backline as scrum-half and call and organize the set plays.” Scratchy responded third.

“I would like to go on the wing and run the ball wide, along with attacking kicking.” Sparky responded fourth and last.

“Just remember that even though we have preferences, the coaches will be watching us and where they decide to put us depends on our all-round performances.” Tramp said. “We will still tell the coaches our preferred positions, but we have to prepare ourselves for their decisions. What they say goes, and we have to go along with it.”

“Yeah, sure. No problem.” The others said almost simultaneously.

Scamp then picked up a couple of club balls that were lying next to the benches and began to run out onto the pitch.

“Alright, team.” He commanded to his comrades. “Let’s go and warm up before the coaches call us over to begin.”

They obeyed and ran onto the pitch. They started with passing and kicking balls to each other, then practiced semi-contact plays by running with the ball towards the defending player and going to the ground once touched by him and releasing to ball back to his players; who then come into the ruck by driving the opposing player back and keep him from stealing possession of the ball at the breakdown, and then the scrum-half passes the ball out of the ruck and to his fellow player to continue to next phase of play. They played with 3 attacking and 2 defending: Tramp, Scratchy and Sparky were on attack and Scamp and Mooch were on defense.

Shortly after they had finished several phases, the coaches whistle blew loud enough for the whole Amity High School to hear and the whole 50-plus canine rugby players around the field ran into the large huddle building and surrounding the head Amity Rugby staff. They consisted of the head coach, three assistant coaches, a manager, and two trainers.

“Okay everyone; listen up!” The head coach commanded, letting his voice be heard by the whole rugby group. “Thank you all for coming to the tryouts for Amity Canine Rugby. For those of who don’t know us, my name is Reede; I’m the head coach.” He then signaled to his assistant staff. “This is Caleb, he’s forwards coach; Alistor, backs coach; Schalk, our fitness and conditioning coach; our trainers, Katrina and Gilderoy; and Vince, our general manager. We will be taking you through our drills and plays and will be assessing your individual performances to determine whether you will make this team or not.”

He spoke with a different accent that seemed unusual but somewhat familiar to Scamp. His accent seems like a mix between Australian and English with a bit of New Zealand in there. He thought. I swear I have heard it before.

“For those of you who are playing rugby for the first time,” Reede continued. “We will help and guide you along so that you know how to play in each element of the game. I will add that this game is very hard work and if you really want to make the team I am expecting you to put in one hundred percent of all that you have got. State and College Rugby demands each and every player to commit, be respectable, show discipline, be supportive of your fellow teammates and know the full chemistry and responsibilities of your positions on the field. You also have to be prepared to work extra hard in your fitness training as your on-field performances will be determined by your body’s strength, cardio levels, and endurance.”

He sounds like an army sergeant. Tramp thought. He sounds very demanding and is preparing to work his soldiers to the bone in preparation for battle.

“So…” Reede continued. “…the total number of players we have recorded here today is 56. After today’s session, we will assess your performances and then select 30 players maximum for this team. Your name will either appear on the team roster or cut list. It might even turn out that you all perform well enough on the field to be on the team; so if, at the end of training, you find out that you have been cut and you feel that you should be in the team because of your efforts and hard work; you must understand that us coaches have some very tough decisions to make sometimes and they are based on how we assess your strengths and weaknesses in all elements of the game. You cannot just be strong in one or a few parts of your game, because State and College Rugby demands high-class performances in everything you do both on and off the field. I want you all to understand that before you begin questioning not being listed on the team roster. However, we will keep our cut list and if one or more of our players get seriously injured throughout the playing season, then we might call upon one or several players from that cut list to replace them. We might also need extra help in water, equipment, and caretaking duties if required; so if you are interested please do not hesitate to step forward. Everyone understand?”

“Yes, coach. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yes, coach.” Some of the players responded. The rest of them nodded in affirmation.

“Alright then,” Reede continued. “We are going to start the session with a few passing drills to warm up with, then go ahead with a half-hour fitness session, and then each and every one of you will be tested on your basic rugby skills, including tackling, lineouts, scrums, rucking, mauling, place-kicking, etcetera. We will then run through some set plays and defensive techniques, and then finish with a full semi-contact team run; or scrimmage. We will then enlist the players who have made the team plus the players who have been cut. So, good luck to you all. Let’s start warming up with four-piece double line passing.”

So the players all broke off and began the tryouts by splitting up into two groups of four players per line between two lines of players for the first passing drill. They ran back and fourth for several minutes, before commencing on the next cross-over passing drill; consisting of four groups of two lines of players running towards each other and passing the ball.

After several minutes they went on to commence their fitness program.

This consisted of running through a ‘corridor’ of cones, or witches hats, with a series of jogging, parallels, high knees, heel flicks, high knee jumps, lunges, hamstring stretching walks, and sumo squats. After 5 minutes the padded contact bags were brought in and the some players held them up while the rest lined up and were tested on their tackling and rucking ability by hitting the contact bags and attempting to drive the bag holders backwards. They were then shown to the lone-standing tackle bags to further test their tackling.

Then the padded contact bags were brought back in and the players holding the bags were formed in a four-dog ‘gauntlet’ to prepare for a breakdown rucking drill. This meant that a player with a bag faced a group of players that were ready to run towards him and hit the bag then go to ground as if tackled and then the supporting offending players drive and clear out the defending bag holders to keep possession of the ball; then in turn the acting half-back, or scrum-half, would recycle the ball from the ruck and pass to the player next to him, and he would then start the next phase of play by running with the ball and hitting the next player with a bag that stood ten metres behind the first bag-holding player, and they would repeat the breakdown routine against this defender and the other two defenders at the back of the ‘gauntlet’. So the whole idea of this drill was to get all players to ruck by driving the defenders back so that they could keep possession of the ball at the breakdown, and in turn recycle the ball out so that they could gain phases of play and gain further running metres up the field. All players performed this continuously for 15 minutes.

It was all very tiring and hard work because Schalk, the fitness coach, pushed them on with only one to two minute stops between drills; and in the middle of the drills, even the heavily fatiguing players were pushed to keep going until the Schalk blew his whistle to signal the end. When he finally did, he spoke up. What he was about to say would provide temporary relief to most of the hard training canines:

“Alright, team! Grab yourselves a quick drink of water and then we will start on the basic rugby skills. This will only be a five minute break, so get those fluids into you now to avoid dehydration. Go!”

So everyone, panting heavily but still standing, jogged over to the water bottle racks and grabbed a quick drink. As they were drinking, Tramp, Scamp and the Ex-JD’s spoke.

“How are you guys feeling?” Tramp asked in between heavy pants and gulping fresh natural liquid.

“This is worse than when…when we train, ‘kay?” Mooch replied panting. “They are…pushing us even further.”

“Are they…are they going to keep working us until we pass out?” Scratchy seemed to complain, but inside he was really making a little joke. “This is even more…intense than street survival.”

“Yeah, and…and I know that it will take time…to get used to this.” Sparky added. “We all just have to…keep going and build up our endurance levels over time.”

“Don’t worry, boys; we will.” Tramp responded. “Just remember to…to take it one step…at a time. Start off slow…and keep to a reasonably safe pace. Don’t overdo it and…and risk nausea or passing out. That is what happens when you…when you try too hard too early. Once you do it more often…, your bodies will get the hang of it…and you will start to endure better than the first time. You will then be able to quicken the pace…on theses drills. So just remember to take it slow.”

Everyone thought about it as Tramp spoke, and they knew that it was vital to keep this in mind if they were going to get extremely fit. So they nodded to Tramp and confirmed his advice to them.

The whistle then blew again and Reede called them over for the next drill, which was going to consist of the basic skills. Those players who volunteered to play in the backs; including Tramp, Scratchy and Sparky; went over with backs coach, Alistor; and those who volunteered to play in the forwards; including Mooch and Scamp; went over with forwards coach, Caleb.

“Alright, forwards, listen up.” Caleb started as soon as the players gathered around him. “As forwards you have big responsibilities on the field. You will need to be strong in the upper body so you need to carry a little more weight than the backs; because you are going to require strength to push and drive when scrumming, rucking and mauling to keep and gain possession of the ball. You also need to be able to lift your fellow players or receive the ball as the liftee when contesting for the ball in the lineout. Your secondary responsibility will be to run those few extra metres with the ball and break the defensive line while the backs are getting into position and setting up their plays; and you must be able to tackle and counter-ruck to gain possession of the ball when defending. You are some of the key defensemen on the field and you will have to tackle and ruck hard to stop your opponents from gaining metres and advancing up the field towards your own try-line. All clear?”

Most of the forwards team nodded, but others didn’t know whether to answer yes or no because they were newcomers to the game and it would take time to clearly understand what goes on and off the rugby pitch. Caleb seemed to notice this.

“It’s okay if you don’t understand.” He therefore responded. “Once we start to practice the drills you will see what is going on and you will learn from there.” He then continued on almost immediately: “Now the positions for the forwards are the two props, hooker, two second rowers, two flankers and the number 8. The props are the strongest men in the side and provide the brunt of the oppositions’ driving in the scrum, but also have the responsibility of lifting players in the lineout. The hookers throw the ball in at the lineout, hook the ball back in the scrum, and push and drive for possession when rucking and mauling. The second rowers are the key ball receivers at the lineout and must assist in pushing and contesting in the scrums; but also need to be athletic and fit enough to get around the field and gain extra metres when running with the ball. The flankers; also one of the fittest players on the field; are the key defenders and attackers and must be able to think fast as they contest the ball at every breakdown and set their side up in attack. And finally, the number 8 has the task of distributing the ball from the breakdown to his fellow players, a bit like the scrum-half, but also to gain those extra few metres when running with the ball.”

As Caleb was educating the forwards, Alistor was doing the same with the backs:

“As backs you are mainly focusing on the set plays. Once the forwards have gone down in the ruck and have retained possession of the ball, the scrum-half will be there to pick up the ball and pass it on to the fly-half, where the plays will then begin. This is when, before the ball is recycled from the ruck or maul, you must line and set yourselves up into your positions for the set plays. Then as soon as the ball is passed out from the ruck, you all run and move in the direction that each individual play directs you to. The idea of the set plays is to make every move possible to break the defensive line of the opposing team so you can gain distance and score the try. Sometimes most phases of play are going to consist of short runs by the forwards, or ‘pick-and-go’ style offense, to gain those small extra metres and keep possession of the ball at the breakdown; but then the backs will be ready to execute the set plays once the forwards give them time to set up and communicate with each other on what needs to be done. You must also have a strong kicking game when punting the ball for touch or kicking offensively with high, chip or grubber kicks; and the place-kicking and drop-kicking is extra important when aiming for goal as the additional 3 points for the penalty and drop goal and 2 points for the try conversion on top of the 5 points for tries can make the difference between victory and defeat. I also expect each of you to be able to hit, tackle and defend strongly to assist the forwards in preventing the opposition from advancing on your own try line. That also means you will additionally have to push and drive in the ruck when the forwards are unable to bind in time or they need assistance in clearing the opposition from stealing the ball. So your defensive game will need to be strong if you want to make a positive difference to the scoreboard.”

This is more scientific than I first thought. Scratchy thought. Who do they think we are? College honours students. But it kind of seemed that way to him since they were playing at college division. Oh, well; I guess it fits well.

“This may all sound complex and maybe a little scientific,” Alistor continued, seemingly reading Scratchy’s mind; much to Scratchy’s surprise; “but once we start to practice you will understand what needs to be done.” He then continued on with the individual positions: “Now the positions in the backs are the scrum-half, fly-half, two wingers, inside centre, outside centre, and the full back. The scrum-half distributes the ball from the set-pieces and breakdowns; but is also fast when passing and running with the ball, especially when picking defensive gaps to run through. The fly-half is considered to be the quarterback of rugby and is responsible for making decisions for his outside players when executing the game plan; so he is the one who directs operations; but must also have an accurate drop-kicking and usually place-kicking game. The wingers are the fastest men on the field and they are expected to gain the big metres when running with the ball to finish off the plays and then score the tries. The inside centre is like the second fly-half; and when he receives the ball he will have less time with it and will often take it into contact when charging for the line or pass quickly to the outside centre or surrounding players. The outside centre is the faster of the two centres and he will aim to break the line and use the space created by the inside centre; but he will also need large muscle build to break the line and be a fearsome defender. And the full back is the last line of defense who must also be fearless when defending to tackle the opposing players who have broken the defensive line; but must also be strong and fast-moving when attacking; and over the years many of the great goal-kickers have made their living from this position.” 

There was a lot of talk between the two sub-coaches, but after the basics of the forwards and backs were interpreted, they started their practical field work.

The forwards started on the scrum machine (one group of eight started first while the others were told to wait on the side and observe and study before their turn) and bound together in a pack of eight to get ready to engage into the side pads and push and drive the machine back, but they first had to learn the pre-binding calls by the referee of ‘crouch…touch…pause…engage!’ to avoid possible neck breakage or illegal early binding. Once they engaged into the pads they pushed hard to force the machine back and gain power and possession. They were first tested on their power before Caleb threw in a ball for them to hook with their boots to get the ball to the back of the scrum while pushing at the same time. The idea was to win possession of the ball at their own scrum feed and start the set plays once the ball was recycled from the scrum.

Then after several attempts the second group was brought in to have their turn while the first group stayed back to observe. Mooch and Scamp were apart of group two and they went for their preferred positions; Mooch at prop and Scamp at second row; for which they told Caleb and he let them do it on the condition that they would be put into other positions if they did not perform to the standards of their selected positions.

Luckily, as they scrummaged, Mooch managed to push the machine with incredible force and control, while Scamp provided additional pushing power behind him. This gave the scrum pack the leverage and power to overcome the weight of the machine.

Both teams of forwards took two turns each to scrummage before they moved on to undertake lineout work. Here, Mooch was marked as the lifter along with the other prop in his group and Scamp was the middle jumper, or liftee at the middle and back of the lineout. The other second rower was the front jumper and he took the ball from the hooker’s throw from the front of the lineout. Mooch was very strong and he was able to lift Scamp and the front jumper very high so they could get a good reach of the ball. Scamp became good at leaning over in the middle gap of the lineout to catch the ball; and once he got it, he would always throw it to Caleb; the acting scrum-half; either before he hit the ground or when he just hit the ground; so that when the scrum-half got the ball, he could pass it to the backs and begin the set plays. The front jumper would either do the same or hold it and turn back towards his teammates once he landed so that they could form the maul (similar to a scrum) and drive forward to gain metres while slowly moving the ball to the back of the maul at the same time; and once the ball was out, the next phase of play could begin.

The hookers also made calls before throwing the ball in at the lineout to let the forwards know where they would be moving before the throw, where in the lineout the ball would be going, and who would be lifted to take the ball.

Both of the two teams of forwards managed to succeed in both the scrums and lineouts without too many errors or mistakes, so in quick time everyone knew their responsibilities and what exactly to do.

At the same time on the other side of the field, Alistor was running through the set plays with the two groups of backs. One group was performing the plays and the other was acting as the defensive opposition. The idea was for each of the players to mark and follow their man who they were defending and attempt to semi-tackle them when they got close. This was all practice for defense. So both teams of backs were performing turns of offense and defense in the same sets of plays.

During the offensive set plays, the scrum half would start with the ball and the fly-half, centres, wingers and full back would line up vertically and then run forwards once the scrum half signaled the start of the set play by passing to the fly-half, who would then, while the play was in motion, pass the ball onto his fellow backs or even run himself; depending on which play they were executing. Each individual set play would be practiced several times over.

When Tramp, Scratchy and Sparky got their turn to run the set plays, Scratchy started at scrum-half, Tramp at inside centre, and Sparky on the wing. Scratchy called the set plays and passed the ball to the acting fly-half, but sometimes he would even practice running the ball himself through the defensive line to gain some extra metres. Tramp usually got the ball after the fly-half and he would further pass it onto the outside centre for most of the time, but other plays he would take a quick run himself or pass the wingers or full back. Sparky would usually stand the widest of all the backs and then follow them when they ran forward during the plays; where he would sometimes receive the ball last at the conclusion of a particular play and finish it off; but in other plays where the scrum-half was close to his end, he would stand on the outside behind the fly-half and follow him when he got the ball to be ready to receive a possible quick pass and take it into the defensive line.

After a series of set plays and defensive work, several backs broke away from the pack to practice their kicking; and Tramp was among this group. In groups of two lined up face to face at a longer distance than the passing drills, they started by punting to each other; then kicking high; then grubber kicking, or kicking the ball along the ground. They then practiced place-kicking to get the ball through the goal posts. Unfortunately Tramp could not place kick as well as he punted or grubber-kicked and he only kicked a couple through the posts and over the cross bar. The canines with the most success was a Staffordshire terrier called Vivian; who was a centre, and a bloodhound called Dreamer; who was a fly-half/centre. Vivian only missed 6 and Dreamer only missed 5, so these two were certainly looking promising for selection. They all then practiced drop-kicking, and Tramp was better at this than place-kicking as he kicked with a beautiful strike off the boot and precision virtually every time; and he, along with Vivian and Dreamer, got his fare share of misses and makes; so Tramp was now looking assured in the eyes of the coaches.

After an hour of drills from the backs and forwards, Reede called them all over with the blow of his whistle:

“Alright everyone, gather around, please! Hurry up!”

And they all ran in and hustled up together around Reede while the assistant coaches formed together in their own hustle and began to discuss the performances of both the groups and the individual players themselves.

While they were doing so, Reede continued talking to all 56 canines:

“Now, let’s all split into two groups of two teams. You will be performing a full in-game routine against each other where you will run the ball on offense and semi-tackle in defense. All of the basic skills that you have learned today will be put into practice in a game mode. So this will be like a scrimmage; and you will all go for 30 minutes. Just remember all the skills that you have been through today and combine them all into one to use in a match situation. Those of you who can master all or most of your skills out on the pitch will definitely contend for this rugby team. If some of you cannot succeed in everything but do well in most other skills; like if you run fast and gain big metres but cannot tackle as well; you will still be a possible contender for this team because you will still have time during the pre-season to improve. But as I said before; go out to scrimmage and use all of the skills that you now know to make a name for yourselves on the rugby field. All I ask is for you to give it your best shot. Now let’s move! Go!”

And all immediately broke off to two separate rugby pitches in two groups of 28 canines; with two teams of 14 canines in each group; to begin their scrimmages.

Tramp, Scratchy and Sparky played in the same group as Scamp and Mooch, but played against them in the opposing team.

The team receiving the ball spread their players out amongst their own 50-metre square. The forwards stayed more central inside the square while the backs spread to the outer parts of the circle. All were scattered in different areas to be ready to receive the ball from the kickoff. And the team kicking the ball all lined up on the halfway, or 50 metre line to be ready to charge their opponents once the fly-half drop kicked the ball; provided they stayed behind the kicker before he kicked off, otherwise they would be penalized for offside.

Caleb and Alistor acted as the referees for the two separate scrimmages; but this was also to keep a close watch on all the players to see how well they were playing and therefore come to a final conclusion as to whether or not they would indeed make the team.

Then they both blew their whistles and the two fly-half’s drop kicked the ball up high and both groups of teams collided to begin the scrimmage. During gameplay, the team with the ball concentrated on running the set plays through the increasing number of phases (e.g. phase 1 would be the players using the ball to pass and run up the field; and then after the ball carrier is tackled, the ruck forms over him to push the opposing ruckman to keep possession of the ball, and then once the ball is recycled from the ruck to the attacking players, phase 2 begins; and so on). Some phases would involve short passes to the forwards near the ruck so they could run and gain short extra metres before being tackled, and some involved passing to the backs to execute the set plays. The idea of the forwards running some phases was to give the backs time to set themselves into their positions for the upcoming set plays, and once they got going, they tried every trick in the book; off-loading, handing off, short flick passes, side-stepping, etc.; to break the tackles and defensive line to gain metres.

When on defense, the players followed and watched their marked dog, and when the ball carrier got close, they would crouch down and look as if they were about to tackle them at the waist, but as soon as they touched the attacking player, the referee would call ‘held’ and he would drop to the ground and release the ball to his side as his fellow attacking teammates joined in to form the ruck. This was all part of the rule of the semi-contact scrimmage: The defenders only needed to touch the attackers to make a tackle and by the referee’s call of ‘held’, the attacker had to go to ground for the breakdown to begin. Sometimes the attackers would run through the defense even if they got slightly touched and keep running up the field until the referee made his call.

When deep in defense and close to their own try line, the attacking team would often punt kick the ball away to the other end of the field to relieve pressure and make the opposing team run back towards their end.  And sometimes, when the attacking team got closer to their opposition’s end zone, they would perform high up-and-under kicks and run after the ball to compete for and catch it in a hope of advancing onto the try line.

Scamp and Mooch became very effective in and around the breakdown play at the ruck. Mooch wasn’t the fastest canine out on the field, but it didn’t seem to matter because practically every single breakdown he would be there to support and drive the opposition back hard and fast; and at times when he was loose on the attacking line, the scrum-half would, on a rare occasion, give him the ball and Mooch would run those extra couple of metres.

Scamp was also very helpful as he followed the ball carriers just about everywhere they ran; and at the breakdown, if he was not pushing or driving, he mostly stood close to or next to the ruck (being the Post Y or X dog) and the scrum-half would perform short passes to him and he would also assist in gaining those short metres; and when in defense, he stayed around the middle of the field and always ran forward and stayed low to be ready to semi-tackle his marked dog; so Scamp’s defensive playing was very precise.

On their opposition’s side, Tramp, Sparky and Scratchy were also working as hard as they could in the backline; continuing where they left off during set-play practice. Scratchy, at scrum-half position, followed the ball carriers and recycled the ball from the ruck to his surrounding teammates every time while also calling the set plays and organizing his team into forthcoming offensive maneuvers. Sometimes he would call for the forwards to surround him more often so that they could receive the ball and drive for short metres for 3 to 4 phases before he would pass to the backline. This way the backs would get time to set themselves into position for the upcoming set plays. Other times Scratchy would get the backs to perform a series of 2 to 3 consecutive set plays. The way that he mixed between forward and back plays appeared to confuse the opposition.

Tramp, at inside centre, often received the ball from the fly-half and always passed it short to the supporting outside centre or even long to the full back and wing. He rarely did any solo running as he always had the least time with the ball and he was desperate to keep the phases lengthy and therefore effective enough to gain metres up the field.

Sparky, at wing, ended up the rarest on his team to receive the ball as all the players were given a chance to run; but the few times that he did receive the ball, he ran at his fastest speed and managed to get his team further up the field just about every time he went. Plus on several plays that were near his side of the field, he ran and supported the fly-half in case the ball was going to be passed to him, and once when it did, Sparky ran hard and fast into the defensive line. He was also very committed on defense as he watched his opposing winger carefully and aimed to tackle him from out to in to get him away from near the touch line and towards Sparky’s fellow defenders so that they could assist in the tackle to get the winger down and stop him from advancing up the field. Sparky would also call for his defensive line to shift across to his side when the opposition looked like or where moving the ball over to the wing; so that no open gaps in defense would be left open for the opposition to run through.

After 30 minutes of scrimmaging (with a couple of timeouts on top of it), Reede blew his whistle 3 times to signal the end.

“That will do, everyone!” He yelled aloud. “Scrimmage is complete! Come on over!”

All 56 canines stopped their scrimmaging immediately and slowly made their way over to their head coach. Caleb, Alistor and Schaulk also made their way over and joined alongside Reede; accompanied by trainers Katrina and Gilderoy, and Vince, the president. Water bottles were waiting for the players in front of the coaches as they came, and most of them immediately picked them up and drank the essential fluids fast when they huddled in as most players were fatiguing hard after the intense exercises. As they were rehydrating, Reede spoke again once the four coaches joined around him:

“Alright, good work out there, all of you. I know that you must all be completely fatigued, but this is all part of the nature of the game. You will eventually get used to it, trust me. Now, we are going to organize the team list to decide which of you have made the team and who will be cut. This will take about 5 to 10 minutes, so you may all take a breather while we sort this out. Then we will call you all back over and call the numbers of the players who are in. So go ahead and rest it all off.”

All players then headed to the exterior of the team sheds to rest and remove some of their gear while the four coaches and the administrators did their negotiations and wrote down their key players for the side.

The five Ex-JD clan had gathered around each other again and were talking amongst themselves as they drank water to cool down.

“How are you guys feeling?” Tramp asked.

“Absolutely stuffed, but healthy tired at the same time.” Scratchy replied. “Truth to be told, I don’t think that I have ever felt better.”

“Same here.” Sparky put in. “I think that we have just risen to another level up from streetwise stunts. It was extra hard work out there but I think that it was worth every run, hit, ruck and scrum for a bit of fitness and health benefit.”

“It certainly beats street survival any day.” Mooch followed on. “This place is where the real fun and tough challenges belong. No more of this underclass street dog nonsense for us anymore, kay?”

“Yeah, it is a lot more fun than those dangerous alleyways.” Scamp further added. “And it is more or less a place where individuals of low class are given a chance to make a name for themselves and prove to be better than they think they are. Surely there are some strays out here today who will be looking for that.”

“I know there are, my boy.” Tramp remarked again. “I saw a quite a few canines without collars turn up before the start; so I think that they will be looking to rise above themselves and boost their morale. Let’s wish the best for them.”

This made Scamp think about Buster again and how if he himself could have tried out for the rugby team, he might just get in. He is a little twisted a conceited. Scamp thought. But I also think that he needs a chance to rise above himself. He could learn so much more from this game, not just how to play, so it could make him a better canine. We might see about that later down the track anyway.

Then the head coaches’ whistle blew and all the players were summoned over again. Reede, the assistants and the administrators stood in front of the half-a-century number of canines and got ready to read out the names and numbers of players who made the team. As he did so, the players called went over and joined him and the staff.

“26, Carson;…” Reede read out loud. “67, Archie; 13, Mooch;…”

Mooch lightened up and panted in excitement as his name was called; completely stoked that he had just made the team; but quickly restrained as he walked over to the coaches’ side as Reede continued to call the names:

“57, Star; 16, Scamp;…”

Scamp quietly jumped in joy and looked with a stoked expression at his father, who returned it proudly, before he made his way over to join the others. I knew you would make it. Tramp thought, very proud of what his boy had accomplished. That’s my boy.

“38, Jordan; 6, McGavin; 72, Spanner; 54, Scratchy;…”

Scratchy just simply smiled in satisfaction as his name was called, and he joined the others.

“90, Tramp;…”

On the other side, Mooch, Scamp and Scratchy looked at each other and smiled wide and proud as Tramp walked over in a vibe of awe. He couldn’t believe it himself despite proclaiming that he was an ‘old man’ and was past his prime to get this far, but he still felt great to have made it in. The gang gave him a look of praise and he joined.

“49, Dani; 52, Vivian; 10, Red; 27, Sparky;…”

“Yes! We all made it in!” Scamp whispered to his father, who was looking just as happy for Sparky.

“Good on him.” Tramp replied in a likewise whisper. “He and I may not be as young as we used to be, but somehow we still seem to have some fight left in us.”

As Sparky joined the team, he and the other four of the Ex-JD gang quietly high-fived and hugged each other, all praising what they had accomplished as Reede continued to read out his list:

“81, Moody; 11, Chapel; 92, Dreamer; 22, Faulk; 78, Taylor; 18, Dusty; 50, Mitch; 3, Kung Lao; 25, Woody; 8, Kriss; 55, Oblena; 71, Golden Gate; 33, Stamford; 48, Hamden; 96, Loni; and 17; Iva.”

At this point the full selected squad of 30 stood around the head staff while the other unselected 26 remained facing them. Some of them looked disappointed, and some agitated, but most of them tried to handle it bravely as they remembered what Reede had told them before the start of the tryouts about difficulties on player selection. Reede could also see the disheartened expressions from the unselected players, and so he decided to follow up what he told them earlier to make them feel better.

“The rest of you...” Reede said to them. “You all worked very hard today and we are very proud of your efforts. Barely any of you made many mistakes today and I am not lying when I say that you all have great talent in rugby and your skills have really impressed us. As I predicted earlier, there were some very tough choices that we had to make because of the fact that you all performed well enough to be selected. So we apologize if we left you out, but as I said earlier, we will keep our cut list and possibly call some of you up in case our injured list fills up and we need replacements. Plus we are always looking for volunteers to pitch in to water, equipment and caretaker duties, so feel free to come forwards any time if you are interested.”

Most of the cut squad thought that this all sounded pretty fair, and so they shot a look or nod of understanding to Reede. Some others didn’t really know what to say as they were still lost in their thoughts at what just happened; or what didn’t happen for that matter; but they still took the head coach’s words in.

“And remember this:” Reede continued. “This is not the end of the road for you. Our door is always open to anyone and you will still have another shot at making the team at next years tryouts. Just give yourselves some time to work on and improve your skills. American professional golfer Nancy Lopez once said; ‘True competitors take bad breaks and use them to drive themselves harder, while quitters take bad breaks and use them as reasons to give up.’ Failing at things is important, because it will give you a reason to fight back and determine your future success. And for those of you who came very close today, if some of our selected players are not here by this time next year, you may be very likely to make it with us then, so keep up with those skills in hope of being eligible.”

The unselected squad all felt that Reede had a valid point and his words were very wise and inspirational, so they took them in and let the disappointment slip away from their minds.

“Good luck to you all and best of luck for next year.” Reede finished. “We hope to see you again.”  

And with that, the 26 players broke off and headed to the exterior of the shed where their bags and equipment was, and they got ready to pack up and leave.

As soon as they were gone, Reede and the staff turned back to the 30 selected players to address them one last time.

“Alright, team. Congratulations on making Amity Regional Rugby Club. You also worked exceptionally hard today and we look forward to coaching and training you in the forthcoming pre-season. During this time, there will be skills to pick up on and styles of rugby to focus on to be able to compete at high standards. Remember to train hard, be physically fit, and build mental preparation to become tough competition for your opponents in this division. Our aim is not to focus on winning, or dread losing, but to be a competitive rugby club. Most importantly we are here to have fun and enjoy the game, but let’s all try and work to the best of our abilities so that it becomes all the more exciting for us.”

The team of 30 canines consistently nodded as Reede was talking; taking in the head coaches’ advice and wisdom and focusing hard not to ignore it as they needed this information and motivation to boost their morale.

“Alright,” Reede continued after a brief pause to check that his team took in his advice. “that will be all for these tryouts. Remember that pre-season training commences on Tuesday 9 and Thursday 11 at 6:00 p.m. next week, so I expect you all to attend. There will also be an optional 2 hour fitness session to be held here on each Saturday until the start of the season; which will really help you in the further lead up to the season; so if you are interested, please come and join in. If any of you cannot make it to training or the fitness sessions, please call and let us know ASAP so that we know our available numbers of players and we can prepare our sessions better. You all cool with that?”

“Yes. Yes. Yeah, coach. Yes, coach.” Said most of the players. Everyone else just nodded.

“Alright then, everyone. See you all Tuesday.” Reede finished.

All players immediately broke off and also headed over to the shed to collect their bags and gear and get ready to leave the rugby training ground. Their work was done for today.

5 minutes later, Tramp, Scamp, Mooch, Scratchy and Sparky got back to the Audi A4, all thinking about what they had just accomplished and whether or not it was true that they had made it into the team. But they soon realized that it all came down to proving that they were indeed better than what other canines would have thought of them back when they were strays living what had been described as a ‘low life class’.

“Well done again to you all.” Tramp remarked. “I am very proud of you. You certainly proved your guts and hard work, but also showed your true colours of class and dignity. No more of this ‘mutual un-elite’ or ‘underclass from head to feet’ in us.”

“That’s right, dad.” Scamp added. “We all showed the right attitude and the inner hearts that we held dear was brought out of us today. We were given a chance to show our compassionate and fighting spirit and we did not dare to disappoint. So congratulations and I look forward to playing in the upcoming season alongside all of you.”

“We also look forward to it, Scamp.” Scratchy replied, slightly emotional. “And thank you again for the inspiration. We would never have made it here if it wasn’t for you. You gave us a life worth living for and we want to say thank you.”

“Hear, hear!” Mooch and Sparky both replied.

The three Ex-JD’s then came up and embraced Scamp again, and Scamp smiled with emotion as he returned it. Tramp just smiled proudly at his son. He was very proud of who he was and what he had done for his friends.

The five of them then opened their car doors and entered the Audi, and within short time the car started and departed Amity High School; but it would not be for long before they would come back again next week as the pre-season appeared to be just around the corner…

To be continued…

Reede, Caleb, Schalk, Alistor, Katrina, Gilderoy, Vince, Vivian, Dreamer and the remaining players of the rugby team © BlackJack16

All remaining characters belong to Walt Disney and I fully respect the regulations against copyright violations.

BlackJack16.

© September 2012.