Strength & Size

[Epi]

There were a number of reasons the Wallabies got done today - but one of them is that they were simply out-muscled. I've heard people around here and in the media (Spiro) banging on about players getting to bulky and losing pace etc. Quite simply this is not true. Muscle does not slow down a players top speed or acceleration. If it did you wouldn't have sprinters who look like this:

I would say that Davies - as quick and as good a finisher as he is - needs to bulk up and build some strength. He got treated like a rag doll. I would say that most of the backs and the forwards need to put on some size if we are going to compete in physical contests like today's.

 

[Doc]

You are right is size not slowing players down, providing relative strength is maintained/improved and the rates at which that strength can be applied. That said, for his height, Davies would be 5kg bigger than most world class sprinters. And much slower. Previous research at the super rugby level found backs had a Vmax around 9m/s, sprinters are around 11m/s.

 

[Thomas]

I can also help with injury prevention, which is why I think Horne should add 5-10kg of muscle as the style of rugby he plays could really benefit from some extra size and strength.

 

[Refabit]

I can also help with injury prevention, which is why I think Horne should add 5-10kg of muscle as the style of rugby he plays could really benefit from some extra size and strength.

Or take up chess. He has a body that never seems to make it onto the field for any length of time.
And most weeks he can play against the injured Palu.

 

[Viking]

Sprinters are big but they run in straight lines for short distances! Riugby players also need to be agile. I dont think JOC (James O'Connor) or Cooper would be effective steppers if they had an extra 5Kgs on them. Samoans, Lomu, Sivivatu are genetice freaks, Aus simply does not have the same playing stocks NZ, Samoa has. Bulking up our current backline is not the answer. It may work for somep players - i agree Horne needs and extra 5kgs on him but for many like JOC (James O'Connor), Cooper I would disagree on them putting on any size.

You do make a good point that our team lacks strength and power but we simply don't have the players to play that way. We need to play to our strengths. We could still beat Samoa had we played with our first 15.

 

[MrTimms]

We could still beat Samoa had we played with our first 15.

Oh god, I hope so...

 

[Jnor]

I recall Bruce saying in the match thread (I think) that the team has trained at a high level every day this week, pointing out that this would inidicate they are doing no strength work as this would necessitate rest days.

Does Deans just think this isn't important enough and they should be working on skills/game-based stuff (which didn't seem particularly effective yesterday)?