I think a main weakness in my game is that although I sometimes take a good crash ball, I tend to hang off the rucks too often and I need to get more stuck in because I might sometimes stand in the channel between the scrum half and fly half, which is getting in the way of a pass, and a phase of play in the backs may be better than one in the forwards. I need to stay in the rucks and mauls more often that I stand in the line.
Also I think I need to improve my reaction time, especially when reacting to the stimulus, often being the referees whistle. This would suggest that I was concentrating wholly on the game, but if I was more aware of the stimulus then I would give away fewer penalties and infringements, but also, my game would be more disciplined. I could sprint rather than jog to the breakdowns sometimes, so that I could spoil more opposition ball or even turn it over.
Improving Performance
Over time I will take actions which will increase my strengths and decrease or totally get rid of my weaknesses. This section will help to prioritise the areas for improvement and the areas where my performance is at its optimum level.
I think that the most important of my weaknesses to work on is reaction to the stimulus. I am fairly disciplined, but if I could improve my reaction time then I would become much more disciplined and not make as many errors. I need to focus more on the game as a team sport and think of what effect my actions may have on the game and rest of the team - E.g. giving away a penalty.
The reason for my strength in putting the scrum half under a lot of pressure is the combination of strength and speed used to get around the breakdown quickly and hit him low and hard. Power enables this to be done with relative ease.
The reason for my main weakness is that I concentrate on one separate thing in the game, such as the man I am marking or the tackle I am about to make, rather than the whole game itself, such as offside and overlaps.
I think that the target of giving away less that one penalty each game is easy to fulfil, and it should progressively lower to one per every two games and so on. Also taking training seriously as if it was a match and putting in all the tackles and looking for options instead of taking the first one that comes into my head. Assess the whole situation, not just one small part of it.
I could possibly keep a tally of how many infringements I make in match situations in training, and then aim to make less than this amount in a match. I could record the number I make in a match and aim to concede less in the next match that I played in.
To monitor the progress of my strengths I could record how many turnovers I make and how many times I force an error on the scrum half due to applying a lot of pressure.
In training match situations I need to concentrate on the game and the teams performance, not just my own. Increasing my levels of fitness would allow me o get to breakdowns more quickly, thus making me less likely to stand out and possibly get in the scrum half and fly half’s channel. An exercise that would help to increase my strengths and at the same time help to diminish my weaknesses would be practising a rush defence from the triple threat position as it would help me to advance with the line and stay onside at all times possible.
Joe Henderson 10EY
