Submitted by Trapp

When I began playing rugby nobody ever looked at me and expected a try scorer, however it was assumed that I would be a big hitter even 50 pounds ago. When I began playing rugby it was rare for tight 5 forwards to carry the ball, much less score tries. Even in the odd times when I managed to pick up a loose ball and run it across the white line and get it to ground it still felt odd, not really exciting.  In my first year I did manage to have an entire sideline on its feet for a sick tackle that I made. I will take that feeling, that excitement any Saturday.

That was ten years ago. Since then I have fucked up more tries by knock on, or being at the bottom of a maul and the ref can’t see, or grounding a ball and letting go before the ref has seen who grounded the ball. Each time I have felt miserable, but never as miserable as when I miss a tackle. I have scored tries, but they never feel as good as when I make a tackle that crushes a girl’s hopes of scoring a try and putting points up against my team. With every tackle I get I want another one. With every tackle someone else gets I want another one. I am perfectly content to let others carry the ball across the white line. It was never in my core training that scoring tries was my job. Tackling and contact is hard wired in. I am never disappointed that I didn’t get a try on Saturday. I do analyze why I didn’t get more tackles or more big tackles.