The crash ball is an attacking tactic in rugby league and rugby union where a player receives a pass at pace and runs to the opposition's defensive line. The crash ball runner attempts to commit two or more opposing players to the tackle, then attempts to make the ball available to team-mates by offloading in the tackle, performing a quick play-the-ball in rugby league, or recycling the ball quickly from the ruck in rugby union. By committing players to the tackle, the crash ball runner creates holes in the opposition's defense, thereby creating attacking opportunities for team-mates.
The crash ball is a common tactic in rugby league, especially amongst props and second rowers. In rugby union, crash ball running is often performed by midfielders as a way to create space for the outside backs.
The crash ball may also be used when an attacking side is a couple of meters away from the opposition try-line. A player, usually a lock or other forward, will run onto a pass and attempt to run into a defender with enough force to be able to push them back over their line and then be able to ground the ball and score a try.
Size, strength and resilience are the main assets of an effective crash ball runner; passing and handling skills are also important.
Read more about Crash Ball: Step-by-step Diagrams
Famous quotes containing the words crash and/or ball:
“The tree the tempest with a crash of wood
Throws down in front of us is not to bar
Our passage to our journey’s end for good,
But just to ask us who we think we are....”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“It may be possible to do without dancing entirely. Instances have been known of young people passing many, many months successively, without being at any ball of any description, and no material injury accrue either to body or mind; Mbut when a beginning is made—when felicities of rapid motion have once been, though slightly, felt—it must be a very heavy set that does not ask for more.”
—Jane Austen (1775–1817)