THE MOST BASIC of coaching cues very often remain essential even at the highest levels of rugby.
Billy Stickland / INPHO
Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO
Anyone who has played the game will remember learning how to keep their feet moving, get in low, ensure their leading knee is close, their cheek against the arse of the ball carrier, wrap the arms and drive into the tackle for a successful and safe outcome.
Get those details wrong and risk not only a missed tackle but also injury. Keith Earls has had a sharp reminder of that in recent months.
The Munster wing admits that he came close to missing out on the World Cup due to a slip in his technique leaving him with a fractured jaw.
George North is not a man easily brought to ground in any circumstances, and his footwork and power make picking the perfect moment extremely difficult. In the World Cup warm-up meeting between Ireland and Wales in August, Earls was just off note with his attempt.
Earls got low, he looked for a wrap of the arms and drove into the hit, but his head was caught on the wrong side of North’s body and the imposing Welsh wing’s left knee connected with the Limerick man’s face.
Earls was stretchered off after appearing to lose consciousness and found himself sidelined.
The information Ireland provided at the time said Earls would undergo the return-to-play protocols for concussion, but made no mention of the fact that the former St. Munchin’s man had actually fractured his jaw in the incident.
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“Keith got caught with his head on the wrong side of the tackle,” said Schmidt post-match. “He was totally lucid in the changing rooms, he remembered his involvements in the game, so they’re both promising signs. He will follow the concussion protocols.”
It was only this week that Earls himself revealed that he did in fact fracture his jaw in the hit on North, with the injury taking two weeks to heal.
Thankfully, Earls recovered from the fracture to star in the tournament opener against Canada. A week later, he was on the wing against Romania and a similar incident almost injured him again.
Earls was temporarily replaced as he underwent a Head Injury Assessment, but there was relief as he passed the test.
“It was fine, I just took a bang to the neck, that’s all,” said Earls after a game in which he scored two tries. “Kind of poor technique out of myself, flashbacks to the Welsh game, but all’s good and the head’s fine, I just jarred the neck a bit.”
Earls is far from the only player whose head has been caught on the wrong side of the tackle. It’s a regular occurrence in the sport, whether it’s at Test level or on local amateur pitches.
So often it’s simply accidental or even unavoidable, but Earls stresses that working hard on tackle technique is vitally important. The 28-year-old reveals that he might have missed out on the World Cup altogether due to the incident with North.
“It is just tackle tech,” said Earls this week in Limerick. “You practise all week but I suppose when you go out on the pitch and it happens under pressure you tend to go back into your safety mechanism.
“Tackle technique nearly cost me a World Cup against Wales, I fractured my jaw the week before that. I was blessed that it was only a cosmetic thing that I didn’t need to worry about and it isn’t too bad now even, so it healed up within two weeks.
“It is a concern you know, a lot of concussions are down to tackle technique but as my father would say, you’re better off putting them on the ground than missing.”
Having suffered that head injury against Wales in August, Earls was unfortunate enough to sustain another one earlier this month in a Pro12 fixture against Edinburgh.
This time, Earls was caught by the elbow of Tom Brown as he went in high to make a covering tackle in the dying minutes of the game.
Speaking afterwards, Munster coach Anthony Foley stated that Earls had passed a concussion test, but stressed his concern for the player’s welfare. Having sat out training in the early part of the week, the wing showed no ill effects as he completed his protocols and played last weekend against Treviso, completing the full 80 minutes.
“No, not at all,” said Earls when asked if he had any concerns over concussion. “It was just a normal bang on the head.
“I’d a bit of a black eye but no, I was grand after a couple of seconds. I didn’t train on Tuesday and I went through all the protocols which was the main thing and I was perfect.”
Earls appreciates that continuing to work hard on his tackle technique – even as a highly-decorated international player – is crucial if he is to avoid further incidents of a similar nature.
You have to,” said Earls. “I suppose it’s individual as well but we’ve started using the bags a bit now, because you don’t want to be getting bumps and bruises the week leading into an important game.
“If we’ve a weekend off we might do a bit of contact on the Tuesday but I think good habits are the main thing and I think it’s something that should be brought in from a really young age.
“Teaching lads proper tackle technique, even if it means walking through, just getting them into good habits.”
'Tackle technique nearly cost me a World Cup' - Keith Earls
THE MOST BASIC of coaching cues very often remain essential even at the highest levels of rugby.
Anyone who has played the game will remember learning how to keep their feet moving, get in low, ensure their leading knee is close, their cheek against the arse of the ball carrier, wrap the arms and drive into the tackle for a successful and safe outcome.
Get those details wrong and risk not only a missed tackle but also injury. Keith Earls has had a sharp reminder of that in recent months.
The Munster wing admits that he came close to missing out on the World Cup due to a slip in his technique leaving him with a fractured jaw.
George North is not a man easily brought to ground in any circumstances, and his footwork and power make picking the perfect moment extremely difficult. In the World Cup warm-up meeting between Ireland and Wales in August, Earls was just off note with his attempt.
Earls got low, he looked for a wrap of the arms and drove into the hit, but his head was caught on the wrong side of North’s body and the imposing Welsh wing’s left knee connected with the Limerick man’s face.
Earls was stretchered off after appearing to lose consciousness and found himself sidelined.
The information Ireland provided at the time said Earls would undergo the return-to-play protocols for concussion, but made no mention of the fact that the former St. Munchin’s man had actually fractured his jaw in the incident.
“Keith got caught with his head on the wrong side of the tackle,” said Schmidt post-match. “He was totally lucid in the changing rooms, he remembered his involvements in the game, so they’re both promising signs. He will follow the concussion protocols.”
It was only this week that Earls himself revealed that he did in fact fracture his jaw in the hit on North, with the injury taking two weeks to heal.
Thankfully, Earls recovered from the fracture to star in the tournament opener against Canada. A week later, he was on the wing against Romania and a similar incident almost injured him again.
Earls was temporarily replaced as he underwent a Head Injury Assessment, but there was relief as he passed the test.
“It was fine, I just took a bang to the neck, that’s all,” said Earls after a game in which he scored two tries. “Kind of poor technique out of myself, flashbacks to the Welsh game, but all’s good and the head’s fine, I just jarred the neck a bit.”
Earls is far from the only player whose head has been caught on the wrong side of the tackle. It’s a regular occurrence in the sport, whether it’s at Test level or on local amateur pitches.
So often it’s simply accidental or even unavoidable, but Earls stresses that working hard on tackle technique is vitally important. The 28-year-old reveals that he might have missed out on the World Cup altogether due to the incident with North.
“It is just tackle tech,” said Earls this week in Limerick. “You practise all week but I suppose when you go out on the pitch and it happens under pressure you tend to go back into your safety mechanism.
“Tackle technique nearly cost me a World Cup against Wales, I fractured my jaw the week before that. I was blessed that it was only a cosmetic thing that I didn’t need to worry about and it isn’t too bad now even, so it healed up within two weeks.
“It is a concern you know, a lot of concussions are down to tackle technique but as my father would say, you’re better off putting them on the ground than missing.”
Having suffered that head injury against Wales in August, Earls was unfortunate enough to sustain another one earlier this month in a Pro12 fixture against Edinburgh.
This time, Earls was caught by the elbow of Tom Brown as he went in high to make a covering tackle in the dying minutes of the game.
Speaking afterwards, Munster coach Anthony Foley stated that Earls had passed a concussion test, but stressed his concern for the player’s welfare. Having sat out training in the early part of the week, the wing showed no ill effects as he completed his protocols and played last weekend against Treviso, completing the full 80 minutes.
“No, not at all,” said Earls when asked if he had any concerns over concussion. “It was just a normal bang on the head.
“I’d a bit of a black eye but no, I was grand after a couple of seconds. I didn’t train on Tuesday and I went through all the protocols which was the main thing and I was perfect.”
Earls appreciates that continuing to work hard on his tackle technique – even as a highly-decorated international player – is crucial if he is to avoid further incidents of a similar nature.
“If we’ve a weekend off we might do a bit of contact on the Tuesday but I think good habits are the main thing and I think it’s something that should be brought in from a really young age.
“Teaching lads proper tackle technique, even if it means walking through, just getting them into good habits.”
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fractured Fractured Jaw Head Wrong Side Ireland Keith Earls Munster rwc 15 Tackle Technique