LISTENING TO ROB Forbes talking through the intricacies of something as specific as dropping the ball from hand to foot for a kick, his passion for the basic skills of rugby comes through in buckets.
Forbes is the co-founder of the Irish Rugby Institute, as well as head coach of St. Fintan’s High School – who have been on a remarkable journey of development in recent seasons – and his belief is that core skills are the key to the sport.
The Irish Rugby Institute [IRI] offers rugby camps for minis right up to 19-year-olds, with international visitors making up a large part of their client base, and Forbes says that giving these young players a grip on the basic skills is at the heart of their work.
http://www.facebook.com/irishrugbyinstitute/videos/10155894497649256/
The Institute also provides bespoke coaching for touring sides, regularly coach coaches, and also travel abroad to work with clubs, schools and universities on their rugby development.
Forbes was fortunate enough that legendary Ireland out-half Ollie Campbell is a family friend, and so he developed a love for working on his passing, kicking and catching skills from as early as he can remember.
“It all goes back to what Ollie taught me about focusing on the skills, the skills, the skills,” says Forbes.
“If we’re coaching here in Ireland, or over in France, Italy or Spain, the first thing and last thing I’ll always say to coaches is that if you want kids to enjoy rugby, if you want to enjoy coaching, if you want the supporters to enjoy it, and for your team to play well, give the players skills.
“Give players the skills first and then teach them what to do with the skills. Give them the tools before you start asking them to use those tools to take advantage of space or create space.
“If a player has the tools and understands how to create and preserve space, you’re so far down the road. You could nearly let them go and play organically if you’ve given them the tools and understanding of space. You know really good stuff is going to happen.
“If the rugby becomes about the coach trying to create pods or try some move they saw on Super Rugby, you’re wasting the kids’ time and your time. I love to see a kid being able to unlock a defence with a pass or hit a key kick.”
IRI was founded in 2009 when Forbes partnered up with Rossa Keane and Daire Higgins with the aim of providing high-quality coaching within the already-popular camps format.
One of the motivations for Forbes was seeing his own son come away from various sporting camps having learned very little and not enjoying the experience.
[image alt="St. Fintan's team" src="http://cdn.thejournal.ie/media/2017/05/st-fintans-team-630x352.jpg" width="630" height="352" class="alignnone" /end]
Forbes has a coaching background with Belvedere College, Leinster ‘A’ schools, Coolmine RFC, Suttonians RFC and the Leinster women’s side, and still has ambitions to push into the higher levels of the game with a club side in Ireland or further afield, but IRI and St. Fintan’s are the focuses now.
IRI runs week-long camps at Halloween, Easter and during the summer, with their base often being at Suttonians’ grounds on Station Road in Sutton, though they are very much a separate entity from the club.
Local-based players are a major part of the camps, which start at €99, while IRI hosts visitors from a wide range of European nations, North America, South Africa and even Hong Kong in recent times – those international courses starting at €1,200 for two weeks.
With accommodation organised with local hosting families, English lessons available through the Centre of English Studies, and various barbeques and day trips also involved, Forbes says IRI is about more than just rugby.
“That cultural experience is so important,” says Forbes, “international kids and Irish kids getting out of their comfort zone and working together to understand it all.”
Forbes runs the coaching side of things for IRI but their guest coaches in recent years have included former Leinster players Shane Jennings, Eric Miller, Chris Keane and Stan Wright among many other specialists.
IRI has worked closely with a range of clubs and institutions abroad too, with Forbes making trips to places like Universitario Bilbao Rugby to coach coaches and work directly with their teams.
He stresses that IRI’s aim is to build long-term relationships with players and clubs alike, with a long-term development viewpoint taken.
“For example, there’s a young guy called Michel over in Universitario Bilbao who first came to us as an 11-year-old. He did a few summers with us and I’ve coached him over in Bilbao.
“He then wanted to expand his rugby knowledge, and we have contacts in South Africa and New Zealand to place players there. Michel went to New Zealand and next year he is coming back to play under me in Ireland.
http://www.facebook.com/irishrugbyinstitute/videos/10155806572044256/
“From 11 to 21, he has been part of this journey where we’ve not only coached him but given him experiences elsewhere and coached his coaches. We’re not his main team but we’ve been there in the background all along.
“We are someone who can be with you through your rugby growth and hopefully what we deliver is going to embellish your rugby journey. It comes down to the player, coach, club, how much they want to interact with that.”
Lots of Irish players who have done IRI courses have gone on to big achievements, with several of Belvedere College’s back-to-back LSSC-winning sides among them, as well as Sweden age-grade internationals, Spanish internationals and French academy players.
Forbes has extensive experience coaching women’s rugby, having head coached the Leinster side for three seasons from 2013 until 2016, and catering for female players has been key to the Institute.
Girls have always attended IRI but this year has seen the Institute putting into place a new method of coaching and working with female players that is based on genuine research into what they want to get from rugby.
“This Easter represented the first time that we put together a researched, personally-designed women’s package,” says Forbes. “We used to just take girls in and make sure they got whatever the guys got and that was fine.
“But it came to our attention that some of the girls’ journeys to 14, 16, 18 wasn’t the same as what a guy’s was. We came to realise that our girls needed more of some things than other things.
“For example, unless girls have had the fortune to have a Gaelic background, they don’t come with a lot of kicking literacy, but they might be fast and get put on the wing. Now a core skill is alien to them, so let’s work hard on that.
“Girls are often better problem-solvers than men are, as a collective, they will ask questions, so let’s get more of that into our camps.
[image alt="Rob Forbes" src="http://cdn.thejournal.ie/media/2017/05/rob-forbes-630x462.jpg" width="630" height="462" class="alignnone" /end]
“One of our coaches met with girls we’ve had in the camps and did research sessions with them – ‘What do you want on a course? Longer or shorter?’ Often their rugby journey has been different to the boys’ training history, so we’ve looked to tailor it more.”
IRI also cater in individual coaching, working on specific positional skills, such as throwing and kicking, building up a strong understanding of players in this one-to-one setting and often working on the skill over the course of several years.
Forbes feels that the IRI is a “coiled spring,” ready to grow again in Ireland and abroad, particularly the UK, but stresses that instilling a passion for the game through the growth of basic skills will always be central.
Some players may not go any further on their rugby journey, while others might take valuable lessons from IRI and go on to bigger things.
“That will be because of their clubs but we like to think that we’re adding a small bit of polish, growing certain things and at the same time adding to their love for the game,” says Forbes.
“That can’t be overstated – they’ve got to love it.”
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This guy is completely overratted
@jay bernard: don’t know how he warrants a contract of that size given his achievements in the game. He needs to start scoring regularly especially if the Wissam Ben Yedder rumours are true. WBY is a real fox in the box, Deschamps really rates him.
Best goal tally for 21 and under in the EPL, La Liga & Seria A in what was a shocking season under two different managers. 200k going to 300k based on incentives. Manchester born and bred. He’ll turn out to be some player yet
An absolute joke.
It’s 200k a week max as per Simon Stone – reliable United journo
@Brian: and you think that even £200,000 is acceptable for a player that scored 10 league goals last season. He’s English!!! He has been overhyped and overrated since they Day he broke into the first team by the British press, £200,000 per week for a very average player that would be more suited to playing for a team like Newcastle, Everton or Southampton. Mid table player at best, that shouldn’t be earning anything over 100,000 never mind 200,000 or 300,000.
@Devilsavocado: And eventually he will be destroyed by the British press too, I wish Utd would sell him on now
Beans Beans Beans
@Alan Brazil: is all you eat. Stand well back!
The club is a circus. Run by clowns who aren’t football men
@munsterman: and if you look at the nonsense that ich bin Brendan has been scribbling up there, it seems they are supported by a few clowns as well…..
@Devilsavocado: haha! G!mp
@Ich bin brendan: come on,, seriously mate, you really don’t believe the nonsense that you were writing in your previous posts do you?? There isn’t a club that finished in the top 5 above Utd that the lad would get into as a first team player. Not a single club that will be in the champions league next year had a bit of interest in buying him, he’s at best a bench player for Utd, but a 200,000 a week bench player??? WTF is going on at Utd that they offered that much money to him?? Where else was he going to go, they easily could have halved that and even then he should still consider himself lucky to be wearing the Utd jersey,, come on, I can’t be the only one who sees this….
@Devilsavocado: quit looking for validation. I’ll correct myself in that he didn’t score v pool in their 3-1 spanking but everything stated is fact inc. turning the best rb inside out and scoring in every debut. Barcelona were being touted as making an official approach, how much of that is being true is as truthful to say not a single team were, it would take a team of that stature to pull a local lad away from his local team. Apart from Kane for Spurs there isn’t a top 5 team that would produce an academy player like him. 200,000K is daft money but that’s the state of the club atm, not many want the Glazers there but that’s what they’re working with. I’m delighted he’s there for another 4 yrs, he’s got the wage now it’s upto him to start earning it, I believe he will.
@Ich bin brendan: ok fair enough, you have your opinion on the matter and people that actually know a bit about football have there’s. Let’s be honest here, I doesn’t matter that your opinion is obviously that of a delusional fan that can’t look at things without your fan glasses on but that’s ok,, we will leave it there and I’ll let you get back to your colouring book and crayons, there’s a good boy,, don’t stay up to late… :) validate myself, ha ha ha ha ha..
@Devilsavocado: “that actually know a bit about football” you have me stumped, you’ve trouble validating your opinionated drivel. “Ha ha ha” like I said before, G!mp
He’s got to start delivering on his promise . A lot of cash for a man still not scoring regularly but he does have the potential to be an absolute world class player I just hope he does start getting 30 odd goals a season .
On his debut he’s scored 2 in the EPL, same in his Europa, 1 Champions league and on his derby debut. Also turned the best rb in the country inside out to score against their biggest rivals, with the golden glove winner in goal!
@Ich bin brendan: can throw in his debut in the EFL & FA Cup as well. So every cup comp available to him. Calling him over rated is being bias, he’s proven he’s capable, needs consistency with age.
Reminds me of Ian Rush
His nose is offside
Even as a man utd fan, I think he doesn’t deserve this, prove your worth then get the money, he didn’t prove anything last season to deserve half this money.