[PHOTO STORY 2: MOTION] Two Georgia Southern Seniors Enjoy Playing Rugby at the RAC

 By: Evelyn Spear

Hannah Potter is propping her foot on a scrum sled while she ties her cleats. A scrum sled is a piece of equipment that allows the athlete to practice the strength required in a scrum.

Erin Owens is unloading her gear from the car before rugby practice. Erin and Hannah are teammates and friends from a Rugby club based in Savannah, Georgia.

Owens is checking the air pressure on the rugby balls. “I have been playing rugby for about five years on and off,” states Owens while she pumps air into one of the balls.

Potter and Owens are looking for a good place to practice. Although their whole team practices in Savannah, the two of them enjoy one on one practices closer to home in Statesboro, Georgia.

Owens is walking toward the field. The fields at the Recreation Activity Center (RAC) on the Georgia Southern Campus are a place where they practice frequently.

Owens is taking off her shoes and replacing them with her cleats. Much like in soccer and football, rugby players wear cleats to make it easier for the players to run on the grass.

  Potter and Owens are stretching before practice. While they stretch, they discuss the exercises that they want to run through.

Potter is holding the ball and waiting to pass it to Owens. Potter has been playing rugby for seven years, but she took a break for a while due to a minor back injury.

1.       Owens and Potter warm up by passing the ball back and forth. The two started the practice with simple passes before moving on to tosses from farther away.

       Potter nearly misses a toss from Owens. “I’m a little out of practice because we couldn’t meet up for most of the pandemic, but I’m trying to get back into it” says Potter.

  Potter drop-kicks the ball to Erin. It is important for them to practice both kicking and catching the ball because it can be a useful method of passing the ball in a tight situation.

Owens drop-kicks the ball back to Potter. “It's very useful if you need to create space and get the ball farther down the field and away from where the other team can score; that way they can’t tackle you and get the ball from you,” says Owens.

Owens is helping Potter up after practicing a tackle. Here they are practicing the tackle from a still position to make sure that they don’t get hurt when they start running around.

Potter is looking over her shoulder as she decides on her next move. Potter has created distance between her and her teammate and will soon break into a run while Owens tries to tackle her.

1.       Owens is tackling Potter. It is important for the players to practice tackling so that they can learn to do it in the safest way possible.

       Potter is tackling Owens. “There are wrong ways to tackle, but there aren’t, like, different ways to tackle,” states Potter.

1.       Owens is teaching Potter how to do a stretch for their shoulders. Because of the position that she plays on the field, it is less important for her to do that stretch and as a result, she didn’t remember how to do it.

1.       Potter and Owens are doing a stretching exercise that prepares their shoulders for a scrum or ruck. “A ruck kind of looks like that stretch and it happens when a person gets tackled; a ruck is formed above them to keep the opposing team from just stepping over the person and grabbing the ball,” says Potter. 

     
Owens is pushing a scrum sled while Potter holds it steady. The scrum sled allows her to put more weight into the exercise than when she performs the shoulder stretch.

      Owens is wearing a t-shirt for her team, the Savannah Shamrocks. Owens joined the team shortly before the pandemic in spring of 2020 and Potter joined in the fall of 2019.