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Tue 4 Nov 2014 | 08:26
The Steven Luatua Quarterback Lineout throw against Australia

21
Comments

The latest Barbarians have reinvigorated the brand by playing the type of rugby that fans have come to expect from the famous club. Against Australia they were inventive and fearless, as can be seen with this audacious long lineout throw by Steven Luatua.

The All Black wasn't part of the squad over in Chicago, so he brought the USA to Twickenham, showing that he has a pretty decent quarterback throwing arm, even if it was a little skew.

"He's played a little bit of American Football at school, so he threw the ball like that at training and I said 'Ah, you better bring that out'," explained Barbarians coach John Kirwan.

It's his second outing for the BaaBaas, and after revealing that he's a big NFL fan in training, they thought they'd give this a shot. The Wallabies were quick to react and the ball was dropped, but kudos to the side for trying something new. With an accurate throw and a bit of luck, who knows.

View Barbarians vs Wallabies highlights 

Posted By: Grant Constable

21 Comments

  • larry
    2:37 PM 17/12/2014

    I remember making a similar throw-in to my flyhalf while playing hooker in a third side match way back in the mid-70's, for Santa Clara University versus Stanford University on a late drizzly and chilly afternoon at Stanford on a Friday, when the third side games took place much of the season. Our flyhalf was captaining the side, and ran up to me when the ball went into touch just inside the Stanford quarter, and told me to throw the ball long past the lineout. He caught the ball in full flight and scored a try. I wasn't sure about the legality of it all, as I hadn't played much rugby yet at the time, as it might have been my second year of playing, and this was a tactic I never had seen used. The captain of Stanford complained that our flyhalf ran up early to catch the ball and was offside. He probably started running up as I threw the ball, and it was straight down the line of touch, and thrown about twenty-five yards in total. And the ball was one of those old-fashioned leather ones, and it was wet. The try was awarded.
    I did play 'gridiron,' as you Aussies like to call it, but not quarterback.

  • stroudos
    7:39 AM 09/11/2014

    After the first sentence I was expecting a very different and more entertaining story.........

  • katman
    12:52 PM 06/11/2014

    Thanks. I see it now has its own thread.

  • cheyanqui
    2:51 AM 06/11/2014

    Spot on - It should always accrue advantage to the non-offending team.

    On an long throw, the throwing team is the one running past the 10m to gather it, so the obligation to throw straight should be on them.

  • cheyanqui
    2:51 AM 06/11/2014

    Spot on - It should always accrue advantage to the non-offending team.

    On an long throw, the throwing team is the one running past the 10m to gather it, so the obligation to throw straight should be on them.

  • whiteafrican
    5:27 PM 05/11/2014

    @Katman: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyCYo5Ot514

  • katman
    2:42 PM 05/11/2014

    Anyone know whether the Leicester / Barbarians game was broadcast, and whether there's a highlights package anywhere?

  • whiteafrican
    11:48 AM 05/11/2014

    I think they're ok on that score. The throw-in takes place on the 10 metre line. if you freeze-frame the video at 00:20, you can see that at the moment Luatua releases the throw, the nearest Baabaa back is standing on the half-way line. Once it's thrown, the backs are fine.

  • mise
    11:10 PM 04/11/2014

    best baabahs match in a while....was in danger of dying out as a concept. More of this please!

  • liquidnick
    3:28 PM 04/11/2014

    I once had a hooker who was a gymnast. We devised a play during a sevens tournament where he actually did one of those soccer style front flip throws. Completely took everyone off guard, and I actually don't remember the outcome but I'm pretty sure the ref blew it up.

  • finedisregard
    2:51 PM 04/11/2014

    Love that Barbarian spirit, I hope it never goes away!

  • mack72
    2:44 PM 04/11/2014

    I used to do that in School rugby - never failed unless I didn't throw straight. We called it the Jim McMann :)

  • whiteafrican
    2:43 PM 04/11/2014

    @DrG - I posted above before I saw your post. You are correct - the ball must be thrown "straight" (Law 19.6 - http://www.irblaws.com/downloads/IRB_Laws_2014_EN.pdf#page=129). Technically the right call would have been to offer Yellow a scrum or throw-in where the line-out was taken (Law 19.7). I suspect the combination of the fact that hardly anyone ever tries this approach and the fact that it was a Baabaas game led to a more relaxed interpretation of the rules on this occasion. Would have been interesting if the Badge had caught it though...

  • whiteafrican
    2:37 PM 04/11/2014

    Yeah, Law 19.6 requires that it is thrown "straight", but I've pretty much always seen refs interpret that as "you can't throw it to your own team's side". In a normal line-out, it would be a pretty pedantic ref who calls them back for a throw that favoured the other side. But in this situation, perhaps less so...

  • 10stonenumber10
    1:51 PM 04/11/2014

    "Spirit of Rugby"

    International rugby is getting more and more boring as the weeks go on. If you follow a routine, it is easy to slip down to 75% concentration, call it the false sense of auto-pilot security. Anything from 'outside the equilibrium' has an effect. I think that links to theoretical/quantum physics... blame uni, they could understand Masters level equations, but memorising a 3 page playbook seemed a step too far for the men in white lab coats. To be fair, with the amount of work needed for science degrees, the playbook was bottom of the reading list!

    Have a go, if you're not sure what you are doing, the opposition sure as hell won't know either. Again, case in point, Badg's try. "Yup, my ball, my ball, my ball!!!!!"

    Drop 10ft deeper, let the defence concentrate on the line they can see, and hit a gap hard. Whether it is a clean line break or a weak shoulder, they didn't see it coming, because you didn't either!

  • mujaliva
    1:24 PM 04/11/2014

    Mate, I think even the ref thought that was a great through! And since refs probably wants to have some fun now and then, why not?

  • drg
    12:59 PM 04/11/2014

    To someone more in the know:

    On this occasion the lineout was not straight. Cummins knocked the ball on as well...

    My interpretation would be to go back for the unstraight lineout, no? Instead the referee seemed to signal the knock on as the reason for blowing up. I know the lineout was towards the opposition but last time I checked it still counts as not straight (even though they had a better advantage...)

    Reasons?

  • drg
    12:57 PM 04/11/2014

    That was brilliant. I love the brief confusion you can see with the jumpers on the Aussie side... "wait wha-?"

    I love this side of the BaaBaa's. The win for any player/team/game is important, but it's not the MOST important thing.

    I suppose this is the rugby we sort of all probably grew up with in the playground/playing fields etc.. the weekends, afternoons, lunchtimes when you get a chance and your not stuck betweens strict guidelines of what a school boy lock does and does NOT do etc.. you clown around, you 'shovel sh*t' and you see what you can make from nothing. Invariably things go wrong, but when they go right it makes it worthwhile (perhaps not on a win/loss sheet, but in ourselves!).

    I'd rather watch a team I love (and always want to win) playing the best clinical boring rugby and get destroyed by the Baabaa's having a d**k about.

    For me the spirit of the game is what makes it great. I think it often gets lost and the ingrained regime takes over and game days you go out there and DO YOUR JOB, but I have found that sometimes amateur teams have a set routine and when that doesn't work on game day, there is no change.. some of my teams best results have been when we were forced to mix it up, create something new in the lineouts 10 seconds before we got set up. Some of the worst games we've played are where we continued to do what didn't work, throughout the entire game.

    Another great 'game' was coming back from uni one holiday and training with the 2nd's in a 2nd's vs 1st game... where we were forced to be human targets for the 1st's... It was one of the best 'games' I've ever played, we tore the 'how to play' book up and just went all in and we came out on top in every situation. (Probably the closest I'll get to ever feeling like a Baa Baa player!)

  • reality
    11:39 AM 04/11/2014

    Great to see inventive play like this from the Barbarians. That's what Barbarians rugby is about, rather than win at all costs. The throw was actually 3 metres crooked, but for a throw that long it can be forgiven.

  • jimmy23
    10:48 AM 04/11/2014

    Blimey, perhaps he should consider a QB position in the NFL?

  • danknapp
    10:19 AM 04/11/2014

    Jeez, but that is a hell of a throw. I can't even shout that far. You've got to love the BaaBaas. It's a fantastic tradition, just look how keen great players are to represent the club.

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