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Brendon Ratcliffe The Rugby Site's Waterboy
About Brendon Ratcliffe
Brendon Ratcliffe is The Rugby Site’s waterboy (aka CEO and founder). His professional career began in 1992 as Rugby Development Officer for Hawke’s Bay Rugby Union. Progressing to a 7 year term as Director of Player Development for New Zealand Rugby Union. Brendon then moved to England where he spent two and a half years as forwards coach for the Northampton Saints before being moving back to New Zealand to take on the head coach role for National Provincial Cup team Hawkes Bay.
Brendon Ratcliffe's latest articles
Word from Rats: Look beyond the scoreline at Soldier FieldAs we approach another great weekend of Autumn International matches the dust has well and truly settled at Chicago’s Soldier Field after the sell out All Blacks Vs USA Eagles match.
Far too much of the post-match debate has focussed on the scoreline and not enough about the wider context of profile and exposure for the game in a nation that has an insatiable appetite for sport.
The influence of match analysis in the modern gameMatch analysis has a huge influence in the modern game.
Brendon Ratcliffe explains the history of match analysis, shares his first experiences with analysis software in the early 2000s, and shares his tips for getting video analysis started for your own team.
Forwards have to think on their feetForwards are conditioned from a young age to make sure that they get to the breakdown, but sometimes it is the worst thing they can do
The Rolling Maul IIWhen the perfect rolling maul is on the move it is almost impossible to stop. It is like discovering the secret of perpetual motion. You cannot tackle a player legally. You cannot get at the ball. There is not much of a front to drive against. The only option left is to…infringe.
Bringing a top lineout drive back down to earthMartin Johnson’s great Leicester lineout was a mighty hard thing to stop, but American Football provided a few clues
The Rolling Maul Part IBrendon Ratcliffe loves the rolling maul. If forwards are piano shifters, then the rolling maul is the Steinway of rugby.
When Lineouts Go BadA young Sean Fitzpatrick once copped a mouthful of abuse after missing Andy Haden at lineout practise. He soon found out the keys to a good lineout are a lot of hard work and a quick set-up.
Band of BrothersBrendon Ratcliffe wants to know if your forwards are hard enough to survive the ordeal that he put his Northampton pack through
The Mana of The ScrummageBrendon Ratcliffe, the Rugby Site’s professor of the dark arts, stumbles out into the sunlight in order to talk about the scrummage.
