The Tap Tackle

In rugby, delivering an ankle tap can bring down an opposing player running at top speed, often when they are out of range of a full-contact tackle. In a lot of instances, an ankle tap is all that stands between a defending player and a try.

But, if you are on the receiving end of an ankle tap tackle, once you’ve slid to a halt, you’ll be furious that such an insignificant impact brought you down on your run for glory. It looks as if you’ve been hit by a sniper’s bullet as no-one is near you when you fall.

As a winger I used to love employing the tap. Talk about pride before a fall. The opposing player presumed they were on the way to scoring a try as they had passed by me, the last man between them and the try line. Then they sensed a wobble, then their balance went and kaboom. They faceplanted the sod.

I hated being tap-tackled. Not a lot you can do about it. You’re going down.

The tap has useful lessons for life.

It’s a great weapon to have – the target thinks they are away Scot-free and then, sometimes much later, they are the laughing stock of the watching crowd. Their humiliation unexpected but complete.