Binding 13

"You said you wouldn’t judge," I mumbled, feeling my cheeks burn. "And I am a girl."

"Right." Shaking his head, he turned his attention to my notepad. "Let's do this," he a

I gri

Joh

Inside each box, he scribbled down words like Flanker, Hooker, Right Wing, Left Wing, and then explained each position.

Alongside each box he ascribed a number.

Next to the box labelled Outside Center, he wrote 13.

"Outside Center – that's you, right?" I asked. "You're 13?"

Joh

"Unlucky for some," I mused.

"Not for me," he shot back with a grin.

"And there goes your opportunity to feign modesty."

"There's no point," he replied with a nonchalant shrug. "I am what I am and I make no apologies for it." He lightly tapped the pen against my nose. "Now, concentrate."

So, I did.

"You have your forwards: numbers 1 to 8. So, that's your two props, two flankers, your hooker, your two locks, and your number 8. These guys are usually the biggest, heaviest players," he explained as he scribbled little notes.

Joh

I banked that snippet of information in my mind for safekeeping.

"And then you have your backs," he a

"So, these guys are the forwards?" I asked, pointing to the numbers 1 to 8.

Joh

"Like in soccer?"

"No, not like in soccer," he practically choked on the words, appalled. "Nothing like soccer."

"Gaelic?"

"No," he grumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Hurling?"

"What – no! Stop talking." Flustered, he ran a hand through his hair and growled. "Forget about other sports for a while and just listen."

"You weren't such a bossy teacher the other night," I grumbled.

"And you weren't such a trying student then, either," he retorted, tapping the pen against the notepad. "Now, focus." Exhaling a frustrated breath, he said, "In rugby, the backs are positioned behind the forwards at the start of play. That's the norm. That's how it's played."

"So, all these guys here form the scrum?" I asked pointing to the numbers 1 to 8. "The forwards?" Frowning, I added, "And they bind, set, and engage with the other team when the referee calls for a scrum?"

"Yes," he agreed, nodding encouragingly.

"What's a bind?" I asked, thinking back to what Claire, Helen, and Shelly had told me about the sixth-year girls having a competition about binding him.

"Binding is when your front row co

"Like smashing together?" I asked. "Co

"It's a little more complicated and technical than that, but yeah," he replied, scrunching his nose up at the thought. "For the sake of our lesson, let's just call it that."

I frowned at the notion, not finding it one bit enticing, before asking, "And the scrum-half throws the ball into the scrum?"

"Exactly."

"And the ball has to be played backwards and behind the players at all times? A forward pass or throw results in a penalty?"

"Yes." His eyes lit up. "That's really good, Sha

I flushed bright pink from the praise.

Encouraged, I listened intently to him.

Rugby seemed to be his life and I wanted to learn all about it.

Every teeny, tiny, insignificant detail.

It was pathetic on all levels, but I consoled myself by telling myself that it was a harmless way of passing the time.

Joh

To be honest, there was a huge amount of information to take in and much of it went clean over my head, but when he began to explain about the role of a center, I listened intently.

"So, on a team, you have two centers – the inside center and the outside center. Playing center means my job is about breaking down the opposition's defensive line," he explained. "We also have to keep our own defensive line, read the opposition's play, anticipate the direction of the ball, know when to make a defensive attack and know when to not."

"That sounds incredibly complicated," I admitted, feeling a little overwhelmed and awestruck.

"It's not an easy position to be responsible for," Joh

"But you said you were a back."

"I am a back."

"But you just said you were a midfield."

"I am."

"How?"

"Jesus, please stop asking questions and hear me out." Joh

"I'm sorry," I muttered. "Don’t get mad at me over it."

"I'm not getting mad at you. I'm trying to–" Joh

"But –" I held my hand up and waited for him to give me the go-ahead before continuing, "I've seen you play. You're the biggest guy on the team."

Joh

"But you're huge!" I exclaimed.

"I'm tall," he corrected before quickly continuing. "Speed is vital to a center. I need to be agile on my feet and accelerate the fuck out of it when opportunity arrives."

I thought Joh

Apparently, not much.

"Hold and defend – that's my job as 13," he said. "Hold the line and defend it. Competing on the ground or overturning a ruck. That's on me, too," he added. "12 and 13 play close to each other."

"Who's your 12 on the school team?"

Joh

"Oh." I nodded. "And you guys are good friends, right?"

He nodded. "Yeah, he's a good buddy. I'm constantly watching Feely and vice versa. If he has the ball, I need to be on his ass, ready to take the pass off and capitalize by linking up with one of the wings."

"The wings?"

"11 and 14," he explained.

I nodded. "Okay. 11 and 14 are the wings."

"Exactly. Now, there's a trust needed between your two centers – 12 and 13," he explained. "You need to have complete fucking faith in each other, know your partner like the back of your hand, read his plays, his body languages – hell, you need to read his thoughts at times."