Alright, let’s talk about looking into Nate Augspurger today. It wasn’t like some big research project, more just following a thread, you know?
So, I started off just watching some rugby clips, kinda randomly. Sevens stuff mostly, because it’s quick and action-packed. Came across some USA Eagles games. That’s where I first properly noticed Nate Augspurger. The name sounded familiar, maybe I’d heard it before, but this time I was actually paying attention.
First thing that hit me was the speed. Man, that guy is fast. Like, properly quick off the mark. Playing scrum-half, that burst of speed is pretty handy, right? Getting the ball away from the breakdown, sniping around the edges. I spent a bit just watching highlights focusing on his movement. Didn’t need fancy software or anything, just YouTube and my eyes, rewinding bits here and there.
Watching the Details
Then I started looking a bit closer. It wasn’t just raw speed. It was how he used it.
- His support lines seemed pretty good most times. Popping up where needed.
- The quick taps, trying to catch defenses napping.
- His passing is decent, gets the ball out. Maybe not the flashiest, but effective enough usually.
I found myself comparing him mentally to other scrum-halves I’d watched. Just thinking about the different styles. Some are more about control and kicking, others are pure runners. Augspurger seemed more in that running, high-tempo camp, especially in Sevens, obviously, but you see it in the full game too.
Why was I even doing this? Good question. It actually started because I was stuck on a completely unrelated problem at work. My brain was fried, just hitting a wall. You know how sometimes you just need a total distraction?
So I took a longer break than usual. Ended up just clicking around online, landed on sports highlights. Rugby popped up. I used to play a bit, way back when, nothing serious. Watching it again, specifically watching players like Augspurger who rely on instinct and speed, it was just… different. A different kind of problem-solving, I guess. Physical, immediate.
I spent maybe an hour just watching clips, focusing on him, then maybe reading a couple of short player bios. Just basic stuff. Where he played, his background moving from track or whatever it was. It wasn’t deep analysis, more like letting my brain chew on something completely different.
Did it solve my work problem? Not directly, no magic answers appeared. But it did help clear my head. When I went back to the original problem, I felt a bit less stuck. Like rebooting the system, you know? Sometimes just focusing intensely on something totally random, like how a specific rugby player moves, can knock the other stuff loose.
So yeah, that was my “practice” today. Started with random clips, got focused on one player, Nate Augspurger, watched his speed and style for a bit, mostly as a way to reset my brain. Simple as that, really. Just observing and letting the mind wander onto something different for a while.
