Check out Chris Bagby slicing folks up with his eyes...
So we're going to dive into this as a straight up give-you-the-skinny-tips blog entry.
We notice on the sidelines of dozens of tournaments year in year out that the players could be making much better use of their wandering or purposeful eyes...
Let's jump in and come up with a few reasons why the eyes have it.
Backs! Good grief! We see this at all levels of rugby... it's almost as if players feel like once the ball's out (!!) from that scrum, they are going to run right back into the scrum because that's what they are staring down, like they've got a thesis due next week on the inner workings of a scrum.
There's a whole field in front of you FULL of opponents who are scheming to BEAT you. Look at them! Look at the field! Look at anything that's not as obvious as the ball will be coming out of the scrum and sailing your way soon- especially if you're outside of the fly half.
As we write this, we're realizing we should make this a multi-part post. Clearly it takes a special moment to motivate us to blog, so let's roll with this one.
Back to that scrum down. With a well-tuned, well-practiced team, the loose forwards and scrumhalf have have really good chances to decoy and communicate with their eyes. A hefty glance towards an eager flanker that is (not) noticed by the opposition can serve as a wonderful fake or a setup for a power move. So, try it out a few times at practice and see if you can fool your own team. Then you know it's ready for the world.
So, in short, make sure your eyes, those magical marvels, are contributing as much as they can to your evolving rugby game. The eyes really do have it.