The hooker is in the most valuable position of all. His name denotes his duty in the scrum. He must hook his own ball every time and try to get as many strikes against the head on the opposition put in. Hookers need strength, speed and great agility. The skill factor is crucial.

Bind over the shoulders of your props and get a firm grip on their shirts under the armpits. They will lock their arms across your back so that the front-row is a solid unit. When you engage with the opposition scrum, you will have the force of a seven-man shove to support you and give you the freedom to strike for the ball when it comes in. A good solid hit as you engage the scrum is imperative, as it will cause the opposition front rankers to lean backward.

Hooking must be practised constantly with your scrum-half. The front-row may practice the basic movements with the aid a of a scrummage machine. Timing and accuracy can be improved this way as can the relationship with your scrum-half. However a three-on-three situation is more valuable because it forces you to make the kinds of adjustments you will need to make in a match.

Speedy ball from a scrum gives the back-line a distinct advantage. Every hooker must therefore be able to deliver quick-channel ball. Before the scrum goes down, the hooker knows what kind of heel has been called. He should keep very close to his loose-head so the he is as near to the ball as he can be when his scrum-half puts it in. The opposition tight-head prop will bore in to try to affect his vision of the ball but his own loose-head prop should counter this.

As the ball comes in, one swift strike is all that is needed. The ball is clipped away with the sole of the foot through the tunnel behind hum and straight out to the scrum-half.

If a slower ball is needed so that it can be held in the pack, then the hooker will use a different technique. As the ball comes in from his scrum-half, he is in the same strike position but will use his heel more and sweep the ball back. The ball is literally hooked and protected more. It can be controlled by the No.8 for a pushover, but once stationary, may not be held there for long.

There is a third variation used by some teams. The hooker delivers slow-channel ball at a different angle so that it goes to the right of the No. 8, enabling him to pick up and begin a movement. All three methods need careful rehearsal. The hooker has no margin for error.

On the opposition put-in, the hooker must time his strike perfectly in order to offset the advantage that his opposite number has in being closer to the ball. If the loose-head prop can disrupt the opposing hooker, his own might be able to take the ball against the head with a perfectly timed strike. It is ver demoralising for any hooker and for his team to forfeit such a ball. Always go for the strike against the head. Make your opponent fight for every ball that his scrum-half puts in.

After the physical struggle of a scrum, the hooker takes on a precision job at the lineout. Lineout throwing is a difficult skill to master, but nevertheless vital, as the average game contains 7 Lineouts.

At a 7-man lineout he will usually have three options. He can throw the ball to the 1^st jumper near the front of the line; to the second jumper near the middle; or to the third jumper at the back.

A fourth possibility is the long throw which clears the line completely and lands in open ground for the centres to run on to.

All these throws demand timing and accuracy. The long throw, in particular, needs careful practice and should only be used with discretion. At each lineout, everyone on your side must know where the ball is going. The signal must be clear. The hooker will then know to whom the ball is to be thrown and how that jumper likes to take it.

Regular practice with the jumpers is a must. The ball must be thrown to them with pin-point accuracy so that they can take it cleanly with two hands or deflect it down with one.

Each hooker must follow a routine

Do the same thing before every throw. Your right foot should be just behind the touchline and level with the gap between the forwards. Set the ball. Throw it with a smooth action, using your fingers to rotate the ball.

A simple way to improve your accuracy is to practice on the goal-line near the posts. Set yourself a target on the post itself and try to hit it consistently from five metres, the seven, and so on. This will teach you to throw it straight and true, but there is no substitute for practice with jumpers. Timing is the key. The throw must be gauged to the jumper so that he is taking it at his maximum leap.

Special attention must be paid to the short lineout which may be called by way of a variation. With only 2 or 3 men in the line, the hooker must be very careful that his throw does not go adrift.

After the throw, the hooker will cover the blind side and offer support if the scrum-half attempts a break around the front of the lineout.

On the opposition throw-in, the hooker has an attacking role. He polices the blind-side area and mist be through on any mistakes. A good hooker will time his run so that he arrives in time to snap up any badly tapped ball.