Hookers - Anthony Paradowski, Scott Fahle and Christopher Park. Yuxiang "Dwight" Zeng also was a hooker while he attended UT Dallas, but will be returning back to China to continue his rugby career and finish school.
Locks - John Bradshaw, Weston Hearne, Carter Nelson and Greg Slagel.
Props, their job is to set a good, firm platform in each scrum. They are solid tacklers and always around the ball. They also fancy themselves as good ball carriers, but in reality and don't tell them I said this, but they are decent. Seems they all want to run like Barry Sanders and think they can turn the corner on the defense, but there was only one Barry Sanders.
I didn't think of the following, found it on the internet, and thought it said exactly what I wanted to convey.
Why a section dedicated to the Tight Five? Two reasons: 1) My belief is that if the heart and soul of rugby is in forward play (and I think it is), then the heart and soul of forward play is with the scrum and the props, hooker and locks - called "the Tight Five", and 2) I play second row and sometimes prop. So - we'll let the loose forwards and backs have their exposure, celebrity, glamor and flash. This section is for the unsung workhorses of rugby.
Let me state at the beginning that I have enormous respect for prop forwards. It's rough on the business end of a scrum! What's more, you can't have a scrum without props, and you can't have rugby without the scrum. And who
would want life without rugby? Props are therefore invaluable.
Ian "Didds" Diddams of Devizes RFC has stated that "Props are born, not made," and I think the fellow is correct. There is something about a prop that sets him apart from the rest of the human race, and this difference, while not always easily explained, is fairly easily identified by sight.
The scrum, which is similar to a hockey face-off, is awarded when play stops because the ball is tied up by the two teams or when there is a minor infraction. The eight forwards (the pack) bind together in a pyramid formation. The two opposing scrums come together (engagement) and the ball is in put in play by the scrum half. The front-row players intertwine their heads with their opponents, with their cervical spines slightly flexed. In a scrum, each team assumes a wedge-shaped configuration and attempts to drive their opponents off the ball, enabling one team to maintain or obtain possession of the ball.
A Prop's Testimony to a Back
Son, in this world there are scrums. And in those scrums you need props. Are you willing to do it? As a prop, I have more responsibility than you can ever fathom.
Finally, props are wonderful people, and should be nurtured. If you are a prop, be proud in the knowledge that your trade is a hard, unsung one, where success is worn inside, in the heart, unlike these flashy back-row and fly-half types. If you are not a prop, gaze upon them henceforth with awe, for these men and women are the salt of the earth. And buy them a pint.
"The locks must be the grinders in the pack. They must clean out rucks
and mauls, take line-out ball and kick-offs, and put in tackles. Not spend the
day on the wing. A tight five can only be rated on how it does the basics. Not
on how many tries they can score." - Former South Africa hardman Krynauw Otto
tells his successors in the Springbok second row to cut down on the flashy stuff
and get back to basics when they face Argentina. (June 2002)
Hookers - while similar to a prop in the sense of where he is, a hookers job is to mix it up in the front row and win each scrum, by hooking the ball with his feet and gently guiding the ball back to his locks and # 8 and eventually the scrumhalf. Hookers are like having a third flanker, they are fast, mobile and solid tacklers and most of all, they should have the ability to make a good throw in on the line outs.
Locks or Second Row
"Lock forwards seem doomed to toil in obscurity. Many years ago, in the seasons when one lock held the 2-3-2 scrum together, Leo Fanning, a wise and witty Rugby writer, said that the mission of the forward was to be always to the fore in the field and to enjoy a back seat in the newspapers. He also said that the lock forward was frequently, with good warrant, the most profane man in a team." - Gordon Slatter, Football is 15
Playing in the second row doesn't require a lot of intelligence, really. You have to be bloody crazy to play there for a start." - Bill Beaumont
Those may not explain a whole lot about what each position does, but it does tell you that the players we have in these positions are truely different, in a way that they put their bodies on the line for a game and while they may not be the players who score Trys, they are the lads who possess the qualities and determination to win possession of the ball so that others on the club can score.