Portable Rugby Packaposts make indoor debut near Pittsburgh

Rugby training indoors usually means forgoing posts and sticking to drills that don’t include kicking drop goals or conversions. But that could all be about to change, thanks to a full-sized portable rugby posts innovation from the home of the All Blacks – New Zealand – that makes it to possible to play the game ‘for real’ on any surface and in any setting.

Developed by sports solutions company Packaworld International, the Rugby Packaposts feature a regulation height crossbar supported by inflatable uprights that are fully rigid once pumped up.

They have already trialled at tournaments and events in the USA but 18 February marked another milestone – their indoor debut at a special rugby training clinic for under-18 girls organised by Rugby UC.

Hosted at the spacious North Park Sports Complex north of Pittsburgh, the clinic featured dynamic training supervised by all-star West Virginia University women’s head coach Mike Geibel, and attracted eight rugby teams from across Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio.

Rugby UC owner John Gulden said being able to use rugby posts indoors allowed fields to be set up in the same way as they would be outdoors and made it possible to incorporate training exercises that wouldn’t be possible otherwise.

“They were fantastic, perfect for what we needed that day and for the future events we plan to run.”
Being able to practice essential kicking skills under real conditions was “a major score”, he added.  

“We spent the last skills session of the day using the posts to work on drop goals and kicking off a tee.”

Gulden said he and his training team found the inflatable posts to be light weight, easy to transport in the back of a car, and simple to set up and take down. He hoped to use them at future Rugby UC events throughout the year.

Packaworld Chief Executive Peter Roberts said that aside from their portability, Rugby Packaposts required no holes to be dug to set them up.

That meant they could be used on different turf types or for temporary setups such as events, tournaments, and training clinics like the one organised by Rugby UC.

"Truly portable rugby posts with a three-metre-high crossbar just haven’t been a reality until now. It’s our hope that these posts will change the game in the USA by making it possible for organisers to grow rugby in new places and among new communities.”

>> Find out more about Rugby Packaposts

Watch Rugby Packaposts in action at the North Park Sports Complex