start for the man whilst the forwards are still entangled in the scrummage. The amount of tackling done by a half is therefore the second sure criterion of his merits, and second only to that of quickness in picking up and passing.
One other duty falls to the lot of the half-back, namely, that of throwing the ball in from touch; and a great deal can be made of it if it is properly worked out. The half must first learn to throw the ball to any point in the line. There are endless ways of throwing in, and he must practise whichever comes natural to him, until he has reached perfection in the art. He must then look out for the weakest point in the opponent's line-out—experience shows that in spite of exhortations to the contrary, there always is a weak spot or two—it may be at his own end of the line, in which case he can dap it in and get clear away; it may be at the end of the line, when he can drop it into the hands of a fast man, previously told off for that position, who can either get off himself or pass to a back in a better position; or it may be at any other point down the line, in which case he must send it to the man opposite the weak spot. Those who are best at lining-out should look out for such spots and be ready to receive the ball, unless the team adopts the plan of always taking the same places at the line out. As an instance of how much can be done by skilful play at the line out, we may mention that in the last international match played between England and Scotland, we noticed C. Reid standing a little way back from what he rightly judged to be the weakest spot in an English line out near their own goal-line, the half-back dropped the ball exactly at that spot, Reid came right through with a rush and scored a try.
Lastly, just as halves must be careful never to give a fair
