What is Rugby?

This article from Wikipedia discusses Rugby Union, of which the CSULB Rugby team plays.

Team positions: Flankers

The players with the fewest set responsibilities and therefore the position where the player should have all round attributes: speed, strength, fitness,tackling and handling skills. Flankers are always involved in the game, as they are the real ball winners in broken play, especially the no. 7. Because of their fewer responsibilities, flankers generally are not considered to 'lose' games, but can have such an influence that they can 'win' games. Blindside flankers tend to be bigger and stronger than their partners on the openside who tend to be the smaller, quicker players.

Flankers do less pushing in the scrum than the tight five, but need to be fast as their task is to break quickly and cover the opposing half-backs if the opponents win the scrum. At one time flankers were allowed to break away from the scrum with the ball but this is no longer allowed and they are now supposed to remain 'bound' to the scrum until the ball is out. Flankers also have to defend at the back of the scrum if the opposition wins the ball and the opposing number 8 decides to 'pick and go', a term used to describe the action where the number 8 picks up the ball from the back of the scrum and drives forward with it.

The two flankers do not usually bind to the scrum in a fixed position. Instead, the openside (occasionally known as the strong side) flanker will attach to the scrum on whichever side is further from the nearer touchline, while the blind-side (occasionally known as weak side or closed side) flanker attaches himself to the scrum on the side closer to the touchline.

Since most of the back play is usually on the open side, where there is more space, it is usually the openside flanker's job to be the first to any breakdown of play and to get his hands on any loose ball (or to cause a breakdown by tackling the ball carrier or otherwise harrying him into error). At a scrum where the ball has been won by the opposition, the openside flanker often has the best view of when the ball is out and is able to break away and close down the opposing ball-carrier, reducing the time available for a pass or kick. Openside flankers are often smaller, faster and more mobile than their blindside counterparts.

The blindside flanker has the job of stopping any move by the opponents on the blind (or 'narrow') side, while, if the play goes openside, he must get to the breakdown as quickly as possible where he may be needed to tidy up after the openside. While he must be fast, he doesn't need to be as fast as the openside and his role is more of a stabilizer than havoc-wreaker. Blindside flankers are often responsible for cover defence from set pieces and may play a more physical role at the line-out, where they may well be used as a jumper. They are generally larger than openside flankers.

Flankers are not always assigned specific roles as opensides and blindsides. For example, flankers Finlay Calder and John Jeffrey (Scotland) played left and right, rather than open and blind. French teams tend not to make a distinction between the two roles, and their flankers also usually play left and right rather than open and blind: thus, Serge Betsen (France) wears the number six (which in most teams denotes a blindside flanker) but may pack down on either the open or blind sides of the scrum, and will often harass the opposition fly-half in the manner of an openside; like Calder and Jeffrey for Scotland, he and Olivier Magne have, in recent years, formed an outstanding left-right partnership for France. South African teams generally use openside and blindside flankers, but play the faster, more agile 'fetcher' in the no. six shirt, while the larger (blindside) flanker wears seven.

Notable blindsides include Francois Pienaar (South Africa), Jerry Collins (New Zealand), Jason White (Scotland and Lions) and Jean Prat (France)and Oliver Magne (France).

Notable opensides include: Richie McCaw, Michael Jones, Josh Kronfeld and Graeme Mourie (New Zealand); Neil Back and Lewis Moody (England and Lions); Fergus Slattery (Ireland and Lions); and Jean-Pierre Rives (France). George Smith (Australia) is a notable flanker who is often played on the blindside, but generally plays like a second openside in tandem with Phil Waugh. Richard Hill (England and Lions) is similarly versatile, as is the young South Africa star Schalk Burger.