The Tackling 'Cross'over

The crossover between rugby and football has long been debated, but in recent weeks American sports attention has been firmly fixed on the gridiron. Indiana claimed the College Football National Championship, the NFL has surged toward its championship games, and once again the media spotlight has fallen on the collisions, physicality, and intensity that define football.

With the Major League Rugby season approaching, Old Glory DC head coach Simon Cross has spent his offseason looking closely at what rugby can learn from football, and just as importantly, how football can benefit from rugby. For Cross, the aim has been clear: share knowledge, create safer contact environments, and help rugby grow.

“I’ve always seen it as half the year trying to win the shield with Old Glory and the other half is about growing the game”, Cross says.

“I wanted to understand what football already does really well and where rugby fits in. The intent to win collisions in football is impressive. The X’s and O’s, the energy in training, the buzz — it’s outstanding. Football players hit incredibly well, but they don’t always wrap, resulting in not always the most successful tackle. Rugby wraps because it’s how we’re taught to make safe, legal tackles. In the end, we can learn from each other.”

That curiosity even led Cross to meet with Washington Commanders tight end T.J Maguranyanga, where the pair discussed his transition from rugby to football and their shared belief that improved tackle technique would benefit athletes across both codes.

Throughout the offseason, Cross has stayed busy in the DMV with the Young Glory Academy, running coach-the-coaches clinics and visiting schools to help refine tackling fundamentals. One of those frequent stops has been The Potomac School, where Cross connected with football head coach Dan Wolf. There, coaches quickly began to see rugby’s value, not as a replacement for football technique, but as a complement to it.

Rugby’s emphasis on shoulder contact, correct head placement, and wrapping with the arms encourages force to be absorbed and distributed more safely through the body.

“Neither sport is inherently safer than the other,” Cross explains. “Rugby probably has more contacts per minute. But when any sport really shines a light on tackle technique, injury rates drop dramatically. That’s the gold dust.”

For Cross, the answer isn’t less contact — it’s better contact.

Using wrestling mats and removing helmets and pads, he stripped tackling back to its fundamentals, teaching players how to fall, brace, absorb, and deliver force safely. Taking fear out of the equation replaced hesitation with confidence.

But perhaps the most significant outcome for Cross hasn’t been just teaching safer tackling, but it’s been the curiosity about rugby that has followed.

“In the past, rugby has gone into football high schools and said, ‘Hey, come and play rugby,’ and people look at you like you’re mad,” Cross says. “Now, by going in and teaching tackling, it actually shines a light on rugby. Kids start asking questions about rugby as they get curious with the stuff that I’m teaching them. They then even ask about the Old Glory DC badge I’m wearing, ‘what is that?’ That’s how the conversation starts.

“I’ve noticed that the kids I work with already have the skill set and mindset, gained from a wide range of sports, to become a really promising athlete to crossover into rugby. So if they don’t make it to a Division I football program, they now have more of a knowledge about rugby and know it is right there for them.”

Cross’ offseason lessons will now filter back into Old Glory DC as preseason approaches. A defense-first mindset, something the club has long embraced, will again be central, echoing the impact of former wrestling crossover athlete and current USA Eagle, Cory Daniel.

A standout wrestler before switching codes, Daniel has become one of Major League Rugby’s most reliable tacklers, thriving through his multi-sport background.

“He’s only been playing rugby for five or six years,” Cross reflects. “I look at him now and he’s absolutely flying. If there’s a guy who could step into the Premiership or the URC next year, it’s Cory. He’s good enough. He’s a fantastic example of someone who came from another sport and fully embraced rugby.”

With a defensive leader in Daniel and a wealth of offseason insight now embedded in Cross, physicality and tackle technique will sit at the heart of Old Glory DC’s preparation for the new MLR season.

“That’s part of Old Glory’s DNA,” Cross says. “It suits Americans, and it should be part of rugby’s DNA as well. We’ll drive it week in, week out. The mats will be out on day one of preseason — and they won’t disappear until June.”