Laying the egg

SO, funny story involved with this tactic. We spent some time a few practices ago learning about a ball positioning called "laying the egg"
...which literally derives its name from your ability to squeeze out the rugby ball between your legs.

Definitely takes a little practicing to get used to it (then again...what doesn't take practice to get used to it?), but as you're running with the ball and taken into contact by a defender, you need to start propelling your weight and theirs forward to prepare yourself to "lay the egg."
Land with your body on top of the ball (NOTE: this will take some practice but BE CAREFUL in the meantime. I have done this accidentally and it hurts like a beyotch if you hit your rib cage/lungs wrong....wind knocked out of you for dayzz.). Push the ball backwards towards your team by having it come out through your legs. This is an important technique because it eliminates poaching by the other team. It also helps you become more conscious of pushing the ball straight back to your team rather than flopping around and making it become a hot mess. The scrumhalves of the world will also thank you for giving them one less thing to think about when going for the ball to pass out somewhere before there's a chance of them being bulldozered.
Many people may get nervous that throughout this time they could be called for "not rolling away" by the referee, but with the amount of movement/"effort" you'll be making to get the ball out it shouldn't be a problem. There's also a plethora of the other things the referee is concerned about at the same time. Just make sure the ball is on the ground/you're not carrying it anymore and it is moving towards your teammates. Clearly you can't just sit there and make your body into a bungalow for the ball.
Whilst it sounds ridiculous and even awkward, my coach made a good point in shutting down both of these concerns: when is rugby NOT ridiculous and awkward?? "Half the time for the forwards your head is up someone's ass..." HAH!

Funny part: I attempted to find a picture of this tactic/do some more research, and when I googled "laying the egg rugby" THIS is what showed up:

What's even more hilarious is I actually just read about the history of this cartoon, which is from 1961.
It was created after the 3rd test match that went down between New Zealand and France. It's also the album cover for when the rugby game was recorded on vinyl record!
In this game, New Zealand beat France 32-3...it's hard to ever think of a time when New Zealand wasn't the favorite in rugby, but at this time period apparently France was considered the strongest European team. So the "egg" (which they clearly also made look like a rugby ball) is a little spitfire at France: "Top grade reputation - second grade performance" as in they didn't live up to everyone's standards (CLEARLY, 32-3 is an embarrassing loss for a favored team). THAT'S AWESOME.
Another fact about this cartoon: the All Blacks bird is actually a Kiwi, not a rooster. Kiwis are native to New Zealand and apparently many people who are native to Kiwi, New Zealand have called themselves Kiwis.

ANOTHER random fact I just found out through this hunger for knowledge is that this Marvel character, Kiwi Black, got his name based off the location of Kiwi and the All Blacks themselves!

YOU KNOW YOUR TEAM IS COOL WHEN A MARVEL CHARACTER IS NAMED AFTER YOU.
So much respect.

NOTE: I found out all this interesting knowledge about the cartoon from this cool website: www.rugby-pioneers.com! Us rugby bloggers have to stick together.