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Proven, easy to use rugby drills, practice plans, training tips and advice for grassroots coaches

Rugby Coach Weekly offers proven and easy to use rugby drills, coaching sessions, practice plans, warm-ups, coaching tips and advice. The resources are created for the grassroots youth coach following best practice from around the world as well as insights from the professional game.

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7 coaching risks worth taking

7 coaching risks worth taking

Tips

From Rugby Coach Weekly Sometimes you have to be bold when coaching. Take a risk that can change something for the better. Nothing ventured, nothing gained – so try these ideas for size. 1. Let someone else take a coaching session Don’t employ a guest coach – use one of the players. Step back and let […]

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Perfect contact body shapes with slow motion tackling

Perfect contact body shapes with slow motion tackling

Tackling

Young players have poor body shapes in contact because they are not strong in the core and have not had a chance to hone their skills. You can accelerate the learning process by slowing down their contact techniques in training so they can feel the right body positions to get into. In slow motion, a […]

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Persuade your players to run straight

Persuade your players to run straight

Attack

By Paul Tyler, Scottish Rugby Union level 3 qualified coach, former SRU rugby development officer and a qualified referee Create a team of players who go forward with the ball and find space rather than run backwards or sideways which is a common trait among very young players. Why use it Develop understanding of the […]

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Prevent boredom when doing core skills

Prevent boredom when doing core skills

Tips

From Rugby Coach Weekly Kids are not the only ones with short attention spans – all players get bored if they are repeating the same thing. There are different training strategies you can use to ensure your players stay focused by keeping your sessions active, enjoyable and purposeful. 1. Balance games and training There are different […]

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Turn the ball carrier in the tackle

Turn the ball carrier in the tackle

Tackling

By Paul Tyler, Scottish Rugby Union level 3 qualified coach, former SRU rugby development officer and a qualified referee Improve your turnover rate by coaching tacklers to turn the ball carrier in the tackle. Increase tackler’s awareness of their role and of opportunities to win turnovers. Develop aggression in the tackle and a pride in […]

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Skills, drills, tips and advice for rugby coaches Issue number: 998 23rd of May, 2017 Make More Impact in the Ruck Hi {sForename}, Many matches are littered with what some top contact coaches call "wasted bullets". That's a player who arrives at a ruck and makes no impact at all. It means they're not available for the next ruck either. Inside this newsletter: Ruck decision making (Ending Soon) Rugby Positions Made Simple Phil Larder's Iron Curtain Defence DVD Fixing defenders to create space (Ending soon) £5 off The Lineout and How to Win It Warm-up with the lawnmower Quote: The Rugby Players' Association Boost your coaching with my rugby coaching manuals We've all seen it happen, and some players seem to become expert wasters. It's not that they can't ruck, or even don't want to. They just don't seem to know how to choose the correct moment - at all. Create dynamic scenarios in training to help players gain a better sense of when to go into the ruck. In small-sided situations it's obvious when these players make the wrong decisions. Whereas in the game, they can rely on weight of numbers to muddle through, these ever-changing rucks (or non-rucks) need a player to either protect the ball carrier or clear the ball away. The simple exercise below should give you an idea how to use this set up, and then you can easily develop this by adding in more elements and players to customize it for your team. Also in this newsletter... I've recently stopped asking players in training "Where's the space?". I've become more interested in getting my players to create space. They do that by attacking one weak spot and then, if that spot is filled with defenders, attacking another. 2 v 1 exercises are the simplest way to work on that. But players need to understand the principle of fixing defenders. Use Colin Ireland's guide to "fixing defenders" to help players develop their ability to create space for their team mates. And in today's fitness section get your players to warm-up with the lawnmower. Yours in rugby, Dan Cottrell's signature Dan Cottrell, Head Coach, Rugby Coach Weekly P.S. For skills, drills and coaching advice you can trust from Rugby Coach Weekly's qualified coaches, subscribe now. Free Rugby Positions Made Simple with Rugby Coach Weekly Rugby Coach Weekly doesn't just do proven, easy to use drills, it also provides tips and advice on how to coach for the benefit of the players. Every week we want to help you push the boundaries with your players, make them think, give them problems and focus their minds on improving as a whole. In this week's issue of Rugby Coach Weekly, we have sessions on passing tricks, breaking through with slower players, reacting late to make tackles, quicker realignment and mauling from rucks. Sign up today, and as well as receiving weekly issues, you'll also get a free copy of my Rugby Positions Made Simple report. And, if you subscribe for 12 months, you can also choose £54 of rugby coaching manuals - free with your subscription. If you decide Rugby Coach Weekly is not for you, email us at customerservices@greenstarmedia.net within 30 days of the start of your subscription and we will refund you for unserved issues, no questions asked. Please be aware a subscription cannot be refunded if it started more than 30 days ago. Get your trial or subscription to Rugby Coach Weekly now. Subscribe now Better ruck decision making From Rugby Coach Weekly Don't waste your ruck bullets. Make sure your players know when to "shoot" at the ruck, and when to leave it alone. Start the process by making them understand when and where the threat to the ruck is going to happen, so they can judge what the best action is. Why use it You want enough players to win quick ball without compromising your chances to launch effective counter attacks. Set up A 10m square, two ruck pads and a ball. Ruck decision making How to do it Put a feeder (F) and receiver (BC) 5m apart, with a tackler (T) 2m in front of BC. Put support players A1 and A2 inside and outside BC and a ruck pad holder either side of T, acting as inside and outside defenders. F passes to BC who takes on T (see picture 1). Indicate whether you want one, two or no ruck pad holders to come in over the ball. A1 and A2 then decide whether they need to come in to take out their respective defender (see picture 2). If no defender comes in, then A1 comes in to clear the ball to A2 (see picture 3). Develop by changing the starting points of defenders and supporters and removing one or both of the ruck pads from the holders. Technique Good placement essential from BC. Ideally he falls and presents away from the inside defender (so his backside is facing that defender). A1 and A2 run "L-shaped" lines to be able to square up to go through the tackle gate to clear out any defender £5 off The Lineout and How to Win It The Lineout and How to Win It There are around 30 lineouts a game. So even a 10% improvement in your lineout will win you more clean ball and provide you with more opportunities to disrupt the opposition and steal possession. So if your lineout game is lacking you are missing out on valuable opportunities, now is the time to fix any issues with The Lineout and How to Win It available with £5 off for a limited time. If you need to boost your players' lineout skills and tactics, then The Lineout and How to Win It is for you. With over 100 pages of skills, practices and tactical plays, covering every aspect of the lineout, it is the most comprehensive lineout coaching book ever published. Get £5 off when you order - but only for a few more days! Buy it now Get your motivational patches Fixing defenders to create space

Fixing defenders to create space

Attack

By Colin Ireland, Physical Education teacher with sixteen years’ experience working for the Scottish Rugby Union Creating space for other players by attracting and fixing defenders is a basic skill – but it’s not easy. Defenders want to chase the ball carrier and their mind is split 50/50 on whether to stay on him or […]

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Set-piece defence: The openside winger's role

Set-piece defence: The openside winger’s role

Defence

By Colin Ireland, Physical Education teacher with sixteen years’ experience working for the Scottish Rugby Union Each player at the set piece will have a role and responsibility to perform defensive duties – this includes the openside winger. From a lineout When the opposition has a lineout in your half, it’s less likely they will […]

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Get ready for match tackling

Get ready for match tackling

Tackling

I think it’s important to make sure your players are on board with using tackles in the warm up, so I’ve tended to set out my warm-up ideas before the season starts so the players can have some input. I’ve found, even with a contact element in the warm-up, some will go off and do some […]

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