EXPERT SESSIONS AND ADVICE FROM QUALIFIED AND EXPERIENCED GRASSROOTS RUGBY COACHES
02/23/2021 | Email Newsletters
With the exciting possibility of a return to rugby less than five weeks away, here are two ideas and a bunch of activities to get you and your coaches ready. MORE
02/22/2021 | Kicking & Catching
Develop your players’ ability to jump to catch a high ball under pressure. This session aims to give your players more confidence. A jump to catch a high ball is not just a vertical jump. The player has to be moving into the space in front of them to dominate the situation. MORE
02/16/2021 | Email Newsletters
When you return to rugby, there will be a long list of areas you need to do to rebuild your team's skill levels and understanding. Here are four games that can cover a range of outcomes, building in complexity, moving towards the full game. MORE
07/28/2020 | Mini tag
Get your ball carriers used to running forward to score tries. This session can be run as a warm-up or as a proper tackling session as well. Often players fail to run forwards even when they know the try line is that way. This session should encourage them to attack a space in front them and go for it. MORE
12/7/2019 | Rugby coaching
Your side will have its fair share of stars, good players and not-so-good. Keep all the players involved and happy, and make each one feel they are a world-beater. MORE
11/24/2019 | Rugby drills
"There’s not much incentive to be a third receiver. The Law of the Jungle suggests that if you want to touch the ball, you get close to it." MORE
02/25/2021 | Footwork and evasion
Encourage your ball carriers to run at pace, looking to avoid contact by anticipating where the spaces are. This is a scanning exercise for just the ball carrier. They will make mistakes, yet start to become attuned to looking for gaps. MORE
02/8/2021 | Small-sided games
Thinking outside the box is currently the order of the day with Covid! So, I have used giant ladders to teach attacking shape and scanning with my players. The focus of this game is attack, but there is some defensive lessons that can be taken from this game too. SET UP If you have the... MORE
01/25/2021 | Rugby drills
My “Find the bib” game is adapted from the game called “Drop-off touch”. It challenges the players to look for mismatches and also create them too. MORE
02/19/2021 | Kicking & Catching
02/15/2021 | Rugby drills
02/12/2021 | Tackling
02/7/2021 | Rugby drills
02/5/2021 | Contact
02/4/2021 | Rugby drills
The most simple support system has one player either side of the ball carrier. This tripod formation means that the ball carrier can turn either way in contact or before contact to find support. However the system only works if the supporting players react correctly. This session creates situations for the supporters to read the movements of the ball carrier. MORE
Some players have the natural ability to beat a player one-on-one, but don’t know when to use it or have lost their confidence. Others need the skill to be developed. Even if the player cannot get past his opponent by using this skill, he should at least get beyond the defender and create “go forward” ball. MORE
Passing out of contact can devastate an opposition defence. The receiver can often get behind the defensive line and the ball is kept “clean”. This means that the momentum of continuity is not broken. This session works on your players keeping the ball alive by driving through the tackle, and then passing out of the tackle. MORE
09/22/2020 | Email Newsletters
Evasion is a fundamental movement skill. Players use in pretty much all their activities, without necessarily focusing on the specific skills they need. Without becoming too bogged down in the technical requirements, you want to improve your players starting and stopping, balance, change of direction and acceleration. With that comes an awareness of space, time, teammates, the opposition and the ball. MORE
09/3/2020 | Email Newsletters
It's exciting that in England at the very least, contact training is back. However, with only 15 minutes allowed for contact training, you won't be wanting to waste any precious time. So, why not get the players warmed up for contact, without contact! How does that work? MORE
08/11/2020 | Return to play
Use this handling game as an ideal warm-up to enhance handling, as well as challenge the players to innovate. MORE
02/24/2021 | Podcast
Women's Rugby Coaching magazine editor, Jess Bunyard, goes to the very top of the English game to chat with Simon Middleton and Amy Turner. MORE
02/21/2021 | Round-up Rodeo with Phil Llewellyn
Host Phil Llewellyn with guests review some of the many great podcasts, books, articles and webinars from the last week. This week's guests: Elliott Newell, Sports Psychologist with the English Institute of Sport, Hugh Gilmore, Sports Psychologist with British Weightlifting and British Athletics, co-host of the Eighty Percent Mental Podcast and Dr Pete Olusoga, senior lecturer in Psychology at Sheffield Hallam University and co-host of the Eighty Percent Mental Podcast MORE
02/17/2021 | Coaching Laid Bare with Bird Burgess
Bird and LJ welcome Kate Burke, Lead Pathway Analyst with England Rugby. Kate has an MSc in Sports Analysis. After working in Wales with academy teams, she moved to the RFU in 2008, working with U18s and covering the men's teams. She then joined Bath for two years as head of analysis, before returning to the RFU to oversee analysis provision across the pathway, women's, 7's and referees' departments. MORE
02/16/2021 | Rugby coaching
The Rugby Town project aims to convert high-quality athletes, especially from an American Football background into top-class rugby players. Here are some of our approaches to build their skills and awareness of the game. MORE
02/9/2021
In this planning for post-lockdown training, we are going to look at the supporting roles around the ball carrier. Specifically, the way that players are ready to take a pass to attack space or once the defensive line is broken. To enhance learning, you are better off focusing on an “arc” of learning for a specific area. This means spreading out the training over a number of weeks, rather than dedicating one session to this. Here’s a four-week plan for busting the line and supporting, but you can split this up into more sections if you want. MORE
02/2/2021
In this planning for post-lockdown training, we are going to look at breaking the defensive line. Specifically, the best body shapes, lines of running, handling and support roles. MORE
01/26/2021
If you are able to train, then you will be aiming to improve your players’ skills and tactical appreciation around specific areas of the game. If you are in lockdown, it’s a chance to hone your session planning in readiness for your return. MORE
“The boys have really enjoyed the drills from Rugby Coach Weekly. It's been great having them at my fingertips and every training session this season we tried new things, which I believe helped keep the boys interested and enthusiastic.”
Phil Hopkins, Perigueux, France
72 of the Game's Tactical Concepts in Simple, Plain Language MORE
With so much to cover when coaching young players, it can be a daunting task to know the basics... now there's help MORE
