EXPERT SESSIONS AND ADVICE FROM QUALIFIED AND EXPERIENCED GRASSROOTS RUGBY COACHES
11/25/2021 | Passing & Handling
While we want players to carry the ball in two hands more, they are plenty of times when one-handed carries are important. But the hand has to be more dominant than the body and here’s why… MORE
11/15/2021 | Rugby coaching
If we want to maximise learning and engagement for players, we need to kick queues to touch and offer them a practice environment that will capture their imagination and help them improve as rugby players. But how do you coach without queues? MORE
11/9/2021 | Tackling
Use boxing style footwork and arm movements to improve your players’ tackling. They should be end up in better positions to complete tackles. 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
10/12/2021 | Small-sided games
Use this blocked attack game (one team attacks for a period of time) to challenge players to apply the principles of play under pressure. The attacking team get extra “lives” for good support when they score tries. MORE
10/6/2021 | Tactics
Scenarios offer a great way of engaging your players in games. By putting the players in a specific point of a well known match, they get the opportunity to develop their game management. For younger players, scenarios give them the opportunity to be their favourite players of their favourite teams. For older players, scenarios give them the opportunity to challenge their decision making with regards to the score-line and also how to deal with specific threats or weaknesses in future opposition. MORE
08/21/2021 | Small-sided games
Made a mistake in training and dropped a ball. Help the players with the food rule. MORE
11/24/2021 | Ask Dan
11/19/2021 | Attack
11/16/2021 | Rugby drills
11/1/2021 | Contact
10/27/2021 | Rugby drills
10/26/2021 | Rugby drills
With a 5m ruling at scrums, teams tend to use drift defence. However, they need to practise not only the mechanics of the drift but also ways to cover the gap inside the 10, who has to catch up with his openside flanker. MORE
Counter rucking can spoil an attacking team’s quick ruck ball. Either your players win back the ball or, at worst, disrupt the opposition scrum half’s attempt to pick and clear it. This session progresses to focus on the decision-making process for counter rucking. MORE
In the multi-phase game, it is essential forwards are used in small groups. Each group wins the next breakdown in turn, avoiding aimless shifting from one ruck to the next. These groups are called “pods”. This session develops a pod system. MORE
09/4/2021 | Rugby drills
"When asked what my three go-to U12s warm-ups are, I have no hesitation in listing them out", says Dan Brockhurst, owner of DB Sports Coaching. MORE
08/31/2021 | Rugby drills
Here are four great warm-up games to energise your players while working on skills and decision-making. Notice that I'm keen to showcase player-led activities for warm-up games. This is a good chance to build more cohesion amongst the players, while you are still providing a certain amount of control on the direction of the session. MORE
08/31/2021 | Rugby coaching
Threats...what are they, what do they look like and how can we stop using them. MORE
11/29/2021 | Rugby coaching
Andy Pollard, head of safeguarding for Yorkshire Rugby and former police officer, argues that safeguarding goes beyond a tickbox exercise. Ignore the full implications and your club could suffer. More importantly, your players may fall into the cracks too. MORE
11/28/2021 | 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: Stuart Dixon, Programme lead for Yorkshire Rugby Academy and Alex Grieve, Developing Player Programme lead Yorkshire Rugby Academy. This week’s content Assessing and Evaluating Player Performance and Potential: The Influence of Age. In: Rugby Football Union Player Pathway Conference – Till, K. (2019) Challenges and [Possible] Solutions to Optimizing Talent Identification and Development in Sport– Till,K. (2020) The Long-Term Athlete Development model: Physiological evidence and application – Till, et al., (2011) Considering maturation status and relative age in the longitudinal evaluation of junior rugby league players - Till, et al., (2013) MORE
11/26/2021 | Ask Dan
In my Ask Dan post, I answer a question I get asked regularly: “my players are skillful but lack aggression when it comes to games - how can I address this?”. I offered some games and solutions to the question on creating more “aggressive players”. MORE
11/21/2021 | 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: Adam Gorman, senior lecturer in skill acquisition at Queensland University of Technology, Alex Lascu, lecturer in skill acquisition and performance psychology and PhD candidate at the University of Canberra and Rob Mason, coach developer with Port Adelaide AFL club and researcher in feedback and communication. MORE
10/19/2021
Lineout training should be based around getting the basics right first. When Gary Gold was coaching the South African team with Victor Matfield and they were the best lineout in the world, he used to say: "They know where the ball is going, but Victor will always beat them into the air." But a lineout is not just about the jump/lift. It's also about what happens afterwards. Here are four activities to develop different aspects of this set-piece situation. MORE
10/5/2021
There are so many elements to passing, which ones do you concentrate on first and how do you train them? Here are a bunch of the priority skills you need and then great ways to train them. MORE
06/15/2021
The RFU has brought forward plans to reduce the tackle height at age grade rugby to below the armpits. Talking to experienced school coaches in particular, they don't see much change in the impact on the game as a whole. However, it is an excellent opportunity to reexamine your tackle technique training. 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
