Behind the scenes with: Bath Academy

I was lucky enough to be invited to watch a Bath Academy training session. I look at how their methods can inspire and inform coaches at every level, with valuable insights from Craig Lilley, Bath’s head of academy.

Importance of alignment

One of Lilley’s early observations, when he was a school’s director of rugby, was the lack of alignment among coaches.

Each coach approached sessions differently, leading to inconsistent messaging for players. 

This was despite discussing the whole school direction at the start of the term, and planning together as a coaching group each week.

Bath Academy has addressed this by introducing a game model to align all coaches under two main shared principles.

• Unified language: Coaches follow consistent terminology for key concepts, ensuring clarity across sessions.
• Opposing principles framework: Attack and defence principles are structured to mirror each other – e.g., ’gaining momentum’ in attack versus ’stopping momentum’ in defence.

"I’d have a group of coaches, and they’d all be coaching different things in different ways," explains Lilley.

"That’s why alignment became so crucial to me as a principle."

By implementing this system, Bath Academy has achieved consistency across age groups and in the transition from youth to senior levels. 

This alignment ensures that the players are not confused by conflicting instructions or terminology as they progress.

Bandwidth
While the coaches are closely aligned, with a clear game model and consistent language, Lilley is keen to emphasise that there is bandwidth for delivering sessions. 

The coaches are encouraged to be flexible and creative in their approach based on the players in front of them and their stages of development.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Ensure alignment by creating a shared game model and a clear communication framework among your coaching team. Review and refine this framework regularly to meet the evolving needs of your players.
• A shared game model doesn’t have to be too complicated to start with. Use these three starting points as a template: in possession in attack; out of possession in defence; and gaining possession from set piece. Then, sketch out three or four pieces of key language that you use. For example, for the attack: Rucks – fight to the ground and snap back. Second phase – quick ball, play at least two passes from the ruck.
• Build piece-by-piece as you introduce the language in each session. Check the language with the coaching staff each week to see if they are still happy with it.