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Better ruck placement
Get your players used to stretching and placing the ball as far back as possible after a tackle to make it more difficult for the defence to reach over and steal or disrupt it.
WHY USE IT?
After the tackle is made, the farther away your player can place the ball from the defence, the harder it is for the opposition to disrupt it. Encourage good placement habits with these exercises.
Set up
One ball and three cones per player. A ruck pad for the development.
HOW TO DO IT
Get players to lie between three different-coloured cones. You call out a colour and the ball carrier uses their core to shift the ball to that cone (see middle picture).
Spread the cones out at different distances, so some placements are stretches.
TECHNIQUE
Having gone to ground, the tackled player looks to place the ball long, as far from the defenders as possible and reducing the width of the tackle gate. Use of the core (middle of the body) is vital.
DEVELOP
Once players are used to placing the ball, get a ball carrier to run into a ruck pad holder, drive them back 0.5m, go to ground and place the ball as far as possible from the support defender (see bottom picture).
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Sideways placement: Easy for more than one defender to come through the tackle gate and steal the ball but quickest placement and good if your team win the race to the ball
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Jack knife placement: Narrower gate and more likely to be safe if the tackled player is held by the tackler. Quicker thean long placement
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Long placement: The best, with the ball placed farthest from the defence, but can be slow and push the ball away from the gain line
Related Files
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A ball carrier lies between three coloured cones in any direction
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Call out a colour
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The ball carrier has to use their core (middle) to shift around so they are placing the ball towards the called cone
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The ball carrier moves forward into the ruck pad
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They drive forward 0.5m
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The defender moves forward to reach for the ball
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The ball carrier goes to ground and presents the ball
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The ruck pad holder moves away
Eamonn Hogan
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