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Chasing deep
A player who chases back to gather a kick has his back to the defence. He has to assess his options before choosing to run, pass or kick. This session works on decision making and technical skills of gathering the ball and beating defenders.
Warm up time: 5
Session time: 6-9
Development time: 8-12
Game time: 8-12
Warm down time: 7
What to think about
The chasing player can be side stepped easily if he does not slow down to tackle the ball carrier. However, he needs to balance this with putting pressure on the ball carrier and tackling him as far behind the gain line as possible. The retriever needs to decide whether he can beat the defence or to kick the ball to relieve the pressure.set-up
- Get to the ball at an angle so you can sweep it up and away, or slide and get up quickly.
- Listen to your support to tell you where the pressure is and look up to see where the space is.
- Run forward a couple of metres to fix the defence then run to space.
What you get your players to do
Set up three cones and a ball as in the top picture (adjust distances to suit the pace of your players). A player runs from the far cone to pick up the ball. He can either slide in to pick it up, or pick up on the run. He then turns and runs toward a coloured cone which you indicate by calling out or holding up.Development
Place three balls about 10m apart at one end of the area. A retriever runs from about 30m to a designated ball. At the same time, a chaser sets off from up to 20m away from the retriever. Play touch rugby. The retriever can use a chip and chase if he wants. Vary the starting points for the chaser.Related Files
Game situation
Using the same set up as the development, add another attacker and defender. Now play full tackling. The attacking team loses a point if they are caught in possession, score four points for a try and no points for kicking the ball out.
What to call out
- “Secure the ball first, then make decisions”
- “You are the focus – move away from where the ball lands quickly”
- “Support players: be the eyes of the ball retriever”
Dan Cottrell
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