Good counter rucking disrupts the opposition attacking ball and may lead to you winning a turnover. This session makes your players more aware of the usefulness of the tactic, whilst practising the basic rucking skills needed to drive back opposition players.

Warm up time: 5-7
Session time: 8-10
Development time: 8-10
Game time: 15-20
Warm down time: 5-7

What to think about

Counter rucking works when there are attackers already “set” over the ball. This gives the counter rucker a better target. That target will be static, though probably braced for action. The best counter rucker will only take a few steps, get under his opponent and drive them backwards. This can push the player onto his own scrum half, thus possibly disrupting the clearing pass.

set-up

1. Set yourself low and square before driving into the ruck.
2. Stay on your feet and keep pumping your legs to put the opposition player under pressure.

What you get your players to do

Put two cones about 5m apart with two ruck pad holders facing each other standing over them. Place two players in between the pad holders. On your shout of “GO”, the players drive into their respective pads. They should touch the cone with a hand just before impact to get their height right. They drive back the pads 1m before turning and driving into the other pad. Repeat four times before swapping the players’ roles.