Shut the gate

This session works on perfecting the three-man ruck. The first player presents the ball ad towards his own team quickly, second man clears beyond, and the third player goes straight behind to create another barrier, stopping at the ball.

Warm up time: 5
Session time: 6-9
Development time: 6-9
Game time: 15-20
Warm down time: 7

What to think about

There are three elements to this technique:

1. The ball placement must be secure.
2. The ball carrier has to work hard on the ground to push the ball back to his own team.
3. All while maintaining a narrow gate for the opposition to enter from.

A “thin” gate means that only one defender can legitimately go for the ball. Prevent this by having the support player go straight over the ball,“shutting the gate behind him”. The third player gets in right behind him, giving him support and standing over the ball.

set-up

1. The ball carrier presents the ball so as to minimise the size of the tackle gate.
2. The next support player goes over the ball, then stops just beyond the tackled player.
3. The last support player goes right in behind the previous support players and stops at the ball.

What you get your players to do

Split into groups of four with one ball and one ruck pad per group. One player, holding the ball, drives the ruck pad holder. He goes to ground and presents the ball. The next player drives directly over the tackled player and the third player drives right in behind him. Swap roles and repeat.