Contact skills in a whole-part-whole session

WHY USE IT

You can use whole-part-whole by having breakout groups from the main group. The breakout group works on the “part” which is the specific techniques you want to perform well, under pressure, in a game.

Set-up

A 20m by 5m channel, a ball and small boxes with a ball in each for the breakout groups.

HOW TO DO IT

WHOLE: Play 5v5 in a narrow but long pitch. Rucks and mauls may involve only the tackler, ball carrier plus one from each side. Following a breakdown there is maximum one pass. Teams advance through recycling to score tries. Turnover the ball for infringements.

Once the game has played for a few minutes then...

PART: Remove one player from each side to a separate area. Work with both players on their contact skills, with players taking it in turns in a 3m square to beat their opponent. Rotate players every couple of minutes, keeping them fresh and the game intensity high.

TECHNIQUEs

Footwork: step to the side in the final approach step.

Body height: attacker’s shoulder at opponent’s hip.

Power strides: as contact is about to be made the final stride should be hard, then small driving steps.

Ball protection: the ball held to the side away from the defender.

WHOLE