Stay in the whole game

You are in the last quarter of the game. You don’t want to give up the progress you’ve made during the game.

What simple tactics and training regimes can you use to maintain that momentum ?

Attack smart

Look at your team’s strengths and attack with those.

In other words, don’t change the plan. Stick to what your team knows, feels they can execute and want to play with.

However, a smarter attack keeps it even simpler.

For example, if you are a heavy team, keep it tight. Only use one-pass or two-pass plays. And then as you tire, kick the ball off the pitch so you can regroup and start again.

With a light team, keep the ball moving and play to the corners to move the opposition around. Eventually the chances will come.

Defend hard, all the time

Wear their attack out, mentally and physically. If they are not succeeding, their fatigue will feel even worse.

The desire to push, push, push can create momentum in your team and knock the opposition off their game.

This is when your team leaders, defensive leaders in particular, need to take charge.

Train as you want to play

Let fitness improve because of intense training. The more matchlike (and tiring) activities are in training, the more your players will play like it at the weekend.

That doesn’t mean all training has to be a full-pace. The players need thinking time to solve problems that might come up in the game.

However, give them clear heads-up you are going to be entering “match-mode”. This is when they need to concentrate on relentless attack using their strengths, and “push, push, push” in defence.

Position-specific fitness

Think about the jobs your players do and be more specific in individual fitness needs. For example, have more heavy, contact-type work for the front five (front row and locks), more steady running for the middle five (back row and half backs) and more sprints for the back five (centres, wings and full backs).

Teams that win in last 20 tend to believe they can do so because they have a clear plan. They know what works and if they continue to execute this well, points will come. Your team has to buy into this.

Are you clear in your planning and desire? Then put this to the test in training, hammering home the messages through your leadership groups.

On page 4, Ian Diddams uses a tough game of full-on rugby to keep players working hard at fitness while head coach Dan Cottrell provides a boot camp workout for tacklers on page 5.