Survey of session plans

1 The plans reviewed

Thirty-four distinct session plans are covered below, described by type and level rather than by name. Two are larger bodies of work, a full-season planner and a workbook of around twenty sessions. Where a coach shared one continuous, multi-part plan it is counted once (for example, a club’s consecutive training blocks, or a handwritten session spread over two pages); separate dated sessions are counted separately.

1. Block training outlines — senior men’s club (Blocks 2–4)
2. Single detailed session — senior women’s club
3. Season planner — junior boys, full season
4. Session workbook (≈20) — youth girls programme
5. Passing / handling session — U8s
6. ACTIVATE-based session — U8s
7. Contact-prep block — age-grade (RFU Activate)
8. 7s / 10s game-prep — senior women
9. Zoned detailed session — academy / 1st XV
10. Structured weekly session (Tue) — senior club
11. Structured weekly session (Fri) — senior club
12. Pre-season timed session — club programme
13. Pre-season testing, RPE — school 1st XV
14. Handwritten session — senior club
15. Channel-attack game — U16–U18 girls
16. Conditioning-led session — senior club
17. Attack session (Wk 1/4) — overseas junior (U12/U14)
18. Themed minis session — U11
19. Game-prep, named leads — senior women
20. Skill-rotation weekend — senior club
21. Group-chat plan — senior club
22. Template card — youth / girls
23. Build-up plan — national representative XV
24. Speed / contact-coded plan — club U20
25. Phone-notes warm-up plan — club
26. Handwritten “Sunday” plan — senior club
27. Session card (template) — club
28. Handwritten session — U15s (player-led activate)
29. Pre-match training notes — club
30. Handwritten practice plan — club programme
31. Printed session plan — club U13
32. Messaging plan (phase moves) — senior club
33. Games lesson, named stations — youth (U15)
34. Weekly schedule planner — youth (U15/U16)

2 What is the same

Despite spanning U8 to senior representative level and arriving by every channel imaginable, the plans share a recognisable spine:

• Almost every plan opens with a warm-up or activation, close to the only element present without exception.
• Almost all move from isolated skill work into opposed or game-like play, the “skill, then game” arc.
• Contact and the breakdown, alongside passing and handling, are the core content everywhere, minis to seniors.
• Defence, line speed, connection and shape,  recurs nearly as often as attack.
• A keep-the-ball-alive / offload theme threads through the youth and senior plans alike.

3 What is different

The differences are mostly in form, not substance. The clearest are format and channel, which run the full spectrum:

• Detail varies hugely,  from terse memory-prompts in one club’s block outlines to a weekend plan that explains the why and even scripts the players’ calls.
• Timing ranges from minute-by-minute in many plans to fluid outlines with no clock at all in others.
• Stated objectives and a planned debrief appear in some plans and not others.
• Some plans organise the people as much as the session, who leads each block, who brings the kit.

4 What stands out and ideas worth passing around

Offered as options others might borrow, not as a standard anyone is failing to meet:

• Interconnected components. One senior women’s plan tags every drill against technical, tactical, physical and psychological aims, with player-facing cues such as “First player changes the picture.”
• Welfare woven in. One youth workbook builds welfare into every session, dedicated neck routines, periodic concussion quizzes, and a “bold = requires set-up” column.
• Age-appropriate framing. One U8 plan judges every activity against “APES”, Active, Purposeful, Enjoyable, Safe, and opens and closes with questions for the players.
• Coaching depth. One weekend plan names a different coach for each skill station and scripts the exact calls players should use. A line worth keeping: tackling is “90% attitude (confidence) and 10% technique.”
• Load and self-review. One pre-season session scores each block for perceived exertion (RPE); one season planner rates set-piece, defence and S&C red/amber/green after every block.
• A memorable name. One minis plan is given a catchy session title, which helps the focus stick for young players.

5 Why no two plans are the same

The variety is not inconsistency, it is context. Age and stage set the content: tag games and learning to fall safely at U8; lineout systems and 22 exits with senior squads. Environment shapes the plan too, one overseas group plans around field closures and players’ travel and work; another plans around festival fixtures and recruiting; club sides plan in fixture blocks counting down to a first game. And the plan’s job differs: a private memory-prompt, a manual for a coaching team, and a coordination tool for who-does-what are simply different documents. Different jobs produce different plans.

6 Which format might suit whom

7 How the plans are shared

The plans reached the group through almost as many channels as there are coaches: word-processed and PDF attachments, spreadsheets, an emailed recap, photographed handwritten pages and printed templates, polished session cards, and screenshots of messaging-group chats and phone notes. Several are written to be shared and discussed rather than simply delivered, one is built inside a group chat, with the coach asking the others “Did we want flat 7 with wingers sweeping or a 6 & 1 system?” before settling it. Planning, for this group, is often a social act as much as a solo one.

8 Common elements at a glance

9 Questions this raises for the group

Offered as prompts for discussion, not recommendations:

• Would a shared warm-up vocabulary (ACTIVATE or similar) help consistency and player safety across age groups without forcing everyone onto one method?
• Could a light, optional shared template support newer coaches, while leaving experienced coaches free to keep planning in the way that already works for them?
• Are there welfare and load ideas already in use, the neck routines and concussion quizzes, RPE scoring, the APES check, that others would value seeing?
• Given how people actually share (text, WhatsApp, email, spreadsheets, photos), what is the simplest place to gather plans so the group can keep learning from each other?