Teach it or let them find it?

Coaches are, by nature, teachers. We see a problem, we correct it. We see a technical flaw; we fix it. That instinct has value in rugby, particularly when dealing with the mechanics and safety of the game. 

But one of the quiet challenges of modern coaching is knowing when to teach directly and when to allow players to uncover solutions for themselves.

Recently, Dan Cottrell posed a simple but powerful question to me: What skills can you explicitly coach, and which ones must players discover themselves?

It’s a question worth exploring because not all rugby skills live in the same learning environment. 

Some demand clear instruction. Others only truly develop when players face the chaos of the game and learn to read it. The real skill of coaching is recognising the difference.

Explicit coaching: Clear, direct, purposeful

Explicit coaching is what most of us default to. It involves clear instruction, structured progression, and transparent explanation of technique.

In rugby, we explicitly coach skills where:

• Safety matters
• Mechanics matter
• Consistency matters

Take the tackle. Poor technique isn’t just inefficient; it can be dangerous. So, we coach head placement, shoulder contact, leg drive and body height directly. We break the movement down, we repeat it, and we refine it.

Other examples include:

• Passing mechanics
• Ball presentation after the tackle
• Scrummaging body position
• Lineout lifting technique
• Cleanout entry at the ruck

These skills benefit from clarity. Players need to know what good looks like and how to achieve it.

The advantages of explicit coaching are straightforward:

• Speed of learning – players acquire a technical foundation quickly.
• Clarity – everyone understands the standard.
• Safety – critical movements are taught correctly.
• Consistency – teams can operate with predictable technical quality.

However, explicit coaching has limits.

If we attempt to coach every moment of the game with instructions, players can become overly dependent on direction. They start looking to the sideline for answers rather than reading the situation themselves and rugby is far too unpredictable for that approach. 

Discovery coaching: Learning through the game

Some skills cannot be fully scripted.

They rely on reading space, interpreting pressure, recognising support, and reacting to defenders. These are skills that emerge through experience rather than instruction.

Offloading is a classic example.

You can teach the mechanics of keeping the ball alive, but the decision to offload is rarely technical. It’s contextual. It depends on body position, support lines, defensive pressure, and timing.

A coach can explain the concept, but the moment itself must be recognised by the player.

Discovery-based coaching places players inside environments where those moments appear naturally.

Rather than telling players what to do, we design exercises that force them to solve problems.

Small-sided games are particularly effective here because they increase:

• Decision frequency
• Spatial awareness
• Pressure recognition
• Creativity

Players begin to connect perception with action. They learn not just how to perform a skill, but when it makes sense to use it.

This is where rugby intelligence grows.