how to do it

Activity

• Spread out four ruck-pad holders as in the top picture, with two directly in front of 10.
• Have two support players either side of 10.
• When 9 passes to 10, they attack the ruck pads, passing to either of the support players.
• When the ball carrier touches a pad, they go to ground, with the other support player clearing over.
• 9 and 10 realign, with two more support players.
• Depending on your signal, 10 passes wide to the support players or goes again. The remaining ruck-pad holders offer a line of defence to work against.
• 9 and 10 reset on the other side to work with the next four players.

Game situation

• Set up a 9 and 10 and four support players as in the bottom picture. They face two ruck pad holders and three non-ruck pad holders.
• Get the attack to run down the first channel, going to ground on the first contact. The ball carrier does not need a support player to clear out. Count down how long before 9 can pass the ball.
• The attack then aims to score in the wide channel, with full contact, against the three defenders without ruck pads.

TECHNIQUE

• 10: Bring in your support players early with good communication but pass late to bring on the defence.
• 9: Bring the 10 on to the ball with your pass, so look where they want to be, not where they are now.