EXPERT SESSIONS AND ADVICE FROM QUALIFIED AND EXPERIENCED GRASSROOTS RUGBY COACHES
Get defenders off balance and less effective by making them commit to one tackling line while attacking another. You can do this by varying your angle of attack.
A tackler is at their strongest when they are “on square” – front-on to the defender and able to exert maximum force in contact. For this reason, you should find ways to drag a defender or a line of defenders “off square”. As soon as a defender begins to favour one side of his body and turn either out or in, he creates a vulnerable shoulder to attack.
The best teams use a combination of “overs” (running away from the pass) and “unders” (running towards the pass) lines to get their opponents to commit one way or the other.
The first objective is to prevent the 12 from moving too far across field towards the point of attack. The unders angles from the attacking backline forces the 12 to stop and square up on them. It is likely that the defending 12 and 13 will be disconnected. The gap has been created (see picture 3 for lines of run).
If both of your centres are running this line, your winger can arrive through the gap.
With the opposition 13 now disconnected from 12, the blindside winger has a chance to inside or outside the 13.
in Backs moves, Passing & Handling, Rugby drills
In Hard and Fast with the Miss Pass, we set up a “miss pass” training session. The miss pass is a long pass which skips one player, with the missed player drawing a defender in the process. MORE
in Attack, Passing & Handling, Rugby drills
A hard and fast flat miss pass can cut out defenders before they have a chance to change their running angles. It can lead to clean breaks as your attackers exploit the gaps. By scanning the line and hitting the ball at an angle towards a space, the ball carrier is going to be almost impossible to stop. MORE
in Attack, Defence, Rugby drills, Small-sided games
I was helping out a representative under 15s training session. I had been given two techniques to cover as part of a skill. One attacking technique and one defensive. MORE
in Attack, Backs moves, Rugby drills
Practise your backs moves in a more realistic environment. Identify weak defenders with constraints that will make your attackers want to play down that channel and exploit mismatches. MORE
Set up a realistic training scenario so your players can practise backs moves like “slice”, where timing, angles and decisions all depend on how the defence sets up and then reacts. MORE
in Attack
Tom Brocklebank , Leicester Tigers junior academy coach, suggests that teams lose the ball at the breakdown because players don't look after the ball. Use competitive activities with consequences to improve their contact skills. MORE
