Most ball placement drills are carried out without opposition – which isn’t realistic. To ensure your players learn the right shapes, use this low-impact session on the “jack knife” technique.
The “jack knife” – with the player bending in the middle – is the placement that occurs most regularly in a game. In all cases, the carrier must be in control of the ball and push it back to his team as far as he can.
A ball carrier and a defender lie on their fronts 1m apart – use cones to show the distance.
The defender indicates which shoulder the attacker should aim at.
The carrier gets up and goes for that shoulder (he shouldn’t step out any further).
The defender jumps up and tackles him, and the attacker places the ball back.
Check that he has made a good placement.
To develop, put a cone 5m behind each player and add another attacker and defender behind their team-mates.
They support once the tackle is made.
Again, the tackler dictates which shoulder the carrier runs at and the two support players compete for the ball after the tackle.
Develop further by altering the starting positions of the support players.
Reduce the impact by giving the support defender a ruck pad.
Bounce out is a term used to explain the action of the 9 when running away from a breakdown. Here’s how it works and how to practise it in a game-like situation. MORE
Eamonn Hogan chats with World Cup winning Graham Smith about the modern scrum. Graham, who is a level 5 coach, coached England Women to a World Cup in 2014 and six Grand Slams. He has coached with the Worcester Academy, CN Poble Nou in Spain, Stoke and Moseley RFC. Graham and Eamonn cover the following... MORE
A session ideal for pre-season or in-season if you need to reconnect your players with their handling skills and pace onto the ball. Accurate passing is essential to maintain a flowing attacking move capable of exploiting mismatches and space. Look at the detail as well as the outcomes. MORE
Develop your players’ ability to recognise and exploit opportunities to counter-attack from turned over possession. By driving into tackle tubes, the attackers are disorientated momentarily. They then have to recover to play what’s in front of them. MORE
Your approach to what you are looking for when you are coaching tackling will help you and your players focus on the right areas to improve their defensive capabilities. When I look at the tackle, I am predominantly outcome driven. If it works, then that is more important than if all the technical processes have been ticked off. MORE