Have the supporting player communicate the best options in contact for the ball carrier
Mark out three 5m x 2m boxes each 1m from the next and staggered by 3m. Put a ruck pad holder in each box and a pair of players with a ball about 2m in front of the ruck pad holders.
Starting with “Pick”, the ball carrier goes into the ruck pad, goes to ground, the supporting player shouts “My pick” and swoops down to pick up the ball (see below). The players recover and move to the next ruck pad.
At the next ruck pad, the ball carrier steps into the ruck pad and pops the ball to his team mate as he bounces off. The support player shouts “My pop”.
At the last pad, the ball carrier steps into the ruck pad, turns and the support player shouts “My rip” and drives himself into the ball carrier and rips down and away with the ball.
The players cycle through each one. You can have the players working on the same skill at all three, or mix up the skills.
Develop by taking away the ruck pads, and also by working in threes. The players cycle through each one. You can have the players working on the same skill at all three, or mix up the skills.
You will need
Three 5m x 2m boxes
1 ball per pair
Cones
3 ruck pads
Got more players?
Line up lots of pairs to run through the boxes, or set up more boxes alongside.
What to tell your players
“Swoop early to pick up the ball”
“Hands up to receive pop pass”
“Get the shoulder into the ball to rip and drive”
A simple session to start with, but very intense, “pressure contact” works on reacting quickly to different contact situations and making good contacts.
The players need to be secure in their body positions in contact, so it works well after a technical session on body profiling in contact. MORE
Use this session to build players’ understanding of how to keep going forward in the tackle.
Collapsing in the tackle gives the defence more opportunity to steal or slow down the ball because it is more difficult for support players to get in behind the ball carrier. MORE
Improve the players’ mauling skills so that can keep going forward in contact and still retain the ball if they are held by a defender.
In contact, the ball carrier needs to stay on their feet because they will have to give up the ball if they go to ground. They also need to drive forward to make it easier for supporting players to drive in and support them. MORE
Attacking the space between two defenders in a close proximity means a good chance of a double tackle. Instead, attack one defender and beat just them.
In a tight defence, though the space between the defenders seems more attractive, it means that those two players step in to double team the ball carrier.
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"With the return to rugby, I’m really worried that my team (U13s) will have forgotten lots of things about rugby. In particular, I’m trying to work out when and how to introduce contact and tackling."
This question came from a coach in Gloucester and is typical of lots of concerns around this area of the game.
It is true that the players will have "forgotten" lots of skills.
Here's how I would approach this situation. On the next page are two tackling exercises to support training.
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