In rugby, footwork and evasion skills are the “fine arts” – ways to run with the ball and beat players with skill, pace and panache. These articles include ways to coach players to have “rugby speed” not just pace, and evade contact with nifty “rugby footwork”. Try one of the footwork and evasion drills below at your next session and see how you get on.
Help your players manage the ball in contact and win the collision. 1 Set out a 3m square area. Put an attacker and defender facing each other on opposite sides of the area and a feeder on one side of the area. 2 When you say “go”, the feeder passes the ball to the […]
By Eamonn Hogan, experienced rugby coach working with representative teams in the UK and the US Agility, or the ability to avoid being tackled, needs to be practised. Game-related activities are always a great option but, sometimes, you need to break down the skill to the basics and the best way to do this is […]
Get players used to making sharp changes of direction by getting them to use a small jump before stepping left or right. 1. Put three cones close together in a line to make a little barrier. About 3m in front of them, put two gates of cones – each gate about 3m wide with a […]
By Paul Tyler, Scottish Rugby Union level 3 qualified coach, former SRU rugby development officer and a qualified referee Finding fresh and engaging ways to work on and improve agility skills in young players is a challenge. Most young players have good natural agility skills so practise them often and show them how and when […]
In this simple exercise, combine the main running skills needed to create a fun activity which gets players thinking, running and competing against each other. Why use it? This activity is designed for two players to run against each other while performing rugby-relevant running and evasion tasks. Set up A ball each. Eight cones mark […]
This fun chasing game is aimed at helping young players improve their evasion skills and tag and touch tackling, while encouraging them to run with the ball in two hands.
The “3-step sidestep” drill allows the ball carrier to “fix” a defender and attack the side of that defender.
Balance is a key component in all sports and it is especially important in rugby – whether for passing, tackling, scrummaging, lifting in a lineout, kicking or side stepping. The following training drills will improve your players' footwork and, therefore, balance.
This rugby coaching session is about players avoiding or engaging a defender on their own terms.
Building a rugby coaching session from one element – footwork before contact.
