EXPERT SESSIONS AND ADVICE FROM QUALIFIED AND EXPERIENCED GRASSROOTS RUGBY COACHES
Sometimes it is the right decision to kick away possession when you have front foot ball and go against everything you have told your players. Here’s why…
If you have the ball going forward, defences are on the back foot. That means they will not be quickly up in defence (poor defensive line speed). That gives your kicker more time to place his kick. Not being rushed means better execution of the skill.
Kicking when you are going forward makes the defence think that they need to keep players in their backfield to cover future kicks. They might drop one or both wingers, leaving spaces in their frontline defence.
With defences not in position to attack the kicker and perhaps not in position to defend the front line, kickers can find more gaps which are not adequately covered. That can pile on the pressure because defenders are scrambling back even more.
Even with good possession in this phase, the next phase might be slow. Take advantage now if you are outside your 22m but in front of their 10m line by taking the territory. Kick to the corners and force them to kick out or run back from deep. If they kick back, you will have your backfield players in position to run back.
You can use contestable kicks, with your chasing group moving forward onto the ball. Employ chips, grubbers or up-and-unders to give you a chance of catching the ball or putting defences under so much pressure they cough up possession in the form of a knock-on or penalty.
You cannot underestimate the effort your forwards make in a set piece scrum and a good couple of hard rucks. They will be delighted to see their hard work mean they are running forward, either following a kick or to the next set piece.
Good drop kick restarts allow your team to put pressure on the opposition. This simple exercise helps develop more players who can use this skill. Not enough time is spent on this simple skill. Especailly for younger players, they need to work their way through the set up and technique to complete a drop kick restart. MORE
in Kicking & Catching, Rugby drills
Work on your kicker’s specific out-of-hand technique so they can develop that natural ability into a repeatable, accurate skill under pressure. Ideal to use a session the players can then go and use themselves, before or outside training time. MORE
in Kicking & Catching, Small-sided games
Improve your kicking with a game of aerial noughts and crosses. Teams take it in turns to kick the ball and aim to drop it in a square which marks their nought or cross. Aerial noughts and crosses gives your players a chance to make accurate kicks with additional tactical pressures as you build the game. MORE
in Kicking & Catching, Small-sided games
Here’s how I’ve challenged my players’ kicking and fielding thinking with the law experiment with the 50:22 rule. MORE
in Kicking & Catching, Rugby drills
There are 10 key factors for drop punting, but if you had to concentrate on just one, here’s which would make the most difference to your players. MORE
Try this 10-minute session for your kick-off specialists. An accurate and consistent kick-off strategy can be very hard for opponents to defend against. It can hand your team a territorial advantage, put the opposition under pressure and even force a turnover. But having a kick-off team tactic is no good if the kicker cannot execute... MORE
