EXPERT SESSIONS AND ADVICE FROM QUALIFIED AND EXPERIENCED GRASSROOTS RUGBY COACHES
If you are able to train, then you will be aiming to improve your players’ skills and tactical appreciation around specific areas of the game.
If you are in lockdown, it’s a chance to hone your session planning in readiness for your return.
In Lockdown planning: Quick ruck ball sessions, we focused on applying pressure on the defence. Now, let’s plan for the other side of the ball. France’s defence coach, Shaun Edwards says that it is his main metric for success: slowing down ruck possession.
To enhance learning, you are better off focusing on an “arc” of learning for a specific area. This means spreading out the training over a number of weeks, rather than dedicating one session to this.
Here’s a four-week plan for preventing quick ball from rucks, but you can split this up into more sections if you want.
Objective: Apply pressure on the attack to make a mistake or kick the ball by preventing quick recycling of the ball from the tackle.
Week one: Tackle technique – tackling in pairs
Week two: Counter rucking
Week three: Defensive organisation around the ruck
Week four: Reorganising ruck defence
Let’s say you dedicate 15 minutes each week to the activities and assuming you have warmed up before the start of contact, you could use a mix of games and drills.
Each session may include all of the skills from all of the weeks. However, each week focuses on the specific skill, the reasons why it is important and how the players could improve their own contributions.
The mix depends on the skills of your players. Here are four ideas to help.
in Attack, Footwork and evasion, Rugby drills
How often do you despair that your players can’t score when there’s an overlap? Why is it players drift out in attack and play into the hands of the drift defence? Here are my simple solutions. MORE
Against an organised defence, you can use closely packed groups of forwards to dent the line and then attack the recovering, disorganised defence. Often known as pods, this requires organisation, especially around the roles of the players in terms of carrying the ball and supporting that ball carrier. In its simplest format, after a set-piece like a scrum or lineout, the forwards who were not involved in winning the ball back after the first tackle, realign to take the next pass. This is in the expectation that the backline doesn't penetrate the line the first time. MORE
in Footwork and evasion, Rugby drills
Use this activity to improve players’ ability to scan what’s in front of them. It will allow the players to develop their footwork options before contact or in open play. All the targets are in front of the ball carrier, so they will need to go forward but still avoid the defender. MORE
in Ask Dan, Contact, Rugby drills
"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. MORE
in Defence, Rugby drills
Improve your players’ awareness of how to move together as a defensive line. A defensive line needs to know who’s covering who and then double up if they can to make a tackle. MORE
in Contact, Rugby drills
Make sure your players use the right footwork to power through the contact area and then manipulate the ball so they can offload or present the ball cleanly. Though power and aggression are important in the contact area, the ball carrier also needs to be technically accurate to ensure good continuity. MORE
