A simple game that makes your players think about who they are going to pass to – and where – after getting into position and attacking with a four-man overload.
SET UP
A coned 40 x 20m channel with four players touching each of the tackle tubes A, B, C and D. A ball is placed on both sides of the channel.
THE RULES
To start, players walk around their tube with one hand always touching it (picture 1). When you call a letter, (in our example “A”) those players sit on that tube (picture 2).
Then the 8 players on one side of the channel attack the four on the other after picking up the nearest ball. Give them five seconds to score a try (picture 3). Use touch-tackling or full tackling. The defenders can run to their own try line before defending if you want to give the attackers more chance to score.
SCORING
Try scored or not.
Run the game several times giving both sides equal opportunities to attack and score. See who scores most tries.
TELL THEM
“Read the defence and give helpful information to the ball carrier.”
“Look at the defence and make a judgement on what you are going to do early.”
“Make crisp passes listening to team mates’ calls.”
COACHING TIPS
Players coming from different directions in both attack and defence is something players who transition from minis to youth rugby have to become used to. This game helps with that transition.
I've been fortunate enough to have Eddie Jones deliver some sessions. This is the game he started with and it is excellent for reinforcing key messages around core skills or principles of play. MORE
Introduce players of mixed ability to contact by building up the skills through games and questioning.
I’ve found that using this progression of activity, the players develop contact skills together. You can adjust the pitch sizes and timings to suit your players. MORE
Build your team’s offloading skills in a game-related way so the passer and receiver can start to understand their options.
We know a simple offloading game can devastate defences. The players need the skills and the confidence to know how to offload and when to offload. MORE
Execute core skills under pressure in a competitive environment where players have to handle and support well when they are tired.
This will take time to work. Be patient! MORE
Use this unusual pitch set up to pose problems for your players to solve. As they work out ways to score they will begin to use handling and support to create width on their game. MORE
Encourage your ball carriers to run at pace, looking to avoid contact by anticipating where the spaces are.
This is a scanning exercise for just the ball carrier. They will make mistakes, yet start to become attuned to looking for gaps. MORE
