Passing at pace is a real skill and a defence splitter. By teaching players how to do this at a young age you are arming them with an effective weapon they will use for the rest of their rugby lives.
Set-up
A 50x15m channel with a line of cones 10m from either end. Four players wait at one end (picture 1).
The rules
You throw the ball to the nearest player and the four players advance.
The ball must be passed three times (handled by everyone) before the first 10m line of cones is reached. The final player sprints to the far set of cones with the other three in support. Once there, the ball is passed to everyone in the end zone as before and a try is scored (picture 2).
Progress by adding a defender to ensure ball carriers run at space – draw the defender and make a scoring pass (picture 3).
Scoring
Race teams against each other to find a winner. Also race against the clock to find the quickest team.
Tell them
“Arms across body when passing to a target given by the receiver, or to an area in front of them while running.”
“Tell the ball carrier where you are – call for the ball.”
Coaching tips
Gets players catching and passing while under pressure and looking for support from team mates.
“The defender keeps themselves light on their feet, head up and marking a potential break, coming forward to close down an attacker when they move forward” MORE
Players must win the race to the best space when attacking. In defence, players must work early, scan early and look to close space to force errors.
Attackers seek space, defenders take it away. This is also true over the ball.
Run this game over a series of sessions to gain the most benefit as the players develop their understanding of the tactical implications. MORE
Here’s a series of super-quick activities to set up and use to mix up your training to keep all your players occupied. Ideal to hand out to your co-coaches and aimed at a range of core skills in game-like contexts.
Here. is a series of what I’ve called Quick Coach. They are mini-activities aimed at four to six players. The aim is to provide you with a bank of breakout exercises you can run during your session. They should only last around five minutes, but the key is that they are very quick to set up and can be run by any coach in your group. They can even be run by one of the players if appropriate. MORE
