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Covering defenders can overrun the player they are marking if stretched. So, develop better footwork and go forward in defence.
Make sure a defender protects their inside shoulder by not overrunning the attacker. Also, adjust this exercise to see if the defender can protect their outside shoulder - say, for an attacker going for the corner.
A 10m by 20m box with two extra cones, and a ball.
ACTIVITY: Put an attacker with a ball on one corner and a defender on another. Have the attacker walk across the edge of the box until you blow the whistle, when they then run into the box, aiming to score over the one, two or four-point line. At the same time, the defender comes out to defend them. They must touch them with two hands on the body before the attacker reaches the scoring line. The attacker can hand-off the defender.
DEVELOPMENT: Swap directions, protecting inside right, not inside left; change the points to provide a different challenge; have two attackers and two defenders; adjust the lengths of the box; move to full tackling, but it’s about footwork more than the tackle.
On your whistle, the attacker turns into the box
The defender needs to touch the body of the attacker with two hands to make a tackle
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