If the tackler can get in front of the ball carrier just before the tackle, it’s easier to make shoulder contact. Young players in particular will benefit from this skill.
This session develops simple defensive tracking skills so the defender gets in front of the attacker to make a two-handed touch. If they can do this, they should be in a good position to make a full tackle.
A defender with a ball stands in the middle of the 5m coned line opposite an attacker standing between the 2m coned gate.
The defender throws the ball to the attacker.
The attacker comes forward as they catch the ball and tries to get through one of the gates either side of the defender.
The defender comes forward to try to two-hand touch the attacker
After the touch is made or not, they run around and swap.
Repeat five times for each.
Develop by moving to grab tackling or full tackling.
TECHNIQUE
Come forward when defending.
Stay light on the feet.
Keep the elbows close to the body to keep balanced before stepping forward to make the touch.
Good shape in rugby means your players are into position quickly to attack from the next phase. The shape refers to threatening alignments, with all ball-carrying options well supported. MORE
Create 3v2 situations in a training context that disrupt the attack and defence enough to make them concentrate on good skills rather than “gaming” the scenario. Gaming the scenario means players manipulating the rules and setup to win the game in a contrived manner rather than using the natural order of rugby. For example, a... MORE
Use parent stations to allow you to run lots of activities with a parent overseeing each activity.
It requires one parent, minimal setup and minimal instructions. Each station runs for two to three minutes before the players move to another station. MORE
One player goads another, then touches the line and races to the other end to avoid being touched by the chaser. It’s a like smaller version of the Bangladeshi game of Kabadd MORE
Create attacking shape, where forwards understand where they are supposed to run to support the next phase of play. The groups of forwards are called pods and need to work together. MORE
Should an attack be successful at a 2 v 1 every time? At the top level, most of the time you would have thought, yet you would be surprised how often they fail.
Add in another attacker and defender, or even two attackers and one defender, and that ratio of success drops very quickly.
But it is still a golden opportunity to make ground and even score. So, you need to increase the success rate, and you do this by creating as many scenarios as you can. MORE
