Even the best lineout throws will require some agility on the jumper’s part, as he must reach across to the middle line. So work on their ability to take the ball at all angles and still deliver it cleanly to the 9.
The lineout jumper must be able to change his body angles to catch all sorts of throws. Then, he must pass to his scrum-half accurately.
Put a player kneeling on a tackle tube.
Throw a tennis ball to him so he has to lean left or right to catch it.
Then repeat with a rugby ball – he needs to retain a strong core as he leans over to catch it.
Repeat both, but with the player now sitting on the tube.
Throw the ball so he has to lean back to reach it (as if taking a lineout throw lobbed over the opposition).
Vary the sitting and kneeling positions.
Next, work on the delivery to the 9.
Have the jumper sat on the tube. Stand 5m away, with a receiver 2m to the side of the catcher.
Throw the ball to the catcher, who has to catch it and pass it down below the knees of the receiver (to closer replicate the angle he’d throw in a lineout).
Immediately, throw the next ball in for the catcher to repeat.
Then throw another – the exercise should be performed at a rapid pace.
TECHNIQUE
Watch the ball through the hands to keep the hands and eyes in sync.
Twist and lean around the body core (the stomach area).
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
Pressurise opposition lineouts by making their front ball a risky option. You need to combine speed, accuracy and anticipation to read their movements and beat them to the throw. Here’s how… 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