VIDEO: Phil Larder’s side on tackle essentials
in Rugby drills, Tackling
World Cup winning defence guru Phil Larder outlines his nine side on tackle essentials. MORE
VIDEO: Tackle balance
Improve your players’ ability to enter a tackle from a strong position, even though they may be off-balance. Use this exercise as a full contact activity or as part of preparation for a full defence session.
- Put a ball carrier in a small box about 2m away from a 2m box marked out with different coloured cones.
- Put a defender in the middle of this larger box.
- Call out a series of colours which the defender has to touch.
- Straight after shouting one of the colours, shout out “PLAY”. The ball carrier runs forward.
- The defender makes the tackle, then recovers to compete for the ball.
- Note that the ball carrier in this video is wearing a tackle suit to reduce the impact.
DEVELOPMENTS
- Add in another attacker who is another box next to the defender, repeating the same pattern. They aim to get support, each for an offload or protecting the ball.
- Add another defender as above. In this case, they are aiming to steal the ball.
TECHNIQUE
- Get the same foot as the leading shoulder close to the ball carrier.
- Tight grip and then drive through to land onto top of the ball carrier.
- Always recover and back onto the feet quickly, but only once the tackle is completed.
Here are some more ways to improve your tackling.
