This variation on two-handed touch rugby promotes moving the ball at speed. It’s a good exercise for developing game sense and awareness skills, as players need to be head up at all times, supporting team mates and looking for options.
What you need for this game
- 20 Players
- 1 Ball
- 6 Cones
Set-up
Use cones to mark out a playing area measuring 60m x 40m. Use more cones to mark a halfway line, and use both ends as try lines, as shown below.
Rules
This game should be played to regular two-handed touch rugby rules.
What you do as coach
Divide your players into two teams of 10. Nominate a team to begin as attackers and give them the ball.
On your whistle, the attackers start the game by taking a tap from the halfway line, with the defenders positioned 10m back in their own half.
When tackled (two-handed touch), the attacking ball carrier must drop down on to his stomach and then get back up before restarting play. When this happens, the defending team must move back 10m.
After three tackles, the attacking team must hand over the ball to the defending team and retire 10m. The defenders then go on the attack.
If a team can put together four passes before a tackle is made, the tackle count reverts to zero.
- Two teams of 10 }Start with tap from halfway.
- Drop to floor when tackled.
- Hand over ball after three tackles.
- Tackle count reset after four passes.
Observe- This large-scale exercise gives you a great chance to see whose handling, catching and passing will stand up to the pressure of a real game.
Shout out- After every tackle, the defenders must retreat 10m, realign and refocus quickly. Give them a shout to let them know what you expect.
Explain- Let the players know that to make it to the fourth pass, they will need to run strong lines and communicate with their team mates.