Angle busters
in Footwork and evasion, Small-sided games
If a player can attack the ball at an angle the defence is not expecting, there’s a better chance of breaking the defensive line. Here’s how it works and how to practise it. MORE
Transition mission
Challenge players' decision-making during transitional phases of play. The game presents lots of opportunities to work against a broken defence, build momentum and create opportunities to score. MORE
Prison break
in Footwork and evasion, Small-sided games, Warm Ups
A fun game to help work on defensive footwork as well as evasion skills from attackers. Develops evasion skills, plus defensive footwork and communication. MORE
Managing the return to tackling when the ground is...
in Rugby drills, Small-sided games, Tackling
Coaching at my local club on the return to rugby, the challenges were helping players remember how to tackle. This is especially when they didn't want to land on the hard ground. MORE
The standards game
I've been fortunate enough to have Eddie Jones deliver some sessions. This is the game he started with and it is excellent for reinforcing key messages around core skills or principles of play. MORE
Build contact confidence: Touch-Tackle-Ruck
in Rucking & Mauling, Rugby drills, Small-sided games
Introduce players of mixed ability to contact by building up the skills through games and questioning. I’ve found that using this progression of activity, the players develop contact skills together. You can adjust the pitch sizes and timings to suit your players. MORE
The circle as a constraint for the game to...
Use this unusual pitch set up to pose problems for your players to solve. As they work out ways to score they will begin to use handling and support to create width on their game. MORE
Attack the space, attack the edges, attack at pace
in Footwork and evasion, Small-sided games
Encourage your ball carriers to run at pace, looking to avoid contact by anticipating where the spaces are. This is a scanning exercise for just the ball carrier. They will make mistakes, yet start to become attuned to looking for gaps. MORE
Giant ladder game
Thinking outside the box is currently the order of the day with Covid! So, I have used giant ladders to teach attacking shape and scanning with my players. The focus of this game is attack, but there is some defensive lessons that can be taken from this game too. SET UP If you have the... MORE
Find the bib – playing in four dimensions
in Rugby drills, Small-sided games
My “Find the bib” game is adapted from the game called “Drop-off touch”. It challenges the players to look for mismatches and also create them too. MORE
