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Rugby: 2 vs 2 Linebreak scenario

Sportplan rugby has played a large role in my team's love for the...

Heather, Rugby Coach

DESCRIPTION

Here we are re-creating a 2 vs 2 scenario which we might find on the field. The aim is to put players under the same conditions which they would possibly find on the field when there has been a linebreak. You should have support following up, and there will most definitely be defenders chasing from behind. The 2 attackers need to ensure that they take advantage of the linebreak and score.

The player in Blue will start on a cone with the ball in hand, The defender in red behind him will start a good 3-5m behind him. The other supporter in blue is off the right, and the 2nd defender in red is a "fullback" or cross defending player.

Ensure that once the whistle goes the ball carrier explodes out of the blocks and his support goes with him, they must try to finish the linebreak and score the try. Use 15m as on the field, with the touchline to the right hand side of the supporter.

COACHING POINTS

Ensure that you keep an eye on which players are partaking in the drill. The distance between the ball carrier and the chasing defender might have to vary slightly to facilitate the drill. My suggestion would be to place 3 cones in a row, starting with 2m away, the second 3m and the last one 4m away. So if you have a fast chaser and a slower player "line breaking", let the chaser start further away, and vice versa if the line breaker is slow and the chaser is fast.

Ensure that you take the players ability into account. As I mentioned the defender will be between 3-5m away, but depending on his speed, and the attackers speed you need to constantly adjust this. A good way to manipulate the defenders is to put a set of 3 cones one behind each other about a meter apart, then instruct the player which one to stand on, 1, 2 or 3, in this way the drill becomes more effective.

After having success with the drill start to look at the defensive aspects of the drill. The defenders are forced to make a decision and it all depends on who can cover who?

If the defender chasing the ball carrier cant get to him, he must communicate it and then move off to go and cover tackle the supporter, and the "cover defence" needs to be notified to tackle in and stop the attacker which has made the "linebreak".

Progress the drill by changing the starting positions of the players.
Remember to play with space, so that the time allowed to make decisions varies.
You can also think about adding in more defenders and attackers and as you do develop the drill as a starting point to a semi contact game.

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