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Rugby: Capture and Escape - Evasion and Tackling Game

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

Heather, Rugby Coach

DESCRIPTION

Set up a wide pitch, with cones on the half way line plus an extra box on two opposite corners. These corner boxes are the prisons for tackled/tagged players.

The aim of the game is for players to run into the opposing team's area and grab a ball to bring back into their ball area in their half.

However, if a player is tackled/tagged while in the other team's half they must go and stand in the prison square.

Players can be released from prison by being tagged by a team-mate. Once released they must walk around the outside of the pitch back to their own half before rejoining the game.

COACHING POINTS

This is a great game for coaching evasion, running with the ball and tackling.

To decide on the winning team you can play for a limited period of time (at the end of which the team with the most balls in their half is the winner) or until all the balls have been gathered by one team.

Additional Rules:

Players are limited to one action when in the opposition's half - they can either grab a ball or free a prisoner. They must return to their own half before being able to go on the attack again.

Players can only be tagged/tackled when they are in the opposition's half.

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OFTEN USED WITH...

Bulldog on knees:

Simple game for teaching tackling when on your knees.

Starting with initially two tacklers and the rest as attackers, players must try to go from one side to the other with a ball in their hands without being tackled.

If a player is tackled they must throw their ball out of the area and become a tackler in the next round of the game.

Tackling

3 v Tackle Bag and body Suit:

3 attackers start at the beginning of the grid who will go up against the tackle bag first and then the person in the body suit second; these two should not stand next to each other unless you move on to the progression.

At the coaches command the attackers will go into the tackle shield first with the ball carrier going to ground and the two supporters either both clearing out or one person clearing and the next picking up the ball and going into the next defender 5 metres behind who will be in a bodysuit.

The ball carrier here will try to stay strong on his feet and offload to the two support runners or one of them will come in and rip the ball and offload to the support runner who will finish by crossing over the line.

Tackling

Agility Slalom - Race:

Start with 2 players on the centre cone, each with a ball, and facing each other.

On the shout "GO", they both run backwards to the first cone
They then side step up the grid to the second cone
Next players run through the slalom cones back to the start where the ball is passed to the next players
Next players can only go when each player has received a ball (to ensure each race is fair).

Agility & Running Skills

Counter Ruck:

Condition the drill in favour of 1 team, in this case the blue team.

All players lay on their fronts behind the tackle bags. On the coaches whistle, the 2 teams move to contest possession.

The blue players can move straight over the bag to contest, but only the 1st red player can do the same. The other 2 red players have to run round the cones before moving in to counter ruck.

Ruck

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