Rugby: Creating the Overlap With a Loop

This drill will develop your players ability to regather difficult balls and make offloads. 

• Working in groups of three, one player is practicing the skill at a time. 

• The practicing player throws the ball to two other players who are holding balls.
• These two players bounce the ball back and the practicing player has to gather the ball without knocking it on.

Progression 

• Now the practicing player holds two balls. He has to offload and then regather the ball with one hand.

• Set up: the cones as shown with a cone 10 meters each side of the posts on the try line. This will mark where the ball will be passed from (feeder) preferably from a scrum half.
• Divide the group into 3 and ask them to stand in single file behind each cone.
• The ball is fed from a position alternately from either side of the post. This will encourage the players to scan, communicate and to be expectant of the ball.
• The players on the cones opposite the posts will either be the 1st receiver or the BANG option runner. The BANG runner is always running an out to in, or up to in line to fix the 2nd defender.
• The players on the middle cone will receive the ball in the BINGO (pull back) option outside the ‘outside’ post or just in behind the BANG player.
• The BINGO players should run and an arced run to receive the ball outside the outer post. The BINGO player should try to straighten up prior to receiving or on receiving the ball.

• Progression:
• Get 2 players or coaches to stand in front of the posts with 2 different coloured cones in their hands on their hips.
• The cones will represent the ‘hips’ of the 2nd defender.
• The aim is to encourage the 1st receiver to scan, look, and make a quick decision (choice of pass) depending on what the defender is doing.
• If the 1st receivers sees the ‘inside’ cone on the 2nd defender then they must assume the defenders hips are turned OUT and make a short pass to the BANG runner.
• If the 1st receivers sees the ‘outside’ cone on the 2nd defender then they must assume the defenders hips are turned IN and make a PULL BACK pass to the BINGO runner.

• Groups 9+ 
• Ball
• Cones

This could be perfect fro a warm up drill. 

Player with the ball runs to first cone and performs a pull back pass to the second receiver then onto the 3rd.

When the ball reaches the third the 3rd reciver runs to the cone and performs a pull back pass back inside the the 2nd reciver in the next line. 

This is continuus and should be short and fast pase.

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

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