Rugby: Grip Game For Offloads

• This is an exercise for continuity and support for attacking play
• Lay out a rectangular playing area, with four attackers and minimum three defenders
• The attackers begin in a diamond formation, with the ball carrier at the front
• The defenders are then stacked in rows, one defender per row, spread out diagonally
• The ball carrier is tackled by the first man, and offloads to one of the two supporting attackers
• The receiver of the pass runs and is tackled by the next defender and they offload to one of two supporting attackers
• As one of the four attackers will be on the floor from a tackle, the next phase will include three attackers, who should be in an arrow formation

Set Up

Line of defenders - 5m apart in staggered formation tackle shield.

Individual players move down the line – fend off each tackle in turn right then left ...

• The ball carrier runs towards the defender and attracts the tackle.
• After contact, the player turns to offload to their teammate making the supporting run to the side.
• This player carries the ball into the next tackling defender, and offloads to the third teammate making the supporting run on the opposite side.

Set up the practice as shown inside a 30m x 30m Grid.

6 Shields and 1 Ball.

Player 1 carries the ball before passing the ball to player 2 who bursts through the shields. Once through the other side, 2 passes to 3 and receives a return pass before bursting through the next set of shields

Once they are through the last two players with shields can move and try and block the runners. Player 2 has the option to pass to either player or go it alone.