Rugby Drills

Tell your players the following...... On the 4 players side, they will go 2 at a time in attack - the balls should be with these players. They will advance around the lower part of the training area. On the 6 players side, they will go 3 at a time in order to provide 3 defenders, one will advance to the 7 meter marker, the second will go to the 14 meter marker, and the last will stay at the back of the grid. They will advance around the top part of the training area. The attacking players will now face three 2 v 1 situations. Once the attack finishes the two attacking players return to their starting position, the next two attackers go. At the same time the next three defenders go, while the last three defenders return to their starting position. Don't forget to give every player a chance in attack and defence.

Tell your players the following..... The attack will remain in attack for 5 minutes, you'll then switch over. Normal rules of sevens apply, but this game will be touch to start with. When the ball carrier is touched, they must set the ball down, another player can then move it from the ground. The touch is considered a ruck. When the coach calls a defenders colour e.g. RED - the two players in defence wearing red drop to the ground and complete 3 press-ups, they can then return to their feet and are back in the game. That's it, play. Keep your player chats brief, but through questioning highlight that the downed players in defence open up space, what do we attack - SPACE!

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.

Aim to develop good tackle habits through repetitive practice. Using pads allows you to train with intensity whilst lowering the impact on the body. Set up two lines of players 5 metres apart Attackers start on the 5 metre line with a tackle pad and defenders start on the try line A coach or non participating player will stand behind the defending players (tacklers) and indicate the direction the attacking players run by raising their arm. The attacking players (with pads) take 2 steps forward and then step 45 degrees and try to score on the try line. The defending line need to communicate (whatever the teams call for getting off the line), eg READY READY UP (when attack moves – ball is lifted in a match) The defending line come off the line and complete a tackle and reset to go again.

Small playing area, for 1 v 1 tackling. Players line up in two lines adjacent to the coned area. Coach shouts go and the front two players run round their end to end up facing each other. The coach passes the ball to the attacker who runs at the defender, and the defender tries to take them down.

This is a great warm-up for defensive and evasion sessions, or it might even be a warm-up that helps you reinforce coaching points made during a previous session. The best bit is that it's fun and relevant to all ages. If you're coaching tag rugby, change the warm-up exercise from contact to tags. One team runs clockwise round the inside of the circle with the other team running anti-clockwise around the outside of the circle. The circle in this case is marked out using blue cones, but you can use whatever colour you like. When the coach shouts 'Jailbreak' the players inside the inner circle try to 'escape' to outside the 10m x 10m square (yellow cones). The size of the square and distance from the circle is a suggestion, play with it a little and let us know your variations! The inside team scores a point for each 'jailbreaker' - swap over. If you have an odd number of players give the defenders the extra man.

*AUDIO DESCRIPTION ON* Players sit back to back, arms interlocked and knees bent. The coach says left or right. The players must battle to pull their partner to the floor on the said side.

4 players stand on the middle cones in the grid, avoiding the corner cones. The 2 players at the top and the bottom of the grid will have a ball. The players on the sides of the grid will have one ball between them. The 5th player will be the ball carrier. The ball carrier starts at the top of the grid facing the bottom. Moving forward they will take a pass off one of the middle players and pass the ball onto the other middle player. They will then collect a pass off the player in front of them, before popping the ball back to them. They will then turn and once again collect a pass off one of the middle players before moving it on to the other middle player. They then take a pass off the top player before popping it back and starting the exercise again. They keep going until told to switch with another player. The player in the middle can turn and flick the ball to the static players at the top and bottom of the grid, as well as popping the ball.

Tell the players the following...... Runners move forward towards the cone opposite to their location. There will be one ball carrier and one reciever in every set of runners, 3 sets of runners at any one time. The ball carrier must make a legal pass to the player approaching, avoiding traffic. That's it - lets get going.

The realignment and depth hands drill is a quick drill to focus the players in sharpening their alignment and depth before a session. You can spend as long or as short on this drill as you need. The aim of the drill is to develop the speed at which players realign themselves, to support their early hand-catch, quick and accurate transfer of the ball to a support player. Set a 5 cones 1.5 meter apart in straight line. This will mark where the players will start the drill from Set 4 cones at a diagonal in line with the starting cones from one edge. This will be the cones that the defending players need to retreat to before coming up to pressure the attacking players. The first attacking player needs to step back 1 meter and will receive the ball from the first defending player who has also stepped back 1 meter to his designated cone Divide the group into 4 attacking player and 5 defending players, there should be a free attacking player The ball starts with the defending player On the coaches call, all defending players need to work back to their designated cone and then come forward in a straight line to their opposite attacking player The attacking players set their own depth to ensure they have time to catch and pass effectively On the coaches call, the first defending player will move back to their cone, once they get to the cone they pass the ball to the first attacking player, and then the first defending player tries to put pressure on the first attacking player The attacking players try to get the ball to the 5th player without being ‘touched’ by a defending player

The player with the ball keeps it secured under one of his arms. The opposition player then works hard for ten seconds, trying to reach and get the ball from the opponent, who is holding onto the front of their shirt with a strong arm.

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.

This is the third exercise in a series of three that can be put together to form a contact conditioning circuit. The circuit can be sets of 30 seconds of hard work followed by 30 seconds of rest. Swap in this circuit for your usual fitness routine to give the players something a bit more interesting and transferable to a game.  Alternatively, this would be a great exercise to include as part of a warm up. Players work in pairs, one player holds a tackle bag behind a tackle sausage. The other player makes a low tackle on the sausage and then drives through, clearing out the player holding the tackle bag. This player then goes to ground and gets back up to complete another repetition in the other direction. It is the job of the player holding the tackle bag to lift up the tackle sausage after each repetition. This drill will increase players overall fitness levels while being very relevant to game situations.  0.21 - Why is this important for players?

Split your players into two teams, giving one group of players a set of coloured bibs to set them apart, and quickly tell your players the following laws: Keep the law briefing, brief! Get your players moving as quickly as you can. When touched a player has three seconds to make their pass, and they can keep running (reduce or increase this time depending on your coaching goals/targets). They don't need to set the ball down - just pass. You could change three seconds to three steps, change depending on your goals and the skill level of the players. No forward passes - normal rugby laws should apply. You might decide on 5 touches before the ball is turned over, but more or less is ok. Also - you might decide on unlimited touches. It all depends on your targets as a coach, and your players age and skill levels. Change the laws as you see fit, and let us know the variations that work for you.

2 teams  Bibs  Balls  One team must try and complete 10 passes in a small grid.  When the player has the ball in his hand he cannot move, the other team must try to intercept the ball to stop them completing 10 passes.  Defending team must stand 1 metre away from ball carrier. If the ball is dropped or intercepted its a turn over.  If a team knock the ball down its a knock on and the same attacking team keep the ball. 

Exercise aimed at attackers staying square when running towards a defender in order to fix them to the spot and then spin a pass out to the side. Attackers start on a cone, before running towards a cone 3m away On that cone, the attacker sidesteps (drops the shoulder) and goes the other way Running straight now, the attacher goes towards the tackle tube (or whichever necessary object) in front of them and before 'contact' spins the ball out to the opposite side For example, if the player stepped towards the left, the pass is made to the player waiting on the right side of the area.