Rugby Drills

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.

1 player stands crouched down 1 foot either side of a tackle bag holding a ball at the end of the bag 2 players run around the wide cones to then come in towards the player with the ball and clear out the ball . Repeat the practice going the other way.

Groups of 2 Bags Balls Contact conditioning  1. Body height clear out work In there groups, do contact hits on each shoulder. Stand 2m apart and take turns doing hits against bag 2. Crocodile role One player lies on top of a tackle sausage (long way round), the group of 4 take turns swapping roles of being tackled and tackler. Focus is the crocodile role. 3. Clear out. One player stands over the top of tackle bag competing for the ball. Other player arrives from 2m away to clear out the player, to prevent the threat of stealing the ball. 3. Bounce and compete Players lay either side of the a ball. When whistle goes, both players bounce off the floor, one competes for the ball while the other focuses on clear out or crocodile role. Do 3 sets of 2mins. Repetitive drill.

Set up a 5mx5m grid Work in fours - two attacker and two defender The ball is fed from a player from the 1st defending player who also holds the tackle pad and will simulate the ‘jackal’ threat player in the 2v2 The first attacking player receives the ball and engages the pad holder and passes to the second attacking player The second attacking player engages the second defender (tackler) and bounces out to a weak shoulder The first attacking player (inside clear out) and the 1st defending player (jackler) then try and race to support The inside clear looks to support the attacker and clear out the jackler

Tell your players the following..... The players on the bags will squeeze the bags together to make removal of the ball hard but not impossible. The running player will aim to removing the balls from between the bags. They will start at the first bag and move on to the second and then the third. When they remove the last ball they swap places with one of the players at the bag, and that player will become the running player. The players competing for the ball will use a jackal position in order to remove the ball.

Tell your players the following..... One player will straddle the bag and compete for the ball on the ground. The two remaining players will remove the competing player. The competing player will change sides, and compete for the ball on the opposite side, but the remaining two players need to get there quickly to stop them and remove the competing player again. This sequence repeats until the coach says stop. That's it, let get going. Don't forget to change the players around.

This is the second 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 individually, picking up a tackle sausage and driving it into the ground.  Repeat for the whole 30 seconds. This exercise will develop your players core strength, which is immensely important in most areas of the game. Moreover, this exercise simulates how players will have to maintain power in a game. For example when going from making a tackle to then contesting the ruck. 0.40 - What is the purpose of these conditioning circuits? 

Players stand back to back with coloured cones either side. When the coach shouts go both player run around their white cones. The coach shouts a colour and the ballc carrier runs towards that cone. If the attacker runs to the tacklers left hand side they must tackle with their left shoulder, if they run right they must tackle with their right shoulder.

Split your players into two teams in an approx 20mx15m for 12 players. Change this according to numbers. Give every play a ball, they have to hold this in one hand the entire time whilst moving about the grid Work as a team to complete as many passes as possible without dropping the ball Catch and pass the ball in one hand without using the chest as support

groups of 2  One player uses footwork and fast feet to try and lose his shadow (the other player)  The shadow has to try and keep in line as much as possible with the player trying to escape. 

Set three cones out at an equal distance from one another. On the coach's shout, two players sprint from the middle of the cones out to one cone before sprinting to the other end, and finishing by sprinting to the other end once again. Whoever crosses the line of cones first is the winner!

Set up a grid of about 10 x 10 Aim to have 12 attackers and 2 defenders 3 attackers spread out on each side of the square. One player starts with the ball and runs towards the first defender, before passing off to a supporting attacker, who runs towards the next defender and passes off to the other attacker in the three The ball is popped off to the end attacking player on the opposite side of the square The same play happens with three new attackers and same two defenders The ball is then popped off to the side, and play continues until all four groups of attackers have run through twice. Then switch defenders.

Out in 4s - simple hands - When players reach the end they should turn left. Group realigns around the cone and then use simple hands to finish. You can put defenders into the second channel to increase the difficulty of this drill.

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.

Divide your players into groups of five, with one player acting as a running. Each grid will need a runner. The runner starts on the runners cone. You might wish to have two groups of five at each grid, and to have a quick demo before sending all the players to their own grids. Keep your player briefing, brief! The first five passers attack the runners line, passing the pass down the line as they go. The runner sets off as soon as the first ball carrier starts to move. The aim of attack is to score a try in the corner, beating the runner - so quick hands. Each player should realign following their pass, there will be two attacks for each group before they move the ball onto the next group. After the first attack the runner goes to their cones on the opposite side of the grid ready for the next attack. The attack begins when the first players picks the ball off the ground. Don't forget to change the runners. Move the runner cones in to progress the exercise and to put the attack under more pressure.

4 Tackle Bags. 10 Cones and 1 Ball. 10m x 30m. The first player in the line begins with the ball. As he approaches the first cone and passes to player 2 who is supporting. Player 1 carries on their run and hits the tackle bag before running backwards to player 2 original position. Player 2 on receiving the ball passes the ball onto player 3 before hitting the tackle bag and back pedalling to player 3 original position. When the ball reaches player 5, that player side steps behind the others back to position 1 where the drill is repeated.