Simon,

Just to chip in and get the debate going. I think you need to have a look at decision making at the ruck. Your players need to decide if the ball can be turned. So your players need to think about the following, among other variables:

Has the tackling player been in a position to get to their feet and compete for the ball before the opposition support arrived?

·      Have we been able to get another player over the ball before the opposition support arrived?

·      Is the opposition’s body position over the ball too high and therefore we can drive their players off the ball?

If we can’t say yes to any of the above, we may have a chance to turn the ball and therefore compete, if NO - then leave it. Get your players used to the idea of following a tackle saying YES or NO, some teams will simply say LEAVE IT, others use codes like FIRE (can be turned so compete) ICE (can’t be turned so leave it).

So following every contact – make sure you hear the call and then others can do as told! You might have some rather noisy decision makers on your team, this is their chance to shine – but there does need to be a culture of decision-making following contact. From that decision will flow, one would hope, a better defence. So: Contact - Decision of the cloest player - Communicate - Respond as a team.

There are lots of variables at the contact, and you have to decide how many variables your young players can take into account e.g. has their scrum half been fast at moving the ball away from the ruck throughout the game so far (how much time on average do they take and if that is less than the time it would take us to drive them off – even when their body position at the ruck is high – we need to LEAVE IT).

I suggest you also focus on defensive rolls around the ruck, the spacing in your line, and that players work to check the player to their left and right in defence. You might have a conditioned game during which you stop the game at any time and ask a player – tell me without looking – who is on your left, which defender is on your right?

Good communication, leadership and decision making is the key to getting your defence to be more aware of defending not just what is happening now, but what is about to happen.

Hope this helps in some way,

Philip.

Five players, each with a shield line up next to each other facing six players who are lined up facing the shields on the other side of the channel. The bags are each given a number from 1-5. Drill starts by the shield holders starting to move laterally in random order along the length of the channel. The coach calls out any number from 1-5, e.g. "2", and that shield quickly runs straight out of the line at the defenders who must react and nominate whose man it is and drive him back. The drill is repeated calling different numbers randomly.