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Making the full-back position an attractive proposition.
Making the full-back position an attractive proposition. Often over-looked, the full-back position is a vital player in anyones team if he is used and brought into the game. Does anyone have any technical/positional material to coach prospective players in this position?
Darren
I have always coached players in their individual positions by helping them with analysing what they need to work on - both their strengths and weaknesses.
It is also important to important that they practise in their units - so No 15 would work with the two wingers when working on catching a high ball in defence, for instance.
A simple unit practise for full back would be to have a No 8 and a flanker attempting to charge down a scrum half box kick. The full back and wingers have to field the kick and then attack back against the scrum half and the No 8 and flanker who have effectively swapped teams.
This practise enables each player to work on a number of their skills:
- Kicking
- Charging down
- Catching the high ball
- Counter attacking
- Support
- Defence against counter attack
You are in the best postion to know what skills your 15 needs to work on - don't forget to work on things they are good at as well as skills that need to be improved.
I would suggest that you talk to the players too and involve them in discussing what they need - in this way they are more likely to work hard to improve.
I hope this helps
Simon
Darren In first place , sorry about my english, but i speak spanish in my country and i don t use english usually. Now i am a coach here in Argentina, but in the times i ve played rugby i was fullback. I think the better way to make this position an attractive proposition, is transform this man in the wild card of the backs line, replacing the fly half commanding the attack in particular situations. This freedom to go up and be the second fly half has to be supported with the covering of the blind wingers, and one of the third line players. I think the best way to make this position or one of the other fourteen, attractive, is liberate the players to create and teach they to be smart players, and not only playstation dummys. Regards Sergio
Many years ago when I was an RFU employee we designed a course that had some interesting content regards back 3 play; still very relevant today. We suggested that the back 3 - 11+14+15 - could try to devise an answer to the situation arising from a lineout after which the attacking 10s team wins the ball on their throw in, and he decides to kick deep. Our question to the players receiving the ball was based on 2 scenarios; the attackers with a strong and fast back row at the tail of the lineout; and the opposite scenario; a weak back row at the tail of the L.O. We asked the 11/14/15 group to devise a way of switching / dummy switching to engage the opposition back row either with a direct counter attack towards the lineout, or a dummy switch to play the ball wide and involve the centres etc. The aim would be to allow the players to experiment with these different situations, that can also be varied depending on who catches the kicked ball. From these situations play can be developed to involve the whole squad. We're therefore looking at the 15 as a valuable attacking 'weapon' and not just a 'goalkeeper'.
Andrew,
So many coaches just want to move the ball away quickly from the mass without taking the risk to utilize so a great counter attacking platform. A calculated risk as I think you're putting it, no point in feigning an attack at strength if the oppo back row don't buy it and cover across quick, but if they aren't up for it, it can give you an extra 2 men in attack out wide.
Think the attached illustrates?
Attached Plan: 
Counter attack
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Hi Dennis; not sure I really follow your comments, and please don't think I'm critisizing; however; we have a situation where 'so many coaches just want' is, for me, the source of lots of problems, in that it should be the players that share and buy into decisions not just the coach. The players' ability to make decisions 'on the hoof' can be conditioned by their understanding of the opponents' strengths and weaknesses, so a bit of 'try it and see what happens' is, for me, a valid part of coaching. This is where we are playing high speed chess not draughts. Now that back row forwards are more mobile, faster and certainly more aggressive we have to try and curtail their effect whenever possible. Running lines / dummy lines; lots of communication etc is fundamental. Obviously this is also conditioned by the level that you're working at, and the experience and prior learning of the players. Sometimes it all goes pear shaped if the players can't even catch! All the best Andrew
Having re-read my comments, it doesn't sound like something i'd normally go with, and i'm very much an athlete centred coach.
Must have been a late night on duty that night Andrew!
Having re-familiarised with the thread, it would appear it was a response to your comment about allowing the back 3 to devise an answer to the situation of a deep kick from the oppo 10, rather than the threads question.
I completely agree that 'so many coaches just want is' can be the source of many problems, however, the coach centred approach is still very much alive and kicking in all aspects of the coaching the 4 developmental areas.
I'm not saying its wrong, as its a philosophy and source of motivation for a fair few coaches. However, for those that disagree with it and believe it needs to change have to look at the reasons that can cause a coach to become 'despotic'. As an example, I took over as Director of Rugby for a level 6 club at beginning of season, before I took over, the incumbent head coach had come up against an attitude that ALL poor performance on the field was HIS fault (he claimed). Because of this attitude, his whole coaching philosophy became one of everything he said was right and the team had to do it without question, so he didn't mind taking the responsibility if the team had failed. The previous DoR was very much a buck passer and was never really given a description of what the club expected of him. As I foresaw a problem, as the head coaches philosophy didn't reflect my own, the problem needed solving. First step was to assure the head coach that I was taking full responsibility of the outcome of all teams, the buck stopped with me, not him. Second step was to sit down with him to discuss and set individual, unit and team goals, and to set his goals as a coach. third step was to hold regular players meetings. I asked the head coach to look at building his own repertoire of training sessions to work on decision making in order for the players to seek answers to problems rather than being told.
The proof of pudding (for the coach anyway) was always going to be the results. We're on target for the highest league position the 1st XV has ever achieved, the 2nd & 3rd XVs have already won their respective leagues, player recruitment and retention has improved, thus giving us more consistency throughout the teams, training numbers have increased because there is more player invlovement in the way they play. Most importantly, as we've met season goals, I have a happy head coach and happy players!
Unfortunately, 'despotic' coaching will have its place for as long as coaches are held responsible for the performance of players on the field
Hi Darren, I don't think this is particularly "technical" help, but when I was coaching in Japan, we had a young and potentially brilliant full back who was so shy he would almost disappear in training sessions. I wanted him to get the ball as much as possible, but he would never call for it, and his "seniors" would therefore never pass to him. So one afternoon I gathered the backs together, and said that in the practice game the following day, if the ball did not go through the full back's hands, any try they scored would not be given. They had about an hour to work on it, and the following day (videoed), they scored 4 or 5 tries, and the full back turned up everywhere - open, blind between the centres, between fly half and centre, an so on. They planned it, and it launched his career. Player created and player centred.
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