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Rugby: attacking space

attacking space DRILLS
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3 Second Touch - Touch Rugby Variation

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.

Warm Up

Drift, Cover or Blitz Touch

During a game of touch in a grid sized 30 x 30 metres the coach can choose to call blitz, drift or cover at any breakdown. Upon hearing the call the defenders must run and touch the relevant line before running back to rejoin the game. When the defenders are running to touch their line the attackers must turn their back on the defenders and give the ball to the coach. When the defenders are almost back in position the coach should roll the ball back to the attackers to restart the game. The coach can later develop the game by introducing a visual clue to the defenders, instead of an audio cue, thus forcing the attackers to react to an unknown type of defence.

Match Related

Four In, Three Out Touch

Give the ball to the attacking team and tell your players the following....... This is touch 7's, other than that - normal rules of 7's apply. If touched with the ball: the ball carrier stops, 4 of the defenders must be within touching distance of the ball carrier - only 3 can stay out, and this must happen within 3 seconds. When the attack is happy that the defence has moved in - they can then move the ball away from the contact area - and the game restarts. There is no limit on the number of touches. That's it, lets play! Don't forget to give the defence and attack equal time on the ball. This game must be played at pace, so the defence is going to have to work hard!

Sevens

One Touch Off-Load

Keep your player briefing; brief, and get them working as soon as possible.I can't stress this enough, it's not a debating society - players want to play. Split your players into two teams, giving each team their own set of bibs - if necessary. One team will be in attack, the other in defence. Tell the players we are going to play one touch off-load, the normal laws of rugby apply. Any forward passes etc. will result in the ball being turned over. When a player is touched, they must pass right away without delay. A delay will result in the ball being turned over. Use your own judgement here, taking into account the age and skill level of the players. Alternative: You might decide that one team will play 5 minutes in attack no matter what - and 5 minutes in defence. They have unlimited touches, you can change this depending on your training goals. Let them play - don't tell them what it's all about. Let them discover, remember this is the warm-up! Don't hesitate to change any of the above to suit your training goals/targets.

Warm Up

Standing and Passing - Variation

Keep your player briefing, brief! Tell your players the folloiwng......... Players should be moving, staying around 5 meters part - running with the ball and attacking space. After the first catch - pass ball around body. After the second catch - pass ball through legs from front and behind left leg. After the third catch - pass ball through legs from front and behind right leg. You might consider asking players to pass the ball with just one hand, off their hip

Passing

Ten passes then...

Keep your player briefing, brief! Tell your players the folloiwng......... Players should be moving, staying around 5 meters part - running with the ball and attacking space. Players make 10 passes and then: Make figure 8 between legs. Partner does the same after another 10 passes. 10 passes then throw ball up and make a 360 degree turn to catch it before it hits the floor. 10 passes then throw ball overhead and catch it behind back. You might consider asking players to pass the ball with just one hand, off their hip

Handling

The Berlin Wall

Tell the players that when you touch the shoulder of a player, they: have to go into the center of the circle, pick up the ball, and try to break out with the ball. The circle must close the gap left by the player that has went into the circle, and bind tight to try and stop the player from leaving. IMPORTANT: The players in the circle must stay bound and cannot use their arms or knees to stop the player trying to exit. The player trying to exit cannot attack the smallest player, nor can they attack sensitive areas of other player's bodies. There must be a sense of fun. The ball carrier should attack the space between the players that are bound on, that space will be very small indeed. The coach walks around the circle taps a player on the shoulder, and lets the fun begin. If the player gets out - well done them. If not, let them rejoin the circle and the select another player. Don't spend too long on this - but the players should enjoy it.

Warm Up

Three Blind Mice - Tag Warm-Up

Tell the players that one group is the Mice and that mice have tails, their tags. The other group is not happy with the Mice, they are the Farmers Wives and - they need to chop the tails of the Mice off! The tails are the tags. The Farmers wives can run anywhere, in all directions, within the playing area - as can the Mice. The Farmers Wives can work together to hunt a Mouse. When a Mouse has their tail chopped off, they have to go to the chop zone (there might be some light fitness work there for them, your call. With older players you might have more interesting fitness work or challenges in the Chop Zone). You might decide that one tail is enough to be sent to the chop zone, or maybe they have a second chance and the Farmers Wives need to get both tails. Don't forget to change over after a period of time, counting the number of Mice in the chop zone. The winning team is the team with fewer Mice in the chop zone at the end of their playing time. You might decide on about five minutes a half. Have a bit of fun with this and let us know what variations worked for you!

Warm Up

Attack The Space Tag Rugby - R...

The pitch is divided into two halves The defenders must start at opposite corners of the pitch The attacker must have at least one player in either half. The middle player starts with the ball.

General

Attacking Overload - Exploit T...

The drill starts with two teams of equal players playing a standard game of touch. Whenever a touch is made, the defender immediately joins the attacking side and acts as scrum half. This creates an attacking overload. Players must try to score a try by exploiting the overload in the least amount of touches. The drill resets after a try is scored.

General

Mid-Space attack Decision maki...

There are 4 cones in a rectangle , 2 red and 2 blue. The 2 defenders stand within the square, and on the coach's call, they must go and touch the called colour cone.As the coach calls it the attackers can go.The ball starts with the attacker in the middle.His aim is to attack the space in between the two players, and execute the first opportunity that presents itself. either one of the players will move in on him, therefore opening up space for the support runner on that side, or both will commit to him, or none in which case he is through!

General

Space Invaders Warm Up - Rugby...

Keep your playing briefing, brief and tell the players the following laws. Both teams are in attack and both teams are in defence, at the same time! It is up to you how many players you allocate to your attack and how many you allocate to your defence. If you are touched while carrying the ball (decide if the touch is one handed or two handed), you and your entire team must return to your red zone before being able to restart your attack. While your team is returning to your own zone - you cannot defend the neutral zone and any touches in there will not count. If your team makes a mistake e.g. a dropped ball or forward pass. Your entire team must return to your own red zone, not defending the neutral zone as you retreat. The winning team is the team that invades the oppositions space and scores a try, just outside the grid, first. There is no offside in defence. There is no kicking.

General

Attack The Space Tag rugby - R...

The pitch is divided into two halves The defenders must start at opposite corners of the pitch The attacker must have at least one player in either half. The middle player starts with the ball.

General

React to space and attack Back...

5 players start on a straight line of cones about 5m apart. 10m away there are 5 more cones. Two of the 5 cones are blue, and two are red, and the middle cone is orange. The player on the orange cone never defends, he always attacks and always starts with the ball in hand.The coach shouts a colour and the players who are standing on those cones must run forward and touch the cone 10m away from them. It will always be 2 defenders, but their positions will slightly vary. Once the first defending player has touched the furthest cone across from where he started the orange player can initiate attack. The orange player will have 2 supporters, one either side of him.The ball carrier should look to attack the "Mid-Space" i.e. the space between the 2 defenders, as hard as he possibly can. This will cause at least one of the defenders to move in towards him, and therefore open up space for the supporter.You will notice as the drill goes on, if the ball carrier runs at this space hard enough, the defenders are sometimes caught in two minds of "its your man" and the attacker will glide straight through the gap, but only if he is explosive from the word go!!

General

Quick Passing To Space Passing...

Give each training area one ball and tell the players the following...... One of the attacking lines takes the ball. They simply attack, moving the ball through the hands - lateral passing only. The defenders (there will be three), mark the first three attacks, they leave the forth free. Defenders can move up and down, left and right, but must leave channel 4 open. Defender start 10 meters back. The ball must go through all four attacking hands. Don't forget to switch the attackers and defenders.

General

Pass to Space zPassing - Rugby...

UPDATE

General

Square Drill - Continuous Atta...

<span style=&quot;color: var(--color); font-style: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit;&quot;>Set up a large square with a cone in each corner. Three attacking players start along one side of the square with two defenders in the middle. You can increase the number of attackers or defenders as you wish. Attacker always try to attack across the square. Once the attackers reach the other side of the square they pop the ball to the attackers on the side of the square and not in front of them.<br>

General

Tackle Box Sevens - Rugby Dril...

The exercise is simple, the attacker has 2 minutes to score as many tries as they can. They do this by attacking the space between 2 sets of cones, but there is a defender they need to avoid. When it is clear which area the attacking is going to attack, that defender can advance. This is a full contact exercise. If the attackers scores, they return to the center of the grid to attack again. They cannot attack the same defender twice. If the attack fails, they reset and have another go. After 1/2 minutes, switch the attacker. This is a competition, so keep score.

General

Colour Cone Attack Decision ma...

Drill to practice attacking from different positions.Set up a grid roughly 20m wide and 15m long with three defenders (yellow) and four attackers (blue). Within the grid place a number of different coloured cones.The attack start with the ball and the coach will shout the colour of a cone, the attack must touch the ball on that cone before they can attack. Once the attack have touched the ball on the cone the defence can start to defend.PROGRESSION:To start with the defence can only move laterally along the try line, then are allowed to move off the try line.

General

2 vs 1 - with running support ...

The lead attacker runs straight at the defender, attacking either the space on the left or the right before taking the tackle and off loading to the support player who is running down the opposite channel. So if the attacker goes left, the support player should go right!

General

5 Attacks 3 Sevens - Rugby Dri...

Using cones mark out the four corners and the midways points of each side of a 20 x 20 meter training area. Divide your players into groups of 8, and allocate one group of 8 to each training area. Have one coach at each training area, and one ball. Each player should have their own cone to stand on, as shown in the diagram. Have more than one training area in order to keep your players as busy as possible. Tell your players the following...... This will be a 5 v 3 attacking opportunity for the 5 players given the ball. There are 4 players on the midpoint positions, one on each side of the training area. The coach will give the ball to one of those players. The 4 closest players will join the ball carrier in attack, the opposite 3 players will become defenders. The try line is just across the defenders starting line. The defenders operate within the laws of the game and should try to stop the attack by turning the ball, forcing a mistake, or pushing the attack out of the playing area. The attack should aim to score a try, but should play within the laws of the game. When the attack is over the coach will take the ball and players should return to their starting positions for the next attack. Don't forget to give every player the opportunity to play in attack and defence by changing the starting position of the ball.

General

Waterfall Attack Match Related...

The drill starts with 2 attackers in blue, standing behind one another, 5m from the 1st defender/attacker in red. The blue players attacks the red defender, once they pass him the defender/attacker joins the attacking team in one motion - therefore 2 players will be ahead with 1 backup supporter creating a 3v2 situation.<br /><br /> The 3 attackers now attack the 2 red defenders.<br /><br /> Once the attackers beat the 2 red defenders the two defenders also join the attack to make it a 5v3. The 3 defenders at the end stay on. The 2 attackers, 2 defenders and 1 defender must be replaced by new player to keep the drill continuous and stimulating

General

2 v 2 Box Sevens - Rugby Drill...

Tell your players the following...... Whichever group of 2 is given the ball becomes the attack, and should attack upon receiving the ball. The opposite group of 2 becomes the defence, and should defend right away. The object of the exercise is for the defence to turn the ball, and for the attack to score a try by cross the defences line and touching the ball down. Dropped balls, knocked on, forward passes etc. are illegal and will be consider a point for the defence. Illegal actions by the defence will be consider a point for the attack. Each group of two should keep their own score. When the attack is over, the ball should be returned to the coach for the next phase. Have more than one training area in order to keep your players as active as possible.

General

5 vs 5 Tag Rugby - Rugby Drill...

Pitch 20m x 20m. All players wearing tag belts Start the game with a free pass, defenders must be 7m back at the start Attacking players must try to run past the defenders to score a try. If tagged, the attacker must pass the ball backwards to a team-mate. After a tackle, the defenders must give the tag belt back, stay on their own side of the ball and NOT intercept or obstruct the pass.

General

3 'v' 2 Passing - Rugby Drills...

This is a simple 3 v 2. The three attackers have to get past the two defenders without being touched, that's it. The defenders will start 10 meters back, and can move anywhere inside the box. The attack must remain inside the box and all pass msut be legal. Don't forget to change the defenders.

General

Switch Over Attack Passing - R...

Drill to practice attacking organisational skillsSet up a grid roughly 20m wide and 20m long, with different coloured cones at one end and 5m away from that end (see diagram).3 defending players line up at one end (blue players between white cones) and 5m infront of them 4 attacking players line up (red players between green cones). One further defender waits at the opposite end of the grid.On the coaches command the three defending players run to the green cones and turn to defend. Meanwhile the four attacking players run to the white cones and turn to attack, receiveing the ball from the coach (grey). They are trying to score at the far end of the grid (red cones).Once the attack have beaten the defensive line the final defender may move forward off the try line (red cones) and try and defend.

General

Bull Dog Tag Rugby - Rugby Dri...

Large Grid 30m x 30m. Start with 5 defenders in the middle, everybody else stands at one end of the grid wearing tags. On the coach's call all attackers try to run past the 5 defenders and get to the opposite side of the grid. Attackers that are tagged join the defenders in the middle, the game keeps going until there are no attackers left.

General

Attack until youre tackled Off...

Playing area of 25m in length - adjust width to suit numbers- equal numbers in both teams Full LEG tackles ONLY - ball carrier when tackled can off load immediately or IF no support present when support arrives - game continues until knock or forward pass occurs. When a try is scored the try scorer turns to attack the other try line game continues playing the opposite way. No rucks or mauls.

General

Standing and Passing - Variati...

Keep your player briefing, brief! Tell your players the folloiwng......... Players should be moving, staying around 5 meters part - running with the ball and attacking space. After the first catch - pass ball around body. After the second catch - pass ball through legs from front and behind left leg. After the third catch - pass ball through legs from front and behind right leg. You might consider asking players to pass the ball with just one hand, off their hip

General

Attack/Defend Sevens - Rugby D...

Tell your players the following...... Players will standing at the midway point of the playing area. Tell each team which direction they are playing. Set the ball on the ground in front of the players. If you call 1 then team one is in attack and they should pick the ball up, if you should 2 then team 2 is in attack and they should pick the ball up. The non attacking team is in defence. Normal rules of sevens apply. However, before each team can start their attack/defence, they must all run to their own try line and back. When the attack is over, all players return to the midway point to start again. That's it, lets play! Make sure that you give both teams a chance to attack and defend.

General

Drop Out Touch Warm Up - Rugby...

Two teamsAttacking and defensive focusNormal game of touch rugby, however whenever the defender touches an attacker, they must run back to their own try line and stay out the game until the play breaks downAttacking team look to identify the space created from defensive drop outWorking on defensive communication and work rate

General

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attacking space SESSIONS
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Sevens Rugby: Attacking the Sp...

Get your players to use the width of the pitch and play intelligently, offering wide support options in this sevens rugby session.

Quick Hands - Attacking Space ...

Fast hands = Fast Passing. Get your team passing at speed to change the point of attack and attack the space!

Spatial Awareness and Attacking the Space

Change channel to find space with this week's using the full width of the pitch scanning and heads up attacking session
attacking space ANSWERS
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In what situation is the miss pass best employed

In what situation is the miss pass best employed

Archived User Coach

how can you improve your hand off

how can you improve your hand off

Archived User Coach

Looking for space?

This season our players have moved on to U9's and contact. When attacking we want our players to continue to look for space, not to take the contact just because it's now part of U9's (ie%3A why take the contact if its not required). Does anyone have any tips or exercises that could help with this?

Archived User Coach

Improving game awareness. How can I improve players?

Improving game awareness. How can I improve players insight into "what happens next", besides by whatching (games)? Players tend to be fixed on the ball(situation) and seldom look at what is in front of them%3A how can I stimulated them to take time to quickly look around and assess the situation?

Yvonne Bouman Coach, Netherlands

please can you help with any drills to help with realignment?

please can you help with any drills to help with realignment (of backs) to attack? Thanks

Archived User Coach

How to coach using counter attack from turnover ball?

I need to coach a progressive session of 20 minutes for how to establish the principles of counter attack from turnover ball in contact coaching the palyers to counter attack. Any ideas please?

Trevor Brice Coach, England

develop the ability of your players to realign, to?

develop the ability of your players to realign, to take pass running from depth

Archived User Coach

ANYBODY GOT ANY DRILL FOR UNDER 6 RUGBY AS AN INTRODUCTION?

ANYBODY GOT ANY DRILL FOR UNDER 6 RUGBY AS AN INTRODUCTION TO THE GAME?

Garry Windle Coach, Wales

Drill to help to teach backs how to check their line?

Drill to help to teach backs how to check their line up from defensive to attacking

Archived User Coach

Hi, I'm required to coach the tight 5 to right wheel?

Hi, I'm required to coach the tight 5 to right wheel a scrum - yes, it's for an exam. I have researched it - including talking to forwards - and all of the sparse info out there describes unlawful techniques. I can make a stab at almost anything apart from this 'black art' as I have no references to use. Help!

Archived User Coach

key factors of a miss pass

plaese tell me the key factors of a miss pass

Archived User Coach

Are there any drills to encourage my 3/4s to return to midfield quickly?

Are there any drills to encourage three-quarters to quickly return to the midfield to defend 2nd phase possession? My U11s backs get drawn into rucks amp; mauls and leave the opposition too much attacking space in midfield. Thanks

Simon Luxton Coach, England

u10 rugby practice sessions. How to get them match ready

How does one coach u10rugby? I know this is a very broad question but I am looking for various ideas. At this age they do no have rugby knowledge and spacial awareness that becomes inherent at older age groups. Because of this I am finding it hard to get the maximum out of practice sessions because most of the time you are trying to educate the players as to where to stand and correct techniques etc Which interrupt game play and practice? Any advice ?

Archived User Coach

U8s staying on side and use of space

I am currently coaching an U8s tag team, is ther any drills to teach them to stay onside after a tag and to stay spread out as they seem to bunch very quickly

Tony Bunyan Coach, England

Perfecting attack structure

Drills to perfect the 1 3 3 1 attack structure Asked using Sportplan on Mobile

Pedro Waqa Coach, Fiji

u10 rugby practice sessions. H...

How does one coach u10rugby? I know this is a very broad question but I am looking for various ideas. At this age they do no have rugby knowledge and spacial awareness that becomes inherent at older age groups. Because of this I am finding it hard to get the maximum out of practice sessions because most of the time you are trying to educate the players as to where to stand and correct techniques etc Which interrupt game play and practice? Any advice ?

Archived User Coach

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