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Rugby is a game of decisions. Every second, players choose: pass, carry, or kick? Blitz or drift? Jackal or get back in the line? The team that makes better decisions more consistently wins matches - not necessarily the team with more talent or better fitness.

Game management is the skill of making these decisions correctly under pressure, with fatigue setting in, with the crowd noise, with the stakes rising. It can be developed.

The Decision-Making Framework

Good decisions start with good information. Players need to see the game clearly before they can choose correctly.

The OODA loop in rugby:

Observe: What do I see? Defensive structure, space, support
Orient: What does this mean? Opportunity, threat, neutral
Decide: What's my best option? Pass, carry, kick, hold
Act: Execute with commitment

The faster and more accurately players cycle through this loop, the better their decisions. Training should develop each stage.

Developing Observation Skills

Many poor decisions come from poor observation. Players who don't see the full picture can't make informed choices.

Training observation:

Pre-scan: look before receiving the ball
Peripheral awareness: what's beside you, not just ahead
Key cues: what specifically to look for (defender's hips, space, numbers)

Drills for observation: Play games where the coach calls "freeze" and asks players to describe what they see. What options exist? Where's the space? Where's the threat?

Situational Awareness

Understanding the game situation frames decision-making. The right decision at 0-0 in the first minute differs from 3-0 down in the 79th minute.

Situation factors:

Score: leading, trailing, or level
Time: first half, second half, final minutes
Field position: own 22, midfield, attacking 22
Conditions: wind, rain, surface
Momentum: who's on top right now?

Players need to know the situation without thinking about it. Score, time, and field position should be automatic awareness.

Risk Management

Every rugby decision involves risk. The question is whether the potential reward justifies the risk in this specific situation.

High-risk decisions:

Running out of your own 22
Offloads under pressure
Speculative kicks without chase support
Committing extra players to the ruck

When high-risk is acceptable:

Trailing with time running out
Attacking in the opposition 22
Momentum strongly in your favour

When to play conservative:

Protecting a lead late in the game
Deep in your own half
Opposition on top and looking for turnovers

Pressure Moments

Certain moments in matches carry extra pressure. Decision-making under pressure deteriorates without specific training.

High-pressure scenarios:

Final play of the half or game
Penalty opportunity to win/draw the match
Defending a one-point lead in your 22
Restart after conceding a score

Training pressure: Create pressure in training through consequences, time limits, and competitive scenarios. Players who've experienced pressure in training cope better when it matters.

Communication in Decision-Making

Rugby decisions are rarely individual. Communication coordinates group decision-making and ensures everyone understands the plan.

Essential communications:

Ball carrier: "Carrying!" "Kicking!" "Looking left!"
Support: "With you!" "On your shoulder!"
Defence: "Up!" "Drift!" "Numbers!"
General: "Time!" "Space outside!" "Keep it!"

Leaders must take ownership of communication. The fly-half and captain should constantly talk, directing the team's decision-making.

Learning from Decisions

Post-match review should examine decisions as much as execution. Why did we make that choice? What did we see? What would we do differently?

Effective review questions:

"What was your thinking there?"
"What options did you see?"
"Given what you know now, what would you do?"
"What can we learn from this?"

Avoid blame. Focus on understanding and improvement. Players who fear judgment stop taking responsibility for decisions.

Developing Decision-Makers

Coaching approaches:

Guided discovery: ask questions rather than give answers
Constrained games: rules that force specific decisions
Decision overload: faster game speed to develop instinct
Post-play review: brief discussions about choices made

The goal is players who can read, decide, and act without waiting for coach instruction. Games move too fast for external direction - players must be autonomous decision-makers.

Key Coaching Points

Good decisions require good observation - train players to see
Situation awareness frames every choice
Risk must match the situation
Pressure can be trained - create it in practice
Communication coordinates group decisions

Drills to Develop Game Intelligence

Choose the Hole

Loop Move (Simple)

Kick Tennis Game

Confidence in the Tackle

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DRILLS (22)SESSIONS (10) ANSWERS (21) COMMUNITY (11)

building DRILLS

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3 person front row.

Building a 3 person front row. Hooker forms 1st, standing with shoulders lowered and knees bent to about 3/4 height. Arms up in the air in a 'flying' position. Props then bind underneath the hookers arms, with their inside arms around the back of the hooker.

Contact Skills

Off-Loading Pass

Tell your players the following...... There will be two static players, passers, on the mid sections cones. One on each side. One of which will have a ball. There will be one runner who will start with one ball in their left hand. The ball carrier should start running towards the other side of the grid. The static player with the additional ball feeds that ball to the runner who has to catches the ball with their right hand only - and underloads the ball to player the opposite side. Repeat 5 times and then change over.

Passing

Pass Invaders

Tell your players the following..... In groups of 2 they will attack, passing the ball before they reach each unique cone, so when they have passed in front of a cone - that cone is no longer unique and they can move beyond it. Following their pass they must realign, taking steps back to get ready to come onto the next pass. They keep going until they finish the entire grid. When one group is at least two cones ahead, the next group can go. All passes must be legal. Progressions: Place a defender at the first cone, having them move back one each time. Even by staying static - they will apply pressure to the attack. Increase the distance between the cones, increasing the length of the pass. Make all the passes flat, for the attackers to run onto. Increase the number of player in the attack to three, this will mean quicker hands.

Passing

Passing in Traffic

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.

Passing

Passing to Support

Tell your players the following...... One the call of the scrum half, the 3 attackers turn, round the cone and attack. The scrum half feeds the ball to the first reciever, players will need to decide who the first reciever is. The other two players fall in at depth, providing support left and support right. The support players can expand the space between them and the ball carrier. As the attack approaches the end of the grid, the coach will point left or right, and the ball must be (without delay) passed to the support player on the side the coach has pointed to. The attacking unit return to join the line in preperation for the next attacking opportunity, they should pass the ball back to the scrum half.

Passing

Pop and Pass

Tell the players the following.... The player on the cone passes the ball forward to the player just in front of the cone, the passer then become the runner. The reciever pops the ball for the runner to run onto. Runner takes the ball and makes a bawards pass to the player on the cone opposite them. The runner can drift to increase the distance of the pass. Players should side step to avoid one another in the middle of the grid. The first reciever can change the way they present the ball: they could set the ball on the ground for the runner to pick, they could lob the ball into the air for the runner to reach for and catch, they could deliver a low pass aross the knees for the runner to catch etc.

Passing

Pop, roll, down, up and gut

Tell your players the following...... The ball carrier will run/carry the ball directly across the grid, offloading it to the player opposite. The offload will be different, depending on the coaches call - so you need to listen. There will be traffic in the center of the grid, so avoid it. Ok - lets get moving, the first call is to pop to the receiver - the pop should be legal! Calls include: POP THE BALL, ROLL THE BALL, SET IT DOWN, THROW IT UP, GUT PASS (not too hard).

Passing

Pressure Cooker

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.

Passing

Quick Hands

Tell your players the following..... The first player runs out with the ball to the first set of cones and passes the ball to the second player. The second player then runs out to the next set of cones and passes the ball to the third player, who runs out to the next set of cones. In the last area of cones, the ball has to be passed quickly amongst all the players.

Passing

Split with Trailer

Tell your players the following...... Player A passes to D and cuts - not getting ball back , but holding up - B cuts and receives the ball off D, then turns it back inside to C, who passes to A to score out wide on Right. Players change position after each attack, the static player will be a runner in the next attack.

Passing

Building The Loop Passing - Ru...

Tell your players the following..... One group of 4 players will be in defence. The other two groups of 4 will be in attack, they will attack one group at a time. There will be two attackerss and two defenders in the first two channels, the third channel will be open and free of attackers and defenders. The fourth channel will have an attacker and defender, the fifth channel will be free of attackers and defenders, the sixth channel will have an attacker and defender, and the last channel will be free of attackers or defenders. Defenders can move forward and side to side within their own channel, but they cannot leave their channel. Attackers attack their own channels, but can call a loop (L1,L2,L3 etc.) in order to attack the open channels. Allow players to discover solutions, question - try not to tell. Change the defenders.

General

Building The Pass Out of The T...

Tell your players the following...... One player will be a ball carrier. The player directly opposite will make a half tackle, lifting the ball carrier onto their shoulder. The ball carrier will look for an off-load to a supporting player on the left or right. The support players will be the first player on the other two cones, to the right and left of the ball carrier. The ball is off-loaded and the catching player becomes the new ball carrier, while the remaining support player becomes the new defender. The other two players clear the traffic and the above happens again - with the new support players coming from the other two cones. This can take a minute or two to get going, but stay with it.

General

Building Speed Onto The Ball S...

The speed of the pass should be reasonable and provide the interceptors with a chance of success. Tell the players the following.... The rest of the players will start one cone back from the passers, each standing one behind the other. The first player will go, aiming to intercept the flat pass. Then the next, until all players have intercepted the pass. They then move another cone back - to do the same. They keep moving back until they don't have enough speed to get onto the ball. Don't forget to give the passers a chance, they could be injured players who you might want to keep busy with simple passing.

General

Building The Contact 2 Contact...

<b>Setup:</b> Set up with 4 players with pads, and four players facing them about five metres away. There should be enough space between the players to ensure that they and the players making the hit are safe. The rest of the players fall in behind the leading 4 players who will be making the first hit. Each group of four will go together. The players holding the pads should do so with one hand on each strap, not with one arm through both straps as this exposes them to a lower arm fracture on a big hit. Have more than one group if necessary, as you don't want to have players waiting for more than 20-30 seconds between hits. Start slowly to get the technique right, and build from there. Tell the hitting players to raise their elbows 90 degrees or more. They will notice that their shoulders get bigger. Demo this with another coach if necessary.

General

Building The Defence 1 Sevens ...

Tell your players the following......... The coach will call a number e.g. 1. That attacking group must attack, aiming to score a try at the opposite end of the grid. The defence must try to stop them. Simple as that - except the number calls will be quick - there will be no delays between attacks, so the defence must be Sharpe and respond quickly to what they see. That's it - lets play. Don't forget to change the defenders.

General

Building 8 man scrum Scrum - R...

Front rowSetting the front row is the building blocks for a scrum.The 3 players (Prop, Hooker, Prop) should stand in a line facing the opposition. Two props tuck in close to the hooker either-side, wrapping their inside are around the hookers shorts or T-shirt maintaining a strong and tight grip. (Reach as far around the hooker as possible so the shorts or t-shirt are tight. This should pull the hooker in tight to both props hips. The hooker then lowers arms from above his head and wraps them around the 2 props, pulling tight onto their tshirts.Hooker needs flexibility to move hi slower body to hook the ball.Once set, the players sink from their hips as a unit - usually with a call routine. Then they wait for the refs calls to crouch, touch, engage. Where they use explosive leg drive while maintaining ga flat back and strong core to push the other props off the Second Row While standing bind together - holding on to eachothers waisteline or shirt.With thier outside arm, place it through the legs of the prop infornt of them, holdin gon to shorts. - keeps props tightChins off chest, stright back, hips below chets. Flankers + number 8enganemnt and hit is most important here.8 must be bound before engangemnt for saftery and to add weight ot the pack. Larger flanker on tight head side - stay down and push on the engamnet - gives support ot the tighthead prop. Loose head - does less pushing

General

Building the Ruck - One Step A...

Have 3 or more pad holders, this depends on how many rucking units you wish to have and how many players you have at training - but work hard to keep every player busy and active. The 3 pad holder should be about 5 meters back from the rucking units, and they should be holding the pads safely. Players should work in groups of 2, and there will be 1 scrum half. Only one ball is needed as the scrum half will move the ball from unit to unit. Get the players moving quickly, and tell the players the following.... One player carries the ball into contact and presents the ball. The other player provides covers and time for the scrum half to move the ball to the next unit. The scrum half should move the ball from unit to unit, and the units/pads should reposition themselves for the next line of attacks. Keep the action going, and don't forget to change the players on the pads.

General

Building the Contact Contact S...

<b>Setup:</b> Set up with 4 players with pads, and four players facing them about five metres away. There should be enough space between the players to ensure that they and the players making the hit are safe. The rest of the players fall in behind the leading 4 players who will be making the first hit. Each group of four will go together. The players holding the pads should do so with one hand on each strap, not with one arm through both straps as this exposes them to a lower arm fracture on a big hit. Have more than one group if necessary, as you don't want to have players waiting for more than 20-30 seconds between hits. Start slowly to get the technique right, and build from there. Tell the hitting players to put their hands behind their backs and make a hit on the pad using their shoulder. Remind them to keep their head up and to place their head to the side of the pads. Demo this with another coach if necessary.

General

Building The Switch Pass Passi...

Keep your player briefing short and tell your players the following.... 3 attackers line up on the first three cones, the rest fall in behind. One attacking line will go at a time. The SH will work from near the top of the grid - off to the left. The first attacking line goes. The SH passes to the first receiver in the attacking line.. The ball carrier and the second receiver switch - using the top to cones as targets. They can..... Switch, dummy, pass to the 3rd receiver. That's it - let the players play.

General

Building The Defence 2 - TURNO...

Tell your players the following......... The coach will call a number e.g. 1. That attacking group must attack, aiming to score a try at the opposite end of the grid. The defence must try to stop them, but their target is to turnover the ball. Simple as that - except the number calls will be quick - there will be no delays between attacks, so the defence must be Sharpe and respond quickly to what they see. That's it - lets play. Don't forget to change the defenders.

General

3v2 School - Rugby Drills, Rug...

Set up two lines of 3 cones, about 10 meters apart, with players on each of the three cones. On the coach's whistle players play out a 3v2 (always 3 attackers and 2 defenders). Defenders should look initially to defend the first 2 attackers.

General

Switch Drill Passing - Rugby D...

Drill to practice inside running lines (switches) in attack.Set up a 10m x 10m square (green cones) with two attackers (blue) on one side of the square, and one defender (red) on the other side of the square on the left hand side (see diagram).The attacker with the ball runs forward, then diagonally across the square towards the diagonally opposite cone, to get the defender to chase him.The second attacker also runs forward, then switches back across the square towards where the defender has come form.The ball carrier turns towards his outside and passes to the other attacker who is running a switch. They then score over the try-line marked by the green cones.If the defender holds for the switching player, the ball carrier should continue running and score over the try-line marked by the green cones.

General

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building SESSIONS

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building ANSWERS

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we have a very old and antique scrum machine, does?

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attitude issues with several players

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U9 tackling games for confidence building

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plans for building a scrum mac...

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Under 9`s rugby, fear of tackl...

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My U11's are a mixed bunch whe...

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Tackling progression plan to i...

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Raphael Wood Coach, Australia

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My fowards seem afraid to ruck...

My fowards seem afraid to ruck and stand around the ruck while in the way of the scrum half trying to get the ball out to the backs. They also don't support the ball carrier while he is being tackled. Please help me with any suggestions!!!

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building COMMUNITY DRILLS

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Rugby building a full scrum

Autosave 82559292

Two pods working together, mini ruck

Phase Building 2

running tackle bags

Mini Shuttles

Passing Lanes

Break through

Defense Into Tackle

Tackle Counter Ruck 2v2 progress to more

RUCKING PHASES

JOIN SPORTPLAN FOR FREE

search our library of 1100+ rugby drills
create your own professional coaching plans
or access our tried and tested plans

Rugby

STAY CONNECTED

in more ways than one

sportplan_rugby

LATEST COACHING TRENDS

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VIEW ALL COACHING TRENDS

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Rugby: building

The Decision-Making Framework

Developing Observation Skills

Situational Awareness

Risk Management

Pressure Moments

Communication in Decision-Making

Learning from Decisions

Developing Decision-Makers

Key Coaching Points

Drills to Develop Game Intelligence

JOIN SPORTPLAN FOR FREE

6 Things Changing Rugby in 2026

Women's Rugby 2025: A Record Year for Coaching

Game Management: Decision Making Under Pressure

3 person front row.

Off-Loading Pass

Pass Invaders

Passing in Traffic

Passing to Support

Pop and Pass

Pop, roll, down, up and gut

Pressure Cooker

Quick Hands

Split with Trailer

Building The Loop Passing - Ru...

Building The Pass Out of The T...

Building Speed Onto The Ball S...

Building The Contact 2 Contact...

Building The Defence 1 Sevens ...

Building 8 man scrum Scrum - R...

Building the Ruck - One Step A...

Building the Contact Contact S...

Building The Switch Pass Passi...

Building The Defence 2 - TURNO...

3v2 School - Rugby Drills, Rug...

Switch Drill Passing - Rugby D...

Pre-season Contact Build-Up | ...

Contact: Rucking technical session

Introduction to Handling and Unit Plays

Building player's confidence in contact

Position Specific Speed Training

Rocking the Ruck

Improving the length of pass

Defensive Principal: Competing Jackal!

Dominating the Ruck

Fun Tag Session! - Passing, Evasion and Running

Does anyone have drawings for a SCRUM MACHINE?

how would you describe key factor analysis in one sentence?

we have a very old and antique scrum machine, does?

only a good 3 and 15

Can I and should I coach basic tackle skills to U8s?

attitude issues with several players

How can I create animations?

U9 tackling games for confidence building

good tackling drill that is not too hard or impact??

Building team culture

hitt training with ball for u10

I need ideas for fun team buil...

Team building activities u12s ...

plans for building a scrum mac...

Building a scrum sled | Sportp...

Under 9`s rugby, fear of tackl...

My U11's are a mixed bunch whe...

First time coaching the U13s n...

Tackling progression plan to i...

My fowards seem afraid to ruck...

Rugby building a full scrum

Autosave 82559292

Two pods working together, mini ruck

Phase Building 2

running tackle bags

Mini Shuttles

Passing Lanes

Break through

Defense Into Tackle

Tackle Counter Ruck 2v2 progress to more

RUCKING PHASES

JOIN SPORTPLAN FOR FREE

6 Things Changing Rugby in 2026