Rugby: high kick catching

Drill to practice catching high kicks. Set up a grid roughly 15m long and 10m wide. Get a line of players on one side of the grid, and a coach or kicker on the other side. The coach kicks the ball high into the air, the player at the front of the line runs into the grid and tries to catch the kick. Once they have caught the kick they pass the ball back to the coach and join the back of the line. The coach then kicks the ball for the next player in line to catch. PROGRESSION: Encourage players to jump as they catch the ball Add in a defender to put pressure on the player catching the ball.

Drill to practice catching high kicks.Set up a grid roughly 15m long and 10m wide.Get a line of players on one side of the grid, and a coach or kicker on the other side.The coach kicks the ball high into the air, the player at the front of the line runs into the grid and tries to catch the kick. Once they have caught the kick they pass the ball back to the coach and join the back of the line.The coach then kicks the ball for the next player in line to catch.PROGRESSION:Encourage players to jump as they catch the ballAdd in a defender to put pressure on the player catching the ball.

5 players working with 1 ball in a grid 20 by 20 meters, working on their grubber kicks and punts. One player stands on each corner of the grid. Players must kick the ball to each other whilst the player in the middle attempts to intercept the ball. If the kick is intercepted the kicker becomes the chaser.

2 players. 1 ball. Player A throws or kicks a high ball for player B to catch in a stationary position. Player B stands side on to take the catch.

Call for the ball! Head and eyes up looking at the ball, get in line with the ball. Quickly move to the ball's 'drop zone' Adjust position to get under ball, hands up and ready to take ball Turn the body to protect during contact and also to avoid a potential knock on if dropped ball Raise one knee to protect yourself from any potential contact (Note: it's illegal to be tackled in the air). As you land on your feet brace yourself for contact.

The aim of the drill is to develop the Bomb kick

Split the group into three teams. One team starts in the middle of the grid along the line. The idea of the game is to kick the ball over the middle team and try to land the ball in the oppositions area. If the ball is caught then no points are scored, if the ball bounces in the oppositions area then 1 point is scored. If one of the players in the middle catches the ball (they gain 1 point) then they swap positions with the team that kicked the ball.

2 players and 1 ball. <p class="p1">Player A throws or kicks a high ball for player B to catch by taking steps to meet the ball.

One player starts with ball and runs to first cone, where he kicks the ball across to the other cone. The other player must time his run to collect the ball. He should be collecting the ball as near to full pace as he can. Either a grubber or a chip kick can be used. With a chip kick, the receiving player should try to catch the ball on the full.

• The aim of the drill is to develop kickers through the gate and keeping square onto the kick.

Two teams with one team in the middle.Each player has to kick the ball over the the middle team for a member of the other team to catch. The catcher then gives a pop pass for the next member of the team to kick over.If one of the middle team intercepts the ball they swap over with the team that kicked the ball.

The aim of the drill is to develop a high ball over head catch

2 players, 1 ball. The player with the ball throws the ball up and both player jump up to compete for the ball winner scores the point and throws up the next ball.

The aim of the drill is to develop a high ball over head catch with tennis balls

Tell the players the following laws....... One team will be attacking, the ball carrying team. The other will be a defending team. Defending players mark attacking players. The ball is passed by kicking, and can travel in any direction. Players try to catch the ball in the air, and have 3 seconds to make the pass. They can take 3 steps in that time. Tries are scored in the usual way. Players can compete for lose balls. Players should use all of the space available, and should move the ball to space. You can make this game a little harder by saying that attacking players must catch the passed ball in the air, if they do not, then the ball is turned over to the other team.

Tell your players to do the following...... The first ball carrier will throw the ball high into the air. The runner will catch it and pass to the player on the opposite cone. They do the same up and down the grid, before swapping with another player.

The aim of the drill improve Height and accuracy of the kick.

Set up 4 grids of about 8-10m by 5m. 3 players start on the first grid, working from one end to the other, covering the 5m distance. The aim is to stay in one straight line as they go up, and also keep themselves evenly spaced Once they have achieved that, they fall back into the next grid diagonally across and back. Now there should be 6 players on the line, and they all work together to come off the line, as one. Players continue working like this, until they reach the end of the grid. Once the coach blows his whistle the line may press off.

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: We will be playing a rugby league style touch. When touched: set the ball down, stand over the ball, allow the scum-half to move the ball away from the point of contact. The defenders should stay on side following a touch, and should not compete for the ball. Any infringements in defence should result in the defending team conceding 10 Meters or possibly giving 1 or more extra touches to the attacking team. I'll leave this to your judgement depending on your team's age, skill level, and your session target/s. The attacking team can sustain three touches before they have to kick. Their kick should be as it would be in the game: a kick to touch, a kick for territory, or a kick that can be regained e.g. a grubber kick. The defenders should behave as they would in a real game. Quick put in's from the touchlines replace lineouts. Defenders who take the ball from an attacking kick should counter attack. A forth touch results in a turn over. The Scrum Half has a maxium of 5 seconds to move the ball from the point of touch. A ball kicked directly to touch from outside the attacking teams 22, or where the ball has been taken into the 22 by the attacking team and then kicked into touch - will result in a turn over with play starting on the five meter line closest to where the kick was made. The defence should be 10 meters back. A ball kicked from inside the attacking teams 22 can go directly to touch, as long as the attacking team did not carry the ball into their own 22 before the kick. The resulting put in will be to the opposition from where the ball has went into touch. Quick put-in's are enoucraged, if not possible the ball is played from the 5 meter line with the defence 10 meters back. Give points for quick put ins that work. Feel free to play with any of noted laws, let us know the law variations that work for you!

Tell your players the following, keeping your player briefing, brief! It's vital to get the players moving as quickly as possible. Each of the three cones should have one player. The player in the middle will have a ball, and one of the two other players will have a ball. The player in the middle has to throw their ball up in the air (vertical), catch the ball being passed from the other ball carrier, and then forward the passed ball onto the other player in the group, before catching the ball that they just threw up into the air. Once that is done, they do the same again - this time the lateral pass will come from the opposite direction. This is repeated, the tempo increasing as the players get more comfortable handling the two balls they must keep in play. Change the position of each player in the group; there can be a competition between the players to find out who can do the most without dropping any of the balls, or giving a poor quality pass. Have fun with this, but don't forget that there are great lessons to be learned here, many of which are noted in the coaching points.