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Rugby: running lines and fixing defenders

running lines and fixing defenders DRILLS
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Rugby: Running into space from...

2 groups of 2 players start on set cones about 15m apart. The 2 players are situated one in behind the other, the same goes for the second set of 2 players. Once the player with the ball starts to run, the supporter goes wide and straightens onto a gate of cones. As soon as he passes the ball the second supporter can start to move out to his designated gate. Ensure that the players hide behind one another!

General

Quick hand and quick positioni...

4 players work together in a 6x6m grid. Players attack each line of the square, from the inside. Once they get to the 4th man they move onto the next closest line to the ball carrier. All the players in support must get into a good position to receive the ball deep and work onto the ball straight towards the line. Players keep going until they finish the last line of the grid.

General

Running Lines with Defence Pas...

Running straight and changing your running line will make players better attackers and underpins an effective 2 v 1Start with a 5 v 3 situation, all five attackers start in a slightly angled line with the end player with ball in handOn Go, the play starts and the first pass is made. The receiving player runs a straight line toward the opposing player and 'fixes them up', meaning the defender is square on and must make the decision to either tackle or anticipate the pass

General

Rugby: Turnover ball - Creatin...

5 players in a group, line up within touching distance of one another, facing the coach who has a ball in his hand.The coach then calls "turnover" and the Players quickly get width, but are not allowed to work backwards to get depth.Once the players get depth the coach lets the first man off the mark by popping the ball in the air, as it is popped he moves off the mark and accelerates onto the ball and moves forward.

General

3 v 2 Fixing Defenders Passing...

This is a backs moves passing exercise, aimed at drawing and fixing up a defender, to give a supporting teammate more space and take the defender out of the play3 attackers line up along one side of the area, 2 defenders stand next to each other on the short side next to the coachOn GO, the defenders run into position and the coach passes to the first attackerThe attacker runs with the ball towards the first defender before passing sideways to their teammateThat player then runs at the second defender and before contact passes across to the spare attacker to run to the other end of the area.

General

Fixing Defender Progression Pa...

Groups 10+ Balls Cones Sausages.1. Chanel Fix Groups of 5. Attack sausages lined up one behind eachother. They must use footwork to step to a side of the sausage and then give a pass before running into/past it.2. Passing Grid - Static Defenders Normal 3 man passing grid, however with sausages placed in the middle.Players run forward use footwork to beat the bag and give the pass back inside. (pass before the sausage).3. Passing Grid - Moving defenders. Same as above but instead of sausages, use moving defenders with bags.4. Passing Grid - Starting on corners.Groups of 4 start on each corner with 2 defenders in the middle. The attacking line must get around the corner and square up to beat the 2 defenders. At other end give to next group and start again. Continuous. 5. Final Game Groups of 3 on all sides of the grid, with 2 defenders in the middle.Continuous drill to score as many tries as possibel in 1 min. Focus on all skills above.

General

Develop Running Lines Off 9 Ma...

This drill coaches players the lines they should run when receiving the ball in order to maximise the chance of them breaking the gain line.<li dir=&quot;ltr&quot;>Use a tackle bag to simulate where the ruck and offside line would be.<li dir=&quot;ltr&quot;>The players line up as if they were going to come &quot;around the corner&quot; to receive the ball.<li dir=&quot;ltr&quot;>Players should run an L shaped running line to get across the first defender and then footwork to get through the second defender.Progression (0.49) - Add an extra pass to the drill<li dir=&quot;ltr&quot;>For the first receiver the drill is exactly the same in terms of the running line.<li dir=&quot;ltr&quot;>Then there is a second player on his outside shoulder who uses the same running line to beat the second defender.<li dir=&quot;ltr&quot;>The first receiver has a choice (1.19) - whether to go through the gain line and pass or pass before he gets to the gainline.What is the gain line?The gain line is an imaginary line in rugby parallel to the halfway line that is the back foot of the breakdown or the defences offsideline.

General

Staying Square and Fixing Defe...

Exercise aimed at attackers staying square when running towards a defender in order to fix them to the spot and then spin a pass out to the side.Attackers start on a cone, before running towards a cone 3m awayOn that cone, the attacker sidesteps (drops the shoulder) and goes the other wayRunning straight now, the attacher goes towards the tackle tube (or whichever necessary object) in front of them and before 'contact' spins the ball out to the opposite sideFor example, if the player stepped towards the left, the pass is made to the player waiting on the right side of the area.

General

Staying square and fixing defe...

Groups of 6+ BallsSausages/BagsCones Players line up opposite the trinagle of cones set up on the floor with ball in hand. Player runs at the black cone, as the player runs the coach shouts either yellow or red (cones). The player with ball then reactes to the colour called and steps to attack that cone. When reached trhe cone the player must perform a pass back the direction they came to player waiting to recieve.

General

The Trinity Sevens - Rugby Dri...

The exercise starts with the first attacking unit running around the bottom of the grid, as they do the first defending unit run around the top of the grid. The first defender run up to defend in line with the first cone, the second defender in line with the middle cone, and the last defender is at the end of the grid. Therefore the attack will aim to beat the 3 defenders, in three 3 v 1 situations. When the attack finishes, they pass the ball to the next attacking unit, and the exercise starts again with the new attacking and defending unit. The last two attacking and defending units, switch sides returning to starting positions, ready to go again.

General

Straight running and passing A...

3 players line up in a straight line, approximately 10m apart, each standing opposite an agility pole. The ball is passed by a scrumhalf to the first receiver The reciver runs straight at the pole and passes the ball to the next player who does the same. Play continues until the third man has completed the exercise

General

Channel & Lane Running Passing...

<span style=&quot;background-color: transparent;&quot;>Set up a 8 channels of cones 5 metres apart<span style=&quot;background-color: transparent;&quot;>A group of 4 players start on the side line, and all players need to work around the nearest/corner cone.<span style=&quot;background-color: transparent;&quot;>The first player with the ball will run into the nearest channel of cones (lane 1) and all the other players will work around the corner cone and filter into the proceeding channels<span style=&quot;background-color: transparent;&quot;>The 1st player passes the ball as soon as the 2nd player gets into the 2nd channel. The ball is passed down the line of 4 players until the 4th players receives the ball.<span style=&quot;background-color: transparent;&quot;>Once the 4th player receives the ball, the ball is placed down and all the players work around to get into their respective channel to repeat the process.<br>

General

4v3 Passing Channel Passing - ...

This is a 4 v 3 overload drill in favour of the attackersThe area is set out, with four attackers spread out across the back line, three defenders 5 yards in front them, and another row of three defenders 5 yards behind themOn GO, the coach passes to the first attacking player, and the ball travels along the line to eventually reach the end playerThat player is then first to reach the next line of defenders, and the ball is passed back along the line and the original attacker should receive the ball in space to 'score a try'.

General

Rugby: Channel Fix - Handling ...

Groups 5 Balls Cones 1. Chanel Fix 5 players Attack Defenders lined up one behind eachother. They must use footwork to step to a side of the sausage and then give a pass before running into/past the defender.

General

3 v 2 Reverse Drill Passing - ...

Drill to practice 3 v 2 attacking scenarios.Set up a channel 20m long and 15m wide with cones every 10m along the length (red, yellow, green).Set up 5 lines of players between the first two cones, the two players on each end are the defenders (red), and the three in the middle are attackers (blue).The ball starts with one of the defenders on one side and that player runs forward and throws a long pass to the defender at the other end of line. He then continues his run around the far (green) cone to defend.The defender who has caught the ball puts it down on the middle (yellow) cone and continues his run around the far (green) cone to defend.Once the second defender has put the ball down on the yellow cone the attackers may begin their attack. The player nearest the cone runs to pick up the ball and then they attack the two defenders, trying to score over the line marked by the green cones. PROGRESSION:Start from the opposite side to practice passing in both directions.Reduce the width of the channel to make it harder for the attackers to scoreAdd a defender to come round late and create a 2 v 1 after the 3 v 2

General

Speed pass challenge Passing -...

Groups of 8Ball Cones2 sets of 4 players line up back to back.Cones are places 3m apart and 3 in fornt of both set of players.When the coach says go the players must complete 4 passes before reaching the far cones. Then they must turn and do the same off coming back. (1 rep) Its a race agaisnt the opposing attackers to compelete the the reps given.

General

Spin Pass Practice Passing - R...

This is a simple yet very effective exercise designed for players to focus on spin passing accuracy.Players start in three lines, about 5 metres apart. This is copied on the other side of the playing area.In the middle of the playing area, in front of the three lines are two plastic poles, a metre apart.An end player starts with the ball, runs through the poles and passes to the left, behind the poles of the next player. The middle player collects and runs through their poles, before passing to the final player, who collects the ball before the poles and runs through.That player then pops the ball to a player waiting on the other side. The exercise continues.

General

Passing Lines of 5 Passing - R...

Set up an area of about 15 x 15m. Have 2 teams of 5+ players, with 1 one ball.The players can run anywhere in the area but can't run with the ball. The first team that get 10 passes wins a point. If the ball in intercepted or dropped then turnover. The 1st pass is after the turnover is free.Stop the game every 1 minute to stretch for 30 seconds.PROGRESSIONPlayers can run with the ballPlayers can run with the ball for 2 seconds onlyOverhead passes onlyTouch the ball on the ground before passingCan't pass back to the person you've received it from

General

4v2 attacking grid Handling - ...

Groups 18Balls ConesGroups of 4 line up on all sides of the square.2 defenders tand in the middle of the grid. The attackers start by fixing and beating the 2 defenders in the middle. Once beaten offload the ball to the next 4 attacking a differnt direction. Aim is to score as many tries as possibel in a set time.

General

Creating the Overlap With a Lo...

This drill is designed to work on the loop; on of the simplest and most effective ways to create your own overlap/space out wide Start with three attackers and three defenders using tackle bags in front of them.Attacker 1 passes to attacker 2 and begins to loop around.Player 1 should then receive the ball back and his next aim is to fix the third defender.Attacker three should make his way out to the edge where the space has been created.Attacker 1 then passes to attacker 3 who has space to get around the defence. Using this drill will develop your players handling under pressure and their attacking vision and ability to create space

General

Passing Grid Progressions Pass...

Start out with a grid of 10 x 10Passing progressions are based upon the ability of players to fix defenders - ensure the exercise reflects match situationsStart with three groups of three or four, each on a corner of the square leaving one corner freePlayers need to come around the corner, bending their runs before straightening up before popping the ball off to the next groupThe ball needs to travel through hands of all the players in the group

General

Quick Ball From Slow Ball Matc...

BagsBalls 2 attackers line up opposite 2 defenders with bosh bags. The coach delivers a ball into the attackers. The ball carrier aims to run an overs line - Outsid ehsoulder of first defdner, and attack the second defender.The second attacker looks to leach on/latch on to the ball carrier pushing them through the contact area. Looking for a quick exstra few yards.

General

3 v 1 Grid Passing - Rugby Dri...

6x6m Grid Ball Players line up in 3s opposite sides of the grid. Simply pass the ball along the line. 1 defender is in the middle of the grid putting pressure on all ball carriers.Once hand completed the next line starts immediately. Defender swaps out when there is a mistake or when he touches someone with the ball. Progression: add another defender, make the passes wider.

General

2 vs 1 - with running support ...

The lead attacker runs at straight at defender. Attacks runs into space, either on the left or the right, takes the tackle and then off-loads to the support player who should be running down the opposite channel to the first attacker (so if the the first attacker runs left the support player goes right).

General

4v1v1 Down the Line Decision m...

Attackers (red players) work down the channel in 4s, working the runners left and right to create space. Defenders are only allowed to defend along their line, marked out with 2 cones. Attackers run in a diamond shape, onto the ball at pace. It's key the support do not get too flat and shoud all be involved. Focus on pass target.

General

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running lines and fixing defenders SESSIONS
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Running Lines and Fixing Defen...

Create doubt in the defender's mind by getting your ball carrier to run straight with the ball, and support runners to run good lines to create depth and width
running lines and fixing defenders ANSWERS
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How can I improve my team's line speed in defence?

How can I improve my team's line speed in defence? Are there any drills which can help me?

michael klieve Coach, England

Scoring tries - habit? | Sport...

Why is it important to get players to score the try when completing a handling/running drill?

Archived User Coach

How do I get the back line run...

Our back line is very sluggish and drift ,any ideas for simple plan to get them moving straight and fast?

Michael Strain Coach, Wales

How can I improve my team's li...

How can I improve my team's line speed in defence? Are there any drills which can help me?

michael klieve Coach, England

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