Rugby: Lifting Pods

8 players are lined up just outside the 22 metre line, with 3 defenders starting under the posts with the ball.

One of the defenders kicks the ball towards the 22 metre line. Once they the attackers have caught the ball they have to try and score a try without being tagged/ tackled by the defence.

Allow the attacking team 5 minutes to score as many tries as they can, before changing attack and defence around.

The aim of the exercise is to develop ball control and reaction catching skills.

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.

• Two teams
• Attacking and defensive focus
• Normal 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 down
• Attacking team look to identify the space created from defensive drop out
• Working on defensive communication and work rate