Rugby: Lateral Pass

Drill to practice attacking in a small channel. Set up a channel roughly 20m wide and 5m long. Position three defenders on the try-line and four attackers opposite them. The attack are trying to score tries over the try line while the defence try to stop them with a two handed touch. The defence can only move laterally. The attack must take the ball back over the white line of cones after every score/touch before they can attack again.

Keep your player briefing, brief! If necessary you might considering having one group quickly demonstrate the exercise to the other players. Tell the players the following....... This exercise is nice and simple. They should stand at a cones in the circle, but their order in number should be random as in the diagram above. They have to pass to the next number up. So 1 passes to 2, who passes to 3 - and so on. That's get - lets get the ball moving!

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.

Split your players into two teams in an approx 20mx15m for 12 players. Change this according to numbers. Give every play a ball, they have to hold this in one hand the entire time whilst moving about the grid Work as a team to complete as many passes as possible without dropping the ball Catch and pass the ball in one hand without using the chest as support

Give each training area one ball and tell the players the following...... Lets just get the ball moving down the line. Give the player at the start of one of the lines a ball, tell the line to advnce using laterial passing - with the last player in each line passing the ball to the first player in the opposite line. This should include all of the players, including the players that will be working in defence. After some time (your call on how long this should be). Tell the players that....... You will have three defenders, 10 meters back from the attack. The attack will start by laying on the ground facing the opposite direction. The defence will leave one channel open, they should vary this each time. The attack should get to their feet when the defence says ATTACK (this give the defence a chance to get ready). The attack should move the ball to the open channel, attacking that channel with more that one player - if possible. The defence can defend their own channel, they can move forward and back, and side to side - but they cannot enter the channel they initally left open. Players should change positions in the line following each attack. Change the defenders after some time.

Keep you player briefing, brief. Get the players moving and training as soon as possible. If you feel it would help, have one group demonstrate. Tell your players the following: They work as pairs, passing the ball back and forth between one another. They can move anywhere in the grid, be as close or as far apart as they like. Passes may not be forward. The temp should be high, and ball carriers should not hold onto the ball for more than 3 seconds. When they hear the first whistle they keep working but listen to the instruction. On the second whistle the ball carrier executes that instruction. Instructions can include: Pass the ball between your legs, pass the ball around your back, pass the ball around your neck, roll the ball down your back and catch it, flick the ball over your head and catch it etc. These can be as simple or as complex as you like. This is about getting your players to control the ball, to be more comfortable handling the ball. This should be fun, but players should strive to control the ball and may even end up impressing themselves and others.

Tell the players the following.... Player 1 starts with the ball. Player 1 passes the ball to player 2 and then quickly moves off their cone and runs to the cone where player 2 is and back to their cone. Player 2 then passes to player 3, follows the pass to the position of player 3 and back to their starting position. Change your passing hand each time The aim is to for the players to be back in their starting position before the ball returns back, but main thing is that they provide a good pass to the receiving player.

Give each training area one ball and tell the players the following...... Lets just get the ball moving down the line. Give the player at the start of one of the lines a ball, tell the line to advnce using laterial passing - with the last player in each line passing the ball to the first player in the opposite line. After some time (your call on how long this should be). Tell the players that, with the exception of the first player in each line, every reciever will not be able to pass the ball until touched on the shoulder by the player that passed them the ball. Every passer must follow their pass, touching the reciever on the shoulder to release the next pass. After the supporting player has made their touch, and the ball has been passed, they should return to their original channel. Players should change positions in the line following each attack.

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.

Great for scrum halves to practice placement of foot and following through with hands. 2 balls, 3 support players, 1 passer Ted on the ground as if one is feeding from the backhe support players set up a triangle on your given dimensions. The person at the top of the triangle is the feeder for the passer, who will stand one metre from the feeder on the inside of the triangle. The feeder starts with a ball as well as the passer who will start with his ball in the position of a scrum or maul. Once the first pass is made the feeder must immediately place the next ball on the ground for the second pass to go to the next support player. Support players should return the ball immediately to the feeder. Work for a minute and rotate.

Good for warm ups and co-ordination, getting used to keeping your body straight on and handling the ball and practicing using your arms to pass the ball rather than the whole body moving. 2 balls, 2 players Players stand 2 or 3 metres apart facing each other holding a ball on opposite hips (one on right and one on left). Work for 30-40 seconds on pushing the ball and passing from the hips to the other players chest; passes are made at the same time so coordination is key and the pass received must be returned from the same hip it was received.

Tell the players the following..... This is simple, just attack from the bottom and top of the grid at pace. There can be two groups in the grid at any one time. Anyone in the line can start with the ball, and the attack should vary between lateral and creative. The ball and attack will be considered alive within the grid, so respond at all times. Players should change places within the attacking line after each attack. The starting position of the ball should change on each attack. Players should avoid contact within the grid.

The aim of the drill is to develop players speed of pass.

Passing in partners. Players stand opposite each other about 3-4m away. One player will take 1-2 steps forward, then pass back and sideways to their partner. Their partner then takes 1-2 steps forward, as they walk backwards to their original spot, so the player can pass back to them. Continuous walking and passing.

Simple hand drill that can be progressed onto many simple backline movements. 1 ball, 4 players, area of 20-30m by 20m 1st player starts with the ball who commences the sequence by running, 2nd player run from depth and receive the ball then pass to 3rd player who will do the same to the 4th. From this point the order will reverse to get another repetition through everyone's hands so you can score at the end of the grid.

In partners get your players to move round each other, passing with 1 hand round the "back of their hand".

Tell your players the following....... There should be one group of 4 players between each cone on the four sides of the grid. The ball carrying group will advance - passing the ball down the line. When the ball gets to the last receiver in the attacking line, they will pass the ball to the first receiver in the next attacking line. Simple as that - they should keep going. All four groups must go, in any one cycle of attacks - a cycle is 4 attacks. Progression: Add in one or two defenders, have them work from side to side - rather than closing down space and - don't forget to change the defenders into attack after some time in defence.

Keep your player briefing, brief! If necessary you might considering having one group quickly demonstrate the exercise to the other players. Tell the players the following....... This exercise is nice and simple, and fun. Each player will stand on a cone. The game starts with 1 pass right, then two passes left, then three right, then four left, then five right and so on until someone makes a mistake. The tempo of this game should be high. Close the circle as each player leaves. If you make a mistake, your out! A mistake includes: dropped balls and bad passes. The last two players standing, still play the game with two balls. If players can't agree who made a mistake - you resolve all disputes. Quick Hands! This should be fun! Don't forget to keep players that have been put out busy.

Keep your player briefing, brief - and get the players moving as quickly as you can. You may consider having a demo group. On your go: The player acting as the Scrum Half passes a ball to the grid on his right and then another ball to the grid on his left, both passes will be from the ground. Upon receiving the pass - each grid begins their 2 v 1 attack and the player with the tackle pad presses up in defence. When the player acting as the scrum half has completed their two passes, they join the attackers on either the left or right grid. The first receiver of each attack becomes a Scrum Half - or simply returns to the start of the grid to join a new attack as the first receiver. Players rotate positions e.g. Scrum Half, First Receiver, Second Receiver. Defenders can move forward and back, and side to side. Change the defenders often to give them a chance in attack.

Tell your players the following..... There will be 4 players on the outside of the circle, starting at 12, 3, 6, and 9 o'clock positions. There will be one player in the middle. The players on the outside of the circle jog around the circle. The player in the middle will have a ball, and will pass the ball to one of the runners - for them to run onto it. The new ball carrier will pass the ball back to the static player in the middle of the circle. And the same happens again, but the passer cannot bass to the same player twice. Players will have to respond to the calls: SLOW JOG, FAST JOG, FASTER, CHANGE DIRECTION, TOUCH THE GROUD WITH YOUR RIGHT HAND, TOUCH THE GROUND WITH YOUR LEFT HAND, etc. Don't forget to change the static player.