Rugby: Zig Zag Passing Practice

As the start of the season nears, continue to build your players resilience to contact and ensure they?re up to speed with their physical conditioning with this demanding session.

• 2 Teams.
• Half Pitch.

Touch Game with conditions; 

Attacker once touched must go down, bounce back up and drive into defender, then perform a long place. 

While all defenders retreat 3m and hit the floor and bounce back up again before continuing play. 

• Groups of 2
• Bags
• Balls
• Contact conditioning 

1. Body height clear out work

In there groups, do contact hits on each shoulder. Stand 2m apart and take turns doing hits against bag

2. Crocodile role

One player lies on top of a tackle sausage (long way round), the group of 4 take turns swapping roles of being tackled and tackler. Focus is the crocodile role.

3. Clear out.

One player stands over the top of tackle bag competing for the ball. Other player arrives from 2m away to clear out the player, to prevent the threat of stealing the ball.

3. Bounce and compete

Players lay either side of the a ball. When whistle goes, both players bounce off the floor, one competes for the ball while the other focuses on clear out or crocodile role.

Do 3 sets of 2mins. Repetitive drill.

• Groups 9+ 
• Ball
• Cones

This could be perfect fro a warm up drill. 

Player with the ball runs to first cone and performs a pull back pass to the second receiver then onto the 3rd.

When the ball reaches the third the 3rd reciver runs to the cone and performs a pull back pass back inside the the 2nd reciver in the next line. 

This is continuus and should be short and fast pase.

Break your players into two teams.

• One team goes to attack, and one to defence.
• There is no kicking in this game.
• Normal laws of rugby do not apply e.g. the ball can be passed in any direction.
• The ball is passed from player to player, but once the ball is caught - the ball carrier must stop moving. They can move only to pass the ball to another player.
• The defenders can close down attackers, working to remove attacking options.
• Defenders can intercept the ball, but must leave the ball carrier alone once the ball is cause. They can apply pressure on the pass, similar to the pressure that a bastleball player might apply (but consider using this as a progression).
• Tries can be scored by attackers who catch the ball inside the oppositions in goal area.
• Dropped balls result in a turn over.