Rugby: Building the Ruck - One Step At A Time

On the coach's call players with the ball run into contact with the pad, next go to ground and finally roll over protecting the ball.

Have 3 or more pad holders, this depends on how many rucking units you wish to have and how many players you have at training - but work hard to keep every player busy and active. The 3 pad holder should be about 5 meters back from the rucking units, and they should be holding the pads safely. Players should work in groups of 2, and there will be 1 scrum half. Only one ball is needed as the scrum half will move the ball from unit to unit. Get the players moving quickly, and tell the players the following.... One player carries the ball into contact and presents the ball. The other player provides covers and time for the scrum half to move the ball to the next unit. The scrum half should move the ball from unit to unit, and the units/pads should reposition themselves for the next line of attacks. Keep the action going, and don't forget to change the players on the pads.

Condition the drill in favour of 1 team, in this case the blue team. All players lay on their fronts behind the tackle bags. On the coaches whistle, the 2 teams move to contest possession. The blue players can move straight over the bag to contest, but only the 1st red player can do the same. The other 2 red players have to run round the cones before moving in to counter ruck.

Fun game 1 v 1 game to improve skills on both sides of the breakdown. One player lies face down either side of a tackle tube (players in 'head to toe' position). The coach stands at the end of the tube with the ball and taps it on the back of one of the players. That player is then 'in possession' of the ball and the ball is on the ground on one side of and against the tackle tube. Players then face off from each side of the tackle tube.

Ball. Groups of 3+ 2 attackers line up infront of a defender.  The 1st attackers takes the ball into contact  The defender makes a low chop tackle. The 2nd attacker resposibility is to clear away the tackler from the contact area and look after the ball. Progression : Add second defedner with a tack;e nag to test the stability of the clearer. 

groups of 4  sausages  ball 2 players lie next to the sausages, with a ball wedged between them. When coach blows his whistle the players take turns in bouncing off the floor as quickly as possible and competing for ball. 

tackle sausage  Place 2 sausages perpendicular from eachother in a T shape.  Have one player line up a couple meters away from the bag.  Conditioning drill, the player does reps of clearing the bag, running back to the line, doing a down up and going again. 

Groups of 3+  Bag  Sausage 2 player starts on his chest infront of the sausage, another player lines up opposite. When whistle is blown, the first player makes a chop tackle on the bag and rolls out the way.  The second defender then then spider carwls over the sausage and clears the incoming bag holder. 

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 of 10+  Tackle bags  Cones step 1 - players perform a down up - chest to the floor.  Step 2 - Players make a double shoulder hitbetween 2 bags opposite. Step 3 - active player moves down the line to hit the next group of 2 bags.   At the end players start again, aim to do 2/3 min sets then swap the bags. 

This is a two person exercise, designed to improve ability at the ruck Stand up a tackle tube One player tackles the tube to the floor, before turning to face the opposite direction and ruck against a second player The two players contest the ruck, with the tackle tube between their legs

Bag  Ball  Player lies oppsite a tackle bag. and fires from hips to get in the jackal postion.  Keep rotating the same way until coach says chnage direction.  Progression: Chest to floor.  Introduce a bag.  Introduce a ball.

In small teams, play a modified game where if the ball carrier is touched on the shorts with both hands of a defender, the ball carrier must go to ground and present the ball to a support player who passes the ball from the ground unopposed Change possession once a try has been scored.

Groups of five Three attackers try and score against one defender If touched must ruck

4 players stand on the corners of a 5x5m grid, and one player in the middle (the piggy). They play piggy in the middle until the whistle goes.On hearing the whistle: The player with ball in hand is pillar aka 1. The rest of the players FOLD in and become 2,3,4 and 5 in the defenesive line. Once they are set, they call hold hold and press off the line.

On the shout of "GO" the scrum half passes to the player on the first cone, who attacks the 1st bag. Once the bag is attacked and cleared out, the scrum half then passes to the player at the 2nd cone. Once the player at the 2nd cone has attacked their back, the scrum half then passes the ball to the person on the 3rd cone who repeats the exercise. Once the last bag is attacked the exercise is repeated.

In groups of four, the ball carrier runs out, turns and passes the ball to the second player. The first player then becomes a defender. Player 2 goes into contact and tries to drive the defender forward but when stopped, slides down to ground and presents the ball. Player 3 then drives over player 2, clearing the defender out of the way. Player 4 picks up the ball and runs on to the end where the drill is restarted running back down the grid

Have a line of two or more ruck shields, a safe distance apart, five meters from the players that will make the hits. Make sure that the pad holders are holding their pads safely. You should also make sure that you have as many stations as you need in order to keep as many of your players as busy as possible. The player facing the pad should do the following... Approach the pad high. Hit low and hard with the shoulder. Take the pad holders leading leg, raising they legs off the ground. Drive through the hit, placing their non leg holding hand rightly around the body of the pad holder. They should pump with their legs, beyond the contact.

In this exercise position 3 pad holding units, or 1 or 2 players, five meters in front of 3 rucking units, 1 unit facing each pad. Two players on each pad will provide a little more support for the pad holder - this is useful when a smaller player on the pad may be facing a larger/heavier ball carrier, or an aggressive rucking unit. There should be one scrum half and only the first rucking group should have a ball. Get started as soon as you can (but don't forget to make sure that the pad holder is holding the pad correctly and that everyone is working hard, but staying safe) - just let the players do what they will, you can refine their rucking roles and the level of execution as the exercise continues. The first rucking unit should hit the first pad, the scrum half will pass the ball to the second unit which hits the second pad, the scrum half passes the ball to the third unit, which hits the third pad. The other pads and the rucking units realign and get ready to go again. Once the third unit has finished their ruck, the scrum half passes the ball back to the second unit and so on. The exercise should stay live for as long as you need, and be action packed. Please don't have players standing around for too long, everyone should have something to do - and they should be involved! Enjoy.

Set up two defenders holding hit shields opposite two even lines of players. The ball starts with the first man in one of the lines, he runs towards the defender, hits the hit shield and goes down to present the ball. The player behind him in the line clears the defender off the ball and the third player in the line passes the ball off the floor to the first player in the other line who is running onto the pass and runs at the defender. The players from the first line join the back of their line. The player who has received the pass hits the hit shield, goes to ground and presents the ball towards his team. The second player clears out the defender, and the third player passes the ball off the floor to the first player in the other line.  Players switch roles after each repetition, and should switch lines to practice passing in both directions of the floor.