Rugby: Pressure Ball

Break your players down into groups of 3.

In each area there should be 1 player with a tackle shield, 1 player with a tackle bag, and one with nothing.

Tell players to do the following.....

1. One player stands five meters from the start of the channel holding up a tackle bag.
2. One player stands at the opposite end of the channel with a tackle shield.
3. One player will be running and making contact at any given time.
4. The Player with nothing in hand runs to the player with the pad and drives them across the grid.
5. On reaching the end they swap roles and the other player runs across the grid to the tackle bag, hits hard, and makes a tackle at the end of the grid. Following the tackle the players swap roles the new player runs across to the player with the pad and the exercise continues.

• They pass the ball around either clock wise or anti clock wise, you can decide to change the direction youself at any point during the exercise.
• After the player passes the ball they have to follow their pass, touching the cone of the player they passed to - then get back to their cone before receiving the next pass.
• The tempo of this exercise should be high.

Players stand in a inner circle and have an outer circle 5m behind them.

2 players in the middle. one player passes the ball to one of the outside players. The other central player runs at the player with the ball rips the ball off the player and presents the ball to the original passer. This player then passes the ball to another player in the circle and the practice repeats it self.

• Within a group there are two groups of 4 attackers and one chaser/scrum half.
• At the middle point, marked by a cones, the scrum half moves the ball to the first attacking line.
• The scrum half firstly tracks the progress of the ball, as the exercise progresses - the scrum half should apply more and more pressure to the ball carrier - working up to the point of becoming a full on defender.
• When the ball reaches the opposite end of the grid, the last player in the line sets the ball down.
• The scrum half then feeds the ball to the next attacking line, fulfilling their own role within the exercise.
• The opposite attacking line should realign in preparation for the next attack.
• The tempo of this exercise should be high.