can anyone recommend a good drill for practising the missed pass, besides just passing along a line?

Simon JonesCoach, England

Nick It is easiest to practise the miss pass in a line - see attached practice. The key though is to get your players to understand when a miss pass is most effective. To develop this understanding perhaps you could get your players to play 3 v 2 in small grids and encourage players to make miss passes (reward with extra points)to put teammates in for a try. The key points are that the missed player in the middle calls for the ball and angles their run away from where the pass is going.

I hope this helps Simon

Quick Hands

DESCRIPTION

Tell your players the following..... The first player runs out with the ball to the first set of cones and passes the ball to the second player. The second player then runs out to the next set of cones and passes the ball to the third player, who runs out to the next set of cones. In the last area of cones, the ball has to be passed quickly amongst all the players.

Quick Hands

DESCRIPTION

Tell your players the following..... The first player runs out with the ball to the first set of cones and passes the ball to the second player. The second player then runs out to the next set of cones and passes the ball to the third player, who runs out to the next set of cones. In the last area of cones, the ball has to be passed quickly amongst all the players.

Rugby CoachCoach

Nick, sorry, blowing my own trumpet time; look up the Technical Journal in the RFU website, archives Autumn 2006 (I think - but it is definitely 2006), and there is a series of practices for passing, including the one you need. Basically, I put 3 attackers in a line facing 2 tackle bags fairly close together. They represent the "best tacklers in the world (thereby answering the question "Why do that pass)," and the aim is for Player 1 to pass to Player 3 so that Player 3 receives the ball in the space outside the second bag. In my article, I have 5 in a line with 4 bags (2 then 2), so that Player 1 and Player 3 both have to try the miss pass. Start at jogging speed, and when the players get good, introduce a speed contest between the sets of players in some way. I made the players go through 5 times changing positions with each run so that they all played in every position, and timed the 5 runs. Reward for the fastest team. Dropped passes/any other miss voided the run. Do it left and right.