Rugby: high knee

The coach sets off the players one by one. As players run in a straight line they progress to the first cone and need to react to the colour called out by the coach. Players step in the direction of the call and then step back inside again, straightening up and accelerating out!

Partners Work in 1 min setsThis game is to increace heart rate, reaction times and footwork. The aim of the game is to tap/slap either the soulder, knee, or foot of your partner. Shoulder - 2 points Knee - 3 pointsFoot - 5 pointsGood for contact warm up - essential to stay light on feet, and foot in close (2 skills you work on in tackling)

Call for the ball! Head and eyes up looking at the ball, get in line with the ball. Quickly move to the ball's 'drop zone' Adjust position to get under ball, hands up and ready to take ball Turn the body to protect during contact and also to avoid a potential knock on if dropped ball Raise one knee to protect yourself from any potential contact (Note: it's illegal to be tackled in the air). As you land on your feet brace yourself for contact.

The aim of the exercise is to develop core activation buy pulling your core in and at the same time fire your glutes forward and squeeze them tight, this is the activation movement we are looking for when we throw the ball this will then keep you in a strong position.

Simple game for teaching tackling when on your knees. Starting with initially two tacklers and the rest as attackers, players must try to go from one side to the other with a ball in their hands without being tackled. If a player is tackled they must throw their ball out of the area and become a tackler in the next round of the game.

2 players and 1 ball. Player A kneels down with the ball in their hands. Player B kneels with one leg on the ground in the set position. Coach shouts tackle, and player B moves forward, tucks their head around the back of player B, wraps their arms around their waist, and knocks to the ground to complete the tackle. Complete 5 tackles then rotate players. Can also rotate to tackle from the opposite side.

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.

Tell the players the following.... Players will advance as a line, and as one hit the pads. The pads can also advance as a line. If the pads do advance, they should return to their starting positions. The players hitting the pads just the end of the lines, ready to go again. The nest line should go when the players on the pads area ready. Don't forget to change the players on the pads.

Tell your players the following...... Each group of two players should have their own ball. While they have a partner, they can pass to anyone. They just need to move the ball, pass and catch. They also need to move around the training area. They can pass in any direction. Go - lets just get moving. After a little time, tell the players that their pass must be legal.

2 sausages1 bag 1 ball Step 1 - Low chop tackle on the sausage. Step 2 - Bounce! Track back, chest to floor, do a high.impact bag hit. Step 3 - Run around the bag, pass the ball of the floor, complete a live leg tackle on the attacking player.Next player starts when first player finishes.

The coach sets off the players one by one. As players run in a straight line they progress to the first cone and need to react to the colour called out by the coach. Players step in the direction of the call and then step back inside again, straightening up and accelerating out!

2 teams, 1 ball with 2 grids diagonally across from each other. Each team is made out of 3 pairs and one float support player. Each pair is a catcher and a support player. When the kick comes over the nearest pair with the floating support player have have to lift the player and catch the ball. After which they kick the ball into the oppositions grid. Points are scored when a team fails to have 2 players lifting the catcher to receive the ball.

Split the players into two teams, giving each team their own set of bibs. Two different colours that clearly define the teams. Keep your player briefing, brief. It's important that you get your players moving as quickly as possible. Tell the players that we will be playing One Touch Ruck, see the laws surrounding this game in the Warm-Ups section of the SportPlan site. Briefly - when an attacking player is touched while carrying the ball: they go to ground and either pop or present the ball for a minimum of two supporting players to ruck over. The defence should behave as they normally would at the ruck, committing two players who will not compete for the ball or go into contact. The defence should employ their normal patterns around the ruck. The attacking team can have three touches in a row between the 15 meter lines, if they move the ball to the either of the 15 meter channels they can have another four touches in that channel before having to move the ball back out. If the attacking team moves quickly from one 15 meter channel to the other (exploiting space), they get a bonus of 4 touches in that zone. If any attacking team exceeds the number of touches they can sustain inside a channel, the ball is turned over. Play with these laws a bit - keeping an eye on what you want to achieve in this session. The normal laws of rugby apply, any law infringements result in a turn over. There is no kicking in this game. Don't forget to give the defence a turn in attack, if for any reason the attacking team is particularly good at retaining the ball. If they are, well done you as a coach!

Make sure that your players are holding their tackle shields correctly! Have your players work in groups of 10, adjust depending on your own training goals. Have more than one activity area in order to keep your players moving, standing around watching is not training. If you find that you don't have enough equipment, then have the other groups undertake a different activity. Keep your activity briefing, brief. Give 8 players a tackle shield each, they should form a circle, with around a meter of space (or less) between shields. 2 players in the middle, one of the player with a ball. The ball carrier has to run into contact with one of the outside player and turn to give the ball to the 2nd player in the middle who has to provide close support. On being given the ball the new ball carrier has to run into contact with another player holding a shield, the previous ball carrier is now the support player. The two players in the middle must operate at a high tempo for a preset period of time as defined by the coach. Players can rip and roll, provide and take a pop, provide and take a pass, fall and present, fall and pop, and drive and present on their hip. Contact should last no more than three seconds, keep the tempo high! Change the players in the middle of the circle.

2 players, 1 ball. The player with the ball throws the ball up and both player jump up to compete for the ball winner scores the point and throws up the next ball.

-4 bags-2 sausages. Put players on each bag, sausage and 2 defenders at the end of the grid. There are 4 working attacking player. Step 1 - Complete 2 shoulder clears on the opposing tackle bags. Step 2 - 2 attackers nominate themselves to tackle the sauages. Step 3 - the 2 support players pick the ball up and try complete the 4v2 (tackling players need to bounce up of feet quickly)

Groups of 3. - 2 players get into a strong T.O.P position.- Another player starts to to standing press ups on to the heads of the 2 players. - This encoruages neck and core strenth essential for a safe scrum.

The aim of the drill is to develop low tackle technique from both sides, Left and Right.

The aim of the exercise is to develop unit work, communication and good Technique.

Be brief when telling the players the laws of this game, it's important to get them moving quickly. This is not a contact game. Break your players into two teams, giving each team their own colour of bibs if necessary. One team goes to attack, and one to defense. Nominate a Scrum Half for each team. There is no kicking in this game. Normal laws of rugby apply e.g. a forward pass will result in the ball being turned over to the opposition. If an attacking player is touched: they must go to ground, present the ball, two of their teammates ruck over (staying over the ball), and the Scrum Half moves the ball for the next phase of attack. When you start playing this game make sure that the defense is employing your defensive pattern around the ruck. As the game develops consider telling the defenders that they must have one or more players at the back of the ruck, if they are not fast enough to do this - push them back 10 meters. Have attacking players do what they normally would at the ruck. Depending on your goals decide on the number of touches you wish to allow e.g. unlimited is not a bad option as mistakes will be made! Don't hesitate to shape the game to focus on your session goals, and let us and other coaches know what worked for you!

Groups of 2 Ball Hands and arms are introduced. The attacker holds hands behind his back with the ball. The Defender does a shoulder hit, and starts to drive his legs (previous 2 stages).Then there arms from being in tight to there chest (boxer) explode around the attacker, aiming to dislodge the ball. This will add impact and explosivenesss to the hit.

The aim of the drill is to develop tackle technique from Left and Right

This is the third exercise in a series of three that can be put together to form a contact conditioning circuit. The circuit can be sets of 30 seconds of hard work followed by 30 seconds of rest. Swap in this circuit for your usual fitness routine to give the players something a bit more interesting and transferable to a game. Alternatively, this would be a great exercise to include as part of a warm up.Players work in pairs, one player holds a tackle bag behind a tackle sausage.The other player makes a low tackle on the sausage and then drives through, clearing out the player holding the tackle bag.This player then goes to ground and gets back up to complete another repetition in the other direction.It is the job of the player holding the tackle bag to lift up the tackle sausage after each repetition.This drill will increase players overall fitness levels while being very relevant to game situations. 0.21 - Why is this important for players?