Rugby: quick hands attacking space

Give each training area one ball and tell the players the following...... One of the attacking lines takes the ball. They simply attack, moving the ball through the hands - lateral passing only. The defenders (there will be three), mark the first three attacks, they leave the forth free. Defenders can move up and down, left and right, but must leave channel 4 open. Defender start 10 meters back. The ball must go through all four attacking hands. Don't forget to switch the attackers and defenders.

Give each training area one ball and tell the players the following...... One of the attacking lines takes the ball. They simply attack, moving the ball through the hands - lateral passing only. The defenders (there will be three), mark the first three attacks, they leave the forth free. Defenders can move up and down, left and right, but must leave channel 4 open. Defender start 10 meters back. The ball must go through all four attacking hands. Don't forget to switch the attackers and defenders.

Tell your players the following...... The two bottom players will be the feeders, they will be positioned by the cones with the balls. It's a race, team against team. The idea is to take the ball from the feeder and pass it down the line, with the last player setting the ball on the ground. The ball must travel through each players hands. The winning team is the team that can get all their balls down the line the fastest. Any dropped balls must be returned to the start of the line, to the feeder who will pass them out again. You can keep the race going by having the last reciever feed the balls back. So all the balls must travel up and back down the line.

UPDATE

Keep your playing briefing, brief and tell the players the following laws. Both teams are in attack and both teams are in defence, at the same time! It is up to you how many players you allocate to your attack and how many you allocate to your defence. If you are touched while carrying the ball (decide if the touch is one handed or two handed), you and your entire team must return to your red zone before being able to restart your attack. While your team is returning to your own zone - you cannot defend the neutral zone and any touches in there will not count. If your team makes a mistake e.g. a dropped ball or forward pass. Your entire team must return to your own red zone, not defending the neutral zone as you retreat. The winning team is the team that invades the oppositions space and scores a try, just outside the grid, first. There is no offside in defence. There is no kicking.

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.

Highlights the importance of attacking from depth and letting the ball do the work in attack.Team of four attackers versus three defenders.The teams line up opposite each other face to face.On the shout of GO, each team retreats a few yards and the ball is passed to the nearest attacking player.The attackers then quickly pass the ball along to the next teammate in the line as they step up.The defenders try to get close down the attackers.

Set up: <span style=&quot;background-color: transparent;&quot;>Set up the cones as shown with a cone 10 meters each side of the posts on the try line. This will mark where the ball will be passed from (feeder) preferably from a scrum half.<span style=&quot;background-color: transparent;&quot;>Divide the group into 4 and ask them to stand in single file behind each cone, 3 attacking groups, 1 defending group.<span style=&quot;background-color: transparent;&quot;>The ball is fed from a position on the try line (10 meters from the post). <span style=&quot;background-color: transparent;&quot;>The players on the staggered cones opposite the posts will catch and pass the ball using the correct technique.<span style=&quot;background-color: transparent;&quot;>The player on the defending cone will move forward once the scrum half passes the ball to apply pressure on the middle attacking player.<span style=&quot;background-color: transparent;&quot;>The players on the middle cone will receive the ball with a live defender in front of them.<span style=&quot;background-color: transparent;&quot;>The 3rd receiving player needs to receive the ball at pace and run as close to the outside post as possible.

Tell the players the following...... The first group of 3 go first. The first player hits in on the bag with their shoulder, driving forward and placing their hands on the ground in a press-up position over the ball.The second player covers him, and the third acts as a SH moving the ball to the next set of 3. The next 3 player unit does the same, moving the ball back to the first 3 player unit - which should have reset ready to go again.

2 groups of 2 players start on set cones about 15m apart. The 2 players are situated one in behind the other, the same goes for the second set of 2 players. Once the player with the ball starts to run, the supporter goes wide and straightens onto a gate of cones. As soon as he passes the ball the second supporter can start to move out to his designated gate. Ensure that the players hide behind one another!

Tell your players the following...... There will be one runner. 1 player, static, on each cone. 4 players on the cones in total. There will also be two players in defence, they will have a tackle/ruck pad each. The defenders will be 3 meters in from the start of the grid, the second defender 7 meters behind the first. The defenders can move left and right, but not backward and forward. There will be a ball on the first left cone, and on the second right cone. The player at the first cone with the ball will pass the ball to the runner, who avoids the defender and passes the ball to the reciever on the opposite first cone. The runner then catches the second ball, passed by the player on the second cones. The runner passes the ball to the opposite reciever, avoid contact with the defender. The runner then turns and does the same again - the defender steps back a bit. Don't forget to change the defenders, proving all players will the chance to attack.

4 players work together in a 6x6m grid. Players attack each line of the square, from the inside. Once they get to the 4th man they move onto the next closest line to the ball carrier. All the players in support must get into a good position to receive the ball deep and work onto the ball straight towards the line. Players keep going until they finish the last line of the grid.

Drill to practice skills and creating space.Set up a pitch (roughly 25m x 20m depending on age and number of players) with two scoring zones at each end (green cones). Split the players into two even teams and give each team different colour bibs.Teams are aiming to score points by passing the ball to a team mate who is standing in the scoring zone (see diagram). Each time a player catches the ball on the full from a pass from a team mate in the scoring zone their team scores one point, and they turn and attack back the other way. Players cannot run while holding the ball, they must be standing still when they pass.The defending team cannot get closer than 2m to the player with the ball, and can only gain possession by intercepting a pass or if the attacking team drop the ball or give a poor pass which goes to ground. PROGRESSION:Players can only have possession of the ball for 2 seconds. If they hold the ball for longer than two seconds then possession is turned over. This means that the defending team can gain possession if they cut down the attacking players passing options.Players can run when in possession of the ball, but still can only have possession of the ball for 2 seconds.Passes must be over head.Passes must be below waist height.Chip kick / grubber kick instead of pass.Passes must be out of the back of the hand.Passes must be behind the back.Defenders can touch the attacking player in possession of the ball. If the defending team makes two touches on the attacking team then possession is turned over.

The pitch is divided into two halves The defenders must start at opposite corners of the pitch The attacker must have at least one player in either half. The middle player starts with the ball.

Keep your player briefing, brief! Tell the players the following or have a demonstration group..... We have 1 scrum half, 4 runners and 3 defenders with tackle/ruck shields. The scrum half starts the attacking line by passing a ball from the ground at the first cone, to the first receiver in the attacking line. The defenders start 10 meters back and press up on the first 3 attackers, leaving the 4th attacker free. The attackers use quick hands to move the ball down the line, before the next cone. The last receiver sets the ball down, the attack line will have realigned, and the scrum half will now be on the second cone of the opposite side of the grid ready to restart the attack. The defenders rush 10 meters back and and once again press up on the first 3 attackers, leaving the 4th attacker free. They keep going until the end of the grid, turn around - and do the same working down the grid. Don't forget to change the defenders.

Tell your players the following....... There should be one group of 4 players between each cone on the four sides of the grid. The ball carrying group will advance - passing the ball down the line. When the ball gets to the last receiver in the attacking line, they will pass the ball to the first receiver in the next attacking line. Simple as that - they should keep going. All four groups must go, in any one cycle of attacks - a cycle is 4 attacks. Progression: Add in one or two defenders, have them work from side to side - rather than closing down space and - don't forget to change the defenders into attack after some time in defence.

Hold the ball between your legs, one hand behind, one hand in fornt. Gently throw the ball up and swap your hands, from back to front and front to back and catch the ball before it touches the ground. Flexing legs. See how quickly you can do this, how many in 30secs.

The two feeders should be 15 meters apart and will........ Feed the left most attacking unit with a ball, they will move forward at pace passing down the line and setting the ball down when it hits the last receiver. The first feeder will without delay pass the ball onto the right attacking unit, they will do the same as the left attacking unit, on their side of the pitch. Both attacking lines should realign and take a ball from the second feeder, before turning and working their way up the pitch, running the same exercise. Players should change their position in the line.

Tell the players the following laws....... One team will be attacking, the ball carrying team. The other will be a defending team. Defending players mark attacking players. The ball is passed by kicking, and can travel in any direction. Players try to catch the ball in the air, and have 3 seconds to make the pass. They can take 3 steps in that time. Tries are scored in the usual way. Players can compete for lose balls. Players should use all of the space available, and should move the ball to space. You can make this game a little harder by saying that attacking players must catch the passed ball in the air, if they do not, then the ball is turned over to the other team.

Tell your players the following...... There will be one ball to each group, any player can be the ball carrier. Each group will have one defender, the defenfer will not have to go around the cone. On GO, the group moves towards the closest cone.At the cone, the players spread out and attack the line at pace and with width. They should realign following the attack left, to attack again right. When the second groups sees the first group complete their first set of passes, they should begin without waiting. The defender should swap with another player in their group. <em>Variations:</em> Make the training area small to force quick hands. Make the training area wider to increase the length of the pass. Allow players to be creative in attack.

Tell players the following.... Each Player will work individually, unless told otherwise. Players can run in any direction: moving forward or side to side. They must remain within the grid trying to avoid contact by running into space, sidestepping for example. They will have a ball each. When the coach calls stop, all players must be at least 1m from the nearest player. From time to time players will be ask to do things e.g. 1 press-up. Following completing the instruction - players should keep moving. You will be asked to pass your ball - before doing anything make sure you communicate with another player, you agree to pass to each other, and then you make the pass! This part of your warm-up should be no more than five minutes.

Tell the players the following...... The first group of 3 go first. The first player, the ball carrier, hits in on the pad and rolls off the bag, taking contact on the second defender and going to ground to place the ball. The defender can try to steel the ball. The second player hits in on the defender with their shoulder, driving forward and placing their hands on the ground in a press-up position over the ball and player on the ground, the third acts as a SH moving the ball to the next set of 3. The next 3 player unit does the same, moving the ball back to the first 3 player unit - which should have reset ready to go again.

Tell your players to do the following....... The two passing players keep passing the ball until the coach shouts GO. On GO, the player holding the ball is an attacker, the other two attackers will go with that players. The remaining passer becomes a defender, and will join the defence with the two defenders at the bottom of the grid. On GO - the attack begins, and the defence should try and stop them. The attack aims to score a try at the bottom of the grid. Following each attack the players should return to their positions, but should swap around. You might decide to start this as a touch exercise, then go to contact.

We have 8 static passers and two runners. There should be a static passer on each cone, eight in total. The 9th player will be the ball carrier. Both ball carriers starts at the top of the grid facing the bottom. Moving forward they will take a pass off the first static passer with a ball, passing that ball to each other before moving the ball onto the the player opposite to the original static passer. The attacker moves forward and does the same at the next set of cones, then the next, and then the next. When they get to the end of the grid, completing all 4 passes - they turn and start again. They keep going until told to switch with another player. Don't forget to change the runners.