Rugby: strategy

Split your players into two teams, giving one group of players a set of coloured bibs to set them apart, and quickly tell your players the following laws: We will be playing a rugby league style touch. When touched: set the ball down, stand over the ball, allow the scum-half to move the ball away from the point of contact. The defenders should stay on side following a touch, and should not compete for the ball. Any infringements in defence should result in the defending team conceding 10 Meters or possibly giving 1 or more extra touches to the attacking team. I'll leave this to your judgement depending on your team's age, skill level, and your session target/s. The attacking team can sustain three touches before they have to kick. Their kick should be as it would be in the game: a kick to touch, a kick for territory, or a kick that can be regained e.g. a grubber kick. The defenders should behave as they would in a real game. Quick put in's from the touchlines replace lineouts. Defenders who take the ball from an attacking kick should counter attack. A forth touch results in a turn over. The Scrum Half has a maxium of 5 seconds to move the ball from the point of touch. A ball kicked directly to touch from outside the attacking teams 22, or where the ball has been taken into the 22 by the attacking team and then kicked into touch - will result in a turn over with play starting on the five meter line closest to where the kick was made. The defence should be 10 meters back. A ball kicked from inside the attacking teams 22 can go directly to touch, as long as the attacking team did not carry the ball into their own 22 before the kick. The resulting put in will be to the opposition from where the ball has went into touch. Quick put-in's are enoucraged, if not possible the ball is played from the 5 meter line with the defence 10 meters back. Give points for quick put ins that work. Feel free to play with any of noted laws, let us know the law variations that work for you!

See the diagram for suggested starting positions. 10 moves forward with the ball, drawing the defence to press. 10 passing to 12, 12 is moving forward. 13 presses up fast, overrunning the ball, but only just. 14 presses up, closing in, and cutting the space between them and 12. 12 throws a miss-pass to 14. Be careful of an interception. 15 supports 14, providing an inside option.

See the diagram for suggested starting positions. 10 moves forward with the ball, drawing the defence to press. 10 passing to 12, 12 is moving forward. 13 presses up fast, overrunning the ball, but only just. 14 presses up, closing in, and cutting the space between them and 12. 12 throws a miss-pass to 14. Be careful of an interception. 14 runs an over. 15 supports 14, providing an inside option.

See the diagram for suggested starting positions. 10 moves forward with the ball, drawing the defence to press. 10 passing to 12, 12 is moving forward. 13 presses up fast, overrunning the ball, but only just. 14 presses up, running an under. 12 throws a miss-pass to 14. Be careful of an interception. 15 supports 14, providing an inside option.

See the diagram for suggested starting positions. 10 passes to 13, missing 12. 12 overruns the ball. 13 runs an over before taking the ball. 15/14 run supporting lines.

See the diagram for starting positions. 10 moves forward carrying the ball. 12 moves forward, over-running the ball, cutting the drift. 10 miss-passes to 13. 15 runs a line inside 13. 13 pops to 15. 14 cuts in to support 15.

See the diagram for starting positions. 10 moves forward carrying the ball. 12 moves forward, over-running the ball, cutting the drift. 10 miss-passes to 13. 15 runs a line outside 13. 13 pops to 15. 14 cuts in to support 15.

See the diagram for suggested starting positions. 10 passes to 13, missing 12. 12 overruns the ball. 13 runs an under before taking the ball. 15/14 run supporting lines.

See the diagram for the starting positions. 10 passes to 13. 13 comes forward either straight, or cutting in to close the space between them and the 10. 12 could provide a decoy runner. 15/14 could support 13.

In this example we will play one touch offload, but remember you can change the version of touch to suit your training goals, applying the same mismatch strategy. Tell the players we are going to play one touch off-load, the normal laws of rugby apply. Any forward passes etc. will result in the ball being turned over. When a player is touched, they must pass right away without delay. A delay will result in the ball be turned over. Alternative: You might decide that one team will play 5 minutes in attack no matter what - and 5 minutes in defense. They have unlimited touches, you can change this depending on your training goals. Tell the players the defenders in the different coloured bibs don't have the ability to make a touch that counts. That doesn't mean that they don't try! If you are an attacker, and if you are touched by one of those players, keep going. You can start the game with lots of players on the defense wearing mismatch bibs, and reduce it as the session develops. Let them play - don't tell them what it's all about. Let them discover, remember this is the warm-up!

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.

Tell the players the following..... Each player has four tackle bags and six balls, the winner is the player that knocks down the most bags - you cannot leave their cone and must knock the bags down by passing. If you find that the bags are too heavy - you can amend the game by placing balls on the top of the bags, the passers must knock them off.

Touch Rugby in teams of 53 Touches and change possession.When a player with the ball is touched, tackler stays in passive contact. Ball carrier slides to the ground and presents the ball, with the nearest supporting player comes in and acts as a scrum half.

See the diagram for suggested starting positions. 10 carried the ball forward, inviting the defence to press up. 10 cuts in. 12 presses up and cuts in towards 10 on a switch. 10 passes to 12 on the switch. 12 hits at an angle before straightening up. 15/13/14 provide support, 15 provide close support.

This is an exercise for continuity and support for attacking play Lay out a rectangular playing area, with four attackers and minimum three defenders The attackers begin in a diamond formation, with the ball carrier at the front The defenders are then stacked in rows, one defender per row, spread out diagonally The ball carrier is tackled by the first man, and offloads to one of the two supporting attackers The receiver of the pass runs and is tackled by the next defender and they offload to one of two supporting attackers As one of the four attackers will be on the floor from a tackle, the next phase will include three attackers, who should be in an arrow formation

The drill starts with 2 attackers in blue, standing behind one another, 5m from the 1st defender/attacker in red. The blue players attacks the red defender, once they pass him the defender/attacker joins the attacking team in one motion - therefore 2 players will be ahead with 1 backup supporter creating a 3v2 situation.<br /><br /> The 3 attackers now attack the 2 red defenders.<br /><br /> Once the attackers beat the 2 red defenders the two defenders also join the attack to make it a 5v3. The 3 defenders at the end stay on. The 2 attackers, 2 defenders and 1 defender must be replaced by new player to keep the drill continuous and stimulating

Some older players giving a technically correct demonstration.

3 attackers and 2 defenders. The scrum half passes to the first receiver of group of 3 attackers. The 3 attacking players must then pass the ball down the line as they attempt to beat the defenders.

2 Catchers.Everyone else Runners. This is a warm up game that is used to raise the heart rates of the children. Using half the pitch, nominate 2 catchers, the aim of the game is to touch as many as the runners before they reach the otherside of the pitch.If a runner get touched or tagged, thye join the catchers. Last man standing. Encourgae the kids to undertsand the concept of touch or tags.

2 Catchers.Everyone else Runners. This is a warm up game that is used to raise the heart rates of the children. Using half the pitch, nominate 2 catchers, the aim of the game is to touch as many as the runners before they reach the otherside of the pitch.If a runner get touched or tagged, thye join the catchers. Last man standing. Encourgae the kids to undertsand the concept of touch or tags.

Set a narrow grid to attack. Defenders and attackers begin on the touchline in the centre. Both leave at the same time and run around appointed cones, ball carrier should accelerate up towards inside shoulder of defender to draw in and then pass to the support runner coming from depth who can run in and score.

2 Catchers.Everyone else Runners. This is a warm up game that is used to raise the heart rates of the children. Using half the pitch, nominate 2 catchers, the aim of the game is to touch as many as the runners before they reach the otherside of the pitch.If a runner get touched or tagged, thye join the catchers. Last man standing. Encourgae the kids to undertsand the concept of touch or tags.

Carries the ball forward, inviting the defence to press up. 10 Passes to 12. 10 loops around 12 following their pass, 10 should aim to draw attention to their run, they are a decoy. 11 presses up, and and then at speed changes the angle of their run, hitting the inside shoulder of 12. This pass should be as close to the opposition defence as possible. 12 passes to 11, 11 take on an angle. Think about what will happen next. Could 12 cancel and offer an outside ball to 10, could 11 pass to 13 and then out via the rest of the back-line. It's vital that your team makes this move your own!

Use the diagram in order to think about the starting position of your players, I suggest that they are not too deep for this one. 10 passes the ball to 12. 11 loops behind 12. 12 advances with the ball. 12 pass the ball to 11, this should be a close to the defensive line as possible. 13 runs a line, at speed, close the space between them and 11. 11 does their best to avoid contact, but if they do take contact, they should attempt to off-load to 13.

Coach controls defence with calls up and back between cones placed 1 - 2 metres apart. On the call of "LIVE" the defence stays on offside line at base of Ruck (marked by cones). Scrum Half is then free to feed any of 5 attacking runners at any time. Objective - WIN THE CONTACT.

Use the diagram to highlight suggested starting positions. 10 is the ball carrier, advancing forward, before cutting in as shown in the diagram. 12 advances, and cut in on the same line as 10. 13 advances and cuts across 12, taking a switch pass from 10. 15 and 14 press up.