Nov 22^nd 2007

Here's a bit of a timelier update folks.

Warm-Up Routines

We have extended our previous warm up routine of "free-style" passing & mauling to incorporating first one then two defenders in the activity. Our group size increases to around 8 players with one ball among the 8.

Ripping Exercise

One defender operates a few paces back from the rest, facing them. Ball carriers drive into the defender, with the first support player ripping the ball and passing it. The defender drops back from the contact and blocks the next nearest ball carrier, where the activity continues. This activity can continue around a circuit, with the defender changing after each circuit.

Rucking Excersise

As with the reipping exercise, one defender stands out from the group facing in. The ball carrier hits the defender and drops to the ground, showing good technique for falling and placing the ball. The defender is then "cleaned-out" by the first support player, coming from behind the tackled player and using wide arms to carry the defender backwards. The next support player picks and passes and the activity continues.

Key points on the rucking excercise:

• The first support player LEAVES THE BALL ALONE!. This is a critical part of rucking to get fast ball. Too many players at the youth level grab the ball and kill off any advantage of speed you may gain through creating rucks.
• The first support player cleans out through the gate, i.e. they cross over the tackler's body to perform the clean-out. If they don't cross the tackler's body at some point they run the risk of "coming in from the side", which we all seem to hear far too often for the average person to understand.
• The player picking the ball clears it to someone wide of the ruck. Not necessarily required, e.g. if you want to drive through the middle, but we want the younger players to understand the value of getting the ball into space.

The same two activities can be repeated with two defenders or more as the activity is developed, and value is agained for both attackers and defenders. It's also often more interesting to players than standard warm-up jogs or grids.

Tackling Skills

This week we progressed the tackling to work as defensive pairs. The focus on the activities was less on the technique of the tackle, and more on ensuring players understood a zone or channel defence, rather than selecting a player to mark and following them around the pitch.

The drill we used for this was as follows:

Players operate in pairs across an 8m x 8m grid. Two defenders mark the width of the grid, two attackers try to cross the grid.

To start the attackers don't have a ball between them and run straight lines, i.e. no crossing over or major swerving / sidestepping, etc. The defenders simply tackle the runners as they approach.

The next step is to organise the attackers to vary their lines, e.g. swerving , stepping and crossing / cutting their lines. The defenders then must target the attacker in their zone or channel and tackle that attacker.

For this exercise we were more concerned with following the right player than effecting a good tackle.

The next extension of course is to add a ball, as the tackling of non-ball carriers is somewhat illegal in the rules of rugby. This actually makes life easier for the defenders as they can then focus on tracking a player until they recieve possession.

Key elements for defending in this manner are:

• Communication:- effective talking betwen defenders helps players understand who will tackle who. It also has a psychological effect on an attacker if a tackler shouts confidently about who they have "got" before a tackle even starts.
• Keep the arms spread wide, ready to take the tackle:- from an attackers perception, the space to run in seems diminished if a tackler has spread out wide to make the tackle. This also makes the tackler mor ready to adjust to changes of line and direction by the attacker.
• Low body position:- like any hunting animal, move in a crouch ready to attack the tackle area. This also ensures that the tackler is ready to change direction quickly to follow an attacker, and is in a good position to give leg drive to the tackle.

As these skills develop thes activities can be modified in the favour of either defencer or attacker, e.g. four attackers have to beat two defenders, two attackers have to keep possession against four defenders, etc. Each of the activities in this set will involve both attackers and defenders with each role getting good value from the exercise.

Again a few players arrived without gumshields. Next week, if we complete the activities, we will be finishing each session with a bout of rugby league. No gumshield - no play!