2. Tackling
There’s a cliche saying in the sporting world that goes like this: “Offence wins games but Defence wins Championships.” If you go into your season with this Rugby Coaching mentality, your head’s in the right place. Perfecting the art of the tackle is our second ingredient to winning a rugby championship and is crucial. Your players may offensively be the best thing since sliced bread but if they can’t tackle, can’t implement a defensive breakdown policy or track an attacker on the inside shoulder, winning that rugby championship will prove illusive.
Being able to coach the tackle area is almost an art form. Similar to scrummaging, executing a tackle is all about foot patterning, body shape, confidence and contact. However, what I coach my players to think about is a certain attitude towards the tackle contest. Obviously this is highly dependent on the ball carrier at the time as to whether you go for the boot laces, tackle and jackal or a choke tackle. Either way, it is all about making these split second evaluations, getting your feet right and leading with a strong shoulder – arm tackles simply don’t have a place in a good defensive system. We always say the tackle isn’t complete until you’re back on your feet.
3. Catch and Pass
Tediously this is one of the most under developed skills in the game of rugby for many communities, clubs, school, cities and countries. The catch and pass is THE first skill any rugby player should learn from a young age, and it is our duty as coaches to ensure this skill is up to standard. Without ball handling skills, catching on the run, standing under a high ball and executing one of the many kinds of passing varieties, the long term development of players is minus an essential skill.
When it comes to team interplay during a game of rugby, if your players cannot catch and pass, moving the ball to space becomes an issue. If a bomb is hoisted in midfield and allowed to bounce, again alarm bells are going off. Coaching the simplist of skills of catching and passing should be first on the agenda of any player development strategy.
4. Patterns and Structure
Although defence may typically win a rugby championship, offence wins the game. This is simply because without offence you can’t really score points unless you convert a defensive turnover into attack.
or gather a freakish intercept. Now playing as a team starts with implementing team patterns and structure according to game related scenarios.
Now playing as a team starts with implementing team patterns and structure according to game related scenarios.
For example, if you were camped inside your 22m area and under pressure, is that a smart position on the field to attack from? No. Let’s employ an Exit strategy to relieve pressure, clear the ball long and gain some territory. If we have a lineout on halfway, let’s attack. Using a pre-planned team pattern, players should be acutely aware of their individual roles in order to execute that pattern. Let’s say we want to attack through the backs down the wide channel. The backs would be accountable to win that breakdown but we would also like to send an openside flanker to be sure. Then with that defence stretched from running one side of the field to the other, we would like to attack in close to that ruck to continue bringing the forwards across the field, and again one more phase. Then once that whole defence has gravitated towards that side of the field to deal with runners, there should be acres of space back where the original lineout was.
Having this sort of team pattern gives players clarity to their roles and understanding of what the team is trying to achieve.