Dirty diamond dogs

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A rough diamond shape with the ball carrier at the front means that he can offload or go into contact with confidence. The diamond does not need to be perfect and is only really close to a ruck. Get your players used to picking up this shape to enhance continuity.

Warm up time: 5-7
Session time: 8-10
Development time: 10-15
Game time: 15-20
Warm down time: 5-8

What to think about

The main difference for those who are not used to the diamond shape is the positioning of the inside support player and the player in behind. The player at the front of the diamond needs to call when he is taking the ball. The other players then fill in quickly. When the ball carrier takes the ball towards the defence, he chooses his options based on what he sees in front of him. He might use footwork to beat a defender and offload, attack one defender with a team mate latched, step and pass before contact, or simply attack the gap, go to ground with the others driving over for either a quick pass out or a pick and go (see picture 2).

set-up

Quickly identify who is at the head of the diamond, then get a player on the inside, outside and behind.
Ball carrier: Attack the line aggressively. You choose whether you are going to pass, offload, drive in, or go to ground.
Support players: React to the ball carrier but tell him where you are and what you can do.

What you get your players to do

Put three ruck pad holders (or tacklers in suits) in a 10m gap beside a ruck pad. Get four attackers to come around the corner and set up in a rough diamond shape (see picture 1). They then take the ball from the feeder and drive into (see picture 2, fig 1) or through (see picture 2, fig 3) the ruck pad holders ) or they can take contact and set the ball up for a ruck (see picture 2, fig 2). Keep repeating the exercise with a different player taking up the head of the diamond each time.

Four attackers coming round the corner into the channel to form a diamond shape, with a player at the front taking the ball into the ruck pads ahead of him. Label players A, B, C and D and make sure they rotate their roles so are not always doing the same job in contact.

Development

Make one of the defenders “live” so he can go for the ball. Start the attackers from different points so they have to organise themselves as they arrive.

Related Files

Vol-1-Issue-554-D-Cottrell-rough-diamonds.pdfPDF, 859 KB

1. To latch on and drive. 2. To take contact, drive out the ruck pads and set up fresh ball. 3. Step through and offload.

Game situation

Put three defenders in both halves of a 20m x 15m box. Put a feeder in the middle. Put four attackers in one half and three in the other. The feeder gives the ball to the first four attackers in a diamond formation (see picture 3). If they don’t score in that corridor or form a ruck, the feeder passes the ball back into the other half (even if the ruck is on the far side). One of the attackers from the first four has to see if he can recover himself to help the other group. Repeat until there is an error or a try is scored.

Where two sets of attackers recycle the ball one way and then the other. Give each attacker a different letter (A-G) so they change their roles and all get a chance to front up the diamond.

What to call out

“Fix defenders and then move them before contact with footwork”
“Keep the ball away from the defenders”
“Inside and outside support, keep tight to the ball carrier but allow him space to move”

Dan Cottrell

Dan is a practising RFU Level 3 coach and coach educator. He coaches with the Bristol Bears DPP programme, is head coach of Bristol Schools U18s and the Rugby Performance coach for Bristol Grammar School.

He was head coach of Swansea Schools U15, Young Ospreys Academy, assistant coach with the Wales Women's Team for the 2010 World Cup, director of rugby for Cranleigh School, Surrey. He played for Bath, Bristol, Esher and Clifton, South West division, Gloucestershire and Surrey.

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