Play through the mistakes

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A bad pass need not always mean the end of a fluid move. Players can learn to react positively by adjusting their bodies to catch and then deliver the ball, and support players can learn to delay their runs. In this way, your team can continue its patterns of play even if one of the passes has been disrupted.

Warm up time: 7-14
Session time: 20-25
Development time: 10-15
Game time: 10-15
Warm down time: 7-10

What to think about

How do I help players who are struggling to catch and pass on poor initial passes? Start with a static situation where the ball is picked up from the ground or low down at pace, then passed to a target (see picture 2). This helps convert a poor situation into a better one. Are players able to stay balanced and keep up the forward momentum? Do the same initial exercise but cut out the onward pass. Ask players to concentrate on keeping their speed up instead.

set-up

Hands out for the ball. Be ready to adapt your hand position to catch it.
Bend at the waist and keep watching the ball.
Try to keep your speed constant throughout the run.
Once you’ve retrieved/caught the ball, quickly adjust your position to pass accurately to the receiver.

What you get your players to do

Set up two feeders at opposite sides of a 10m x 6m box. Get two pairs to line up at opposite ends of the box. Each player runs through the area and is fed a pass at knee height or below. The player has to take the ball low and make a good pass on to the opposite feeder (see picture 1).

Development

Turn the poor feed into an “ugly” feed by passing the ball behind the player, to his feet or too high. Add a defender holding a ruck pad to add pressure (see picture 3). Add another player and widen the area. Now the first player has to turn a bad pass into a good pass to his team mate, who then passes on to the feeder on the opposite side (see picture 3).

Game situation

Set up a conditioned 8v8 game with all restarts a tap and pass. Start with touch tackling before progressing to “live” tackling. There are two scoring methods: The first is the conventional method of tries worth five points. The second is based on the quality of passing. For every bad pass, the team is deducted a point, unless the bad pass is followed by a good one. If possible have two referees, one to referee the game and one to make decisions on the passing scores.

What to call out

“Hands up as a target in a ‘W’ formation” “Flip the ball away using your wrists” “Take smaller steps to keep your balance”

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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