Ruck wrecker

A “willingness to fight to win the breakdown battle” is such a key area that the team that wins it almost invariably wins the game. “Ruck wrecker” will develop your players’ techniques and their attitude to winning the breakdown.

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

What to think about

Successful rucking is as much about attitude as about strength and technique. It is important you instil a real sense of pride in your team’s rucking. Which team wins the crucial breakdown area is usually decided in the first 10 minutes of a game. More often than not, the more physical and aggressive team will come out on top. Hugh Richards and Dean Richards, writing in Rugby Tough (Hale & Collins 2002), talk about the need to be specific when instructing players to “be aggressive”. Focus players’ minds on game-relevant actions such as “knock them back in the tackle”, “drive them back in contact” and “clear them off the ball at the rucks”.

set-up

1. Keep your shoulders above your hips and your head up.
2. Pick a target to hit, hit it hard and drive past the ball.
3. Drive from low to high and stay on your feet.

What you get your players to do

Introduce the technique slowly in groups of three. The ball carrier hits a ruck pad, held by a second player, and goes to ground presenting the ball back. The third player targets the ruck pad and drives past the ball. Start slowly and emphasise the basics of the technique. Move to a diamond shape with four players, each holding a ruck pad at one of the points, and two pairs of players working in the middle. The players work for one minute, clearing out each pad in a clockwise rotation.