Straighten the line

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If a potential ball carrier runs at an angle before cutting back to straighten up, he can fool a defence. A drift defence will be caught off balance by attackers running straight.

Warm up time: 5
Session time: 6-9
Development time: 6-9
Game time: 15-20
Warm down time: 7

What to think about

Straightening up is real discipline in rugby. It needs constant revision and could be regarded as a core skill. If players do drift out with the pass, they make themselves an easy target. Your players may not have seen much coverage of Super Rugby and Heineken Cup rugby but it is noticeable how straight these players run at the point of the tackle or just before the tackle. It forces defenders to tackle and stops them drifting out wide.

set-up

Run into position to run straight.
Attack up the field with your hips towards their try line.

What you get your players to do

Set up the cones as in the top picture. Use a feeder and a runner for each pair of cones. The runners set off at the same time, run around the cones as indicated and then straighten up through the corridor to receive a pass from the feeder. Once through, the ball carrier moves around to become the next feeder and the previous feeder now becomes the runner. Make sure players have a chance to “turn” both left and right to straighten up.

The runners come round into the corridor and take a pass from the feeder. Once through, the runner swaps roles with the feeder.

Development

Set up a box of cones to represent a breakdown and three more cones as in the middle picture to represent the inside shoulders of defenders. Three players run out of the breakdown area, turn and aim to run straight at the “inside shoulders” of the defence, represented by the cones. See if they can turn, run and pass to end player before they reach the cones. Adjust the cones width and distance from the “gain line”.

Related Files

core-219-straighten-the-line.pdfPDF, 436 KB

Three players run out, around and straighten up to attack inside each cone. They aim to run and pass the ball along the line.

Game situation

Put five attackers and three defenders at the side of the box. Mark out three “breakdown areas”. Shout out which breakdown area the teams will work from. They run to this area, with one attacker putting the ball down at the back of that area before releasing his attack. Use touch or full tackling. Develop the game by adjusting when the defence can run into position.

The attackers and defenders run out to the nominated “breakdown” area. The ball is released from the back of that breakdown.

What to call out

“Cut hard then run straight”
“Run soft on the angle, run hard on the straight”

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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