Fast passing is better passing

Here’s a well-worn demonstration, though no less effective because of that.

Grab hold of a rugby ball. Stand a player about 7m away from you, and put two players next to you.

When you say "Go!", these two players race to the player standing 7m away from you. You make the other players ’bet’ on who will win.

Now, say: “I’m going to replace one of the players with something much faster”. Then, get one of the fastest players in the squad to stand next to you.

Show everyone the ball. They know what’s going to happen, but demonstrate it anyway. When you shout "Go!", the fastest player sprints off – but soon gives up, as the ball flies past them when you pass it to the standing player.

As everyone choruses, “The ball will always beat the player”, you can set up races to show whether this is possible.

Set up a line of four players, 5m apart, with a ball at one end. A sprinter starts opposite the ball carrier.

When you shout "Go!", the ball has to beat the sprinter to the end of the line. Every player in that line must touch the ball.

It won’t be a foregone conclusion who wins. But the players will know that the ball should, if the handling is effective enough.

This sort of competition will certainly make the players want to improve their skills. You can experiment with different lengths of line. Shorter lines will favour the sprinter.

This sort of introduction and passing game is a great forerunner to this session. It works on the premise that quicker passes beat defenders.

The other aspect is that longer passes are often easier to defend, especially if looped, because defenders can cover across quickly.

Some of the speed of passing in the best televised rugby shows that, the faster the pass, the harder it is to defend.

Not all of your players can pass like Marcus Smith or Finn Russell, but encourage them to let the ball beat the player as much as possible.

Key techniques to look for

The catch: We want players to catch the ball off the body. That helps them in lots of ways. 

It makes them put their hands out, which helps soften the blow of a fast pass. It also keeps the arms and elbows off the body, meaning it’s quicker to adjust the ball to pass it on. Look for fingertip control as the ball arrives.

The pass: Though there are a number of technical aspects to a good, quick pass, you should only concentrate on one for your session. 

It doesn’t have to be the most important technique. Each session, look at a different one for players to think about.