Unopposed: the pros and the pitfalls

In the training session before a match, you will want, at some stage, to run through the plays your team aim to use. 

Unless you are extremely fortunate, it is likely that this week’s team will be different from the previous week’s. Returning, or new players, to the matchday XV will want to connect with their team-mates, and vice versa.

If you have new plays for the backs or forwards, you will also want to put them together with each other, so support lines can be established. 

In defence, you will be keen to check out who covers who from set pieces, and how the defence reacts to various situations.

It is impractical to run this against a full opposition for two reasons. The first is that you want to keep your players fresh, and avoid too much additional contact, if any at all. The second is that you won’t have enough players to act as opposition anyway. 

Therefore, from a purely practical point of view, taking an unopposed team run is a necessary evil. 

However, you need to consider that it has its limitations. You might need to adjust certain elements of the run to make sure you put your players under enough match-like conditions to help transfer learning effectively.

✔ The pros

1. Numbers
   You only need one set of players for an unopposed team run. It can even be an effective exercise if a couple of players are missing. This makes it ideal if you have a small squad of players. If you are missing key players (like a scrum-half or fly-half), it is a great opportunity to try out different people in these positions, in case they are needed to play there.
2. Drop and react
   You don’t have to wait to win the ball. You can spend more time on fluency and accuracy. You have far more goes at different patterns and scenarios.
3. No worries
   By removing the contact aspect of the game, you reduce the chances of injury to players. This is ideal in the build up to games and, again, suits you if you have a small squad.
4. Develop understanding
   Use the time to ask questions, especially about options in the game plan. Are they in the right position? Was that the best alignment?

X The cons

1. No pressure

   Well, there is some pressure – but the players will inevitably not need to worry about contact. Also, poor execution of skills won’t lead to turnovers, so there is less incentive to be accurate.

2. Running too far

   Without opposition in front of them, players do have a natural tendency to run too far with the ball, removing the realism from the exercise. The attack is always working off front-foot ball, which is very easy to support.

3. No-one in the ruck

   Players don’t present the ball properly when they go to ground. The support players either ’ruck over’ poorly, or simply don’t go into the situation. That leaves too many players on their feet, which is unlike the game.

4. Too fast

   With no contest at the breakdown, the attacking team receives perfect ball every time. They always works off quick ball. Sometimes, this means that the forwards don’t have time to realign as they would in the game.