Don’t teach 2v1s, coach them

By thinking differently about my approach to developing players, I’ve found I need to coach players the purpose first before they can really make progress in even the simplest rugby scenarios. By Simon Ogdon, RFU trainer and Level 3 coach mentor



Set up a 2 v 1 and you would expect the attacking group to succeed most times. That’s not the case with young players. And it’s most probably as much down to their lack of understanding as to their lack of skills.

We need to give the players a purpose rather than a method. The purpose is "why" they are using those skills.

Before: Traditional 2 v 1

Put two players at one end of a box, say a 10m square. Put a defender opposite the ball carrier.  You might find yourself saying: "This is a basic 2 v 1, so the ball carrier has to pass the ball before the defender touches them."

Initially, without specific instructions, the players might find some success. However, it's more likely that the ball carrier passes too early, or so poorly that the defender can walk across to touch-tackle the supporting player. The supporting player will probably take the ball standing still.

Traditionally we would tell the ball carrier to fix the defender before passing the ball. We might demonstrate attacking a shoulder, passing at the last moment and the receiver running onto the ball.

Yet, many players, especially less experienced or younger players, struggle to execute this “skill”.

Now: Score a try

I give the players an objective. In this case, it would be: Score a try at the far end of the box. If you are touched in possession, then that’s the end of go.

Here are some possible outcomes:

> A fast player might simply beat the defender.

> A player might use a long forward pass.

> Some players may stop and pass.

> Others may pass too early but the support player beats the defender anyway, sometimes by running backwards first.

Overall, the success rate improves dramatically. But more importantly, the players have a reason to pass (or not pass).

I then would ask the players what constraints there are in the normal game of rugby. The most likely answer is that forward passes are not allowed. Now we do it again, but with only backwards passing allowed. Or, you could say that a principle of rugby is go forward, so players cannot run backwards.

The whole approach is top-down. The players need to know the “why” before they know the “what”. The bottom-up approach starts with the skill first. That is, in this case, fixing the defender, and passing to a supporting player who's running onto the ball.

Upgrading the exercise

To make this approach even more powerful, you can introduce peer learning and peer coaching.

Peer learning: players watch what their team mates do well and copy. Why do they copy? Because they can see it being successful. It helps if they know what success looks like, which is why they need to know the "why".

Peer coaching: give players coaching roles. It helps embed understanding of purpose.

The 2 v 1 can be run with another group of three ready to go, and even one more group.

> The waiting groups must be able to see the current 2 v 1 unfolding clearly. That probably means they are on the sideline. They can then mimic good practice – in other words, see what worked well, and think how they can use it.

> You can give certain players tasks. For example, the more-able players might be set goals to suggest to the to others which tactics or strategies to use. The less-able might be asked to look at specific movements, like when a player caught the ball away from their body or ran onto a pass.

With this approach, you can scale it up, with numbers and age groups. Perhaps you could play an overloaded game, with more attackers than defenders. Again, set out the purpose of the game, so the players know why.