Creative defence to shut down options

WHY USE IT

A simple but competitive session creating a sophisticated defence where each defender decides the best course of action to stop an attack.

SET UP

A 20m wide, 10m long box; two balls; and a wider box for the development and game situation.

HOW TO PLAY

ACTIVITY

Put two defenders in one half of the box and three attackers at one end with a feeder to the side. Shout out to the defenders which line (5m or 10m) and which cones to start from. Release the attack. Playing full contact, the defence has to prevent the attack getting to the far end of the box.

DEVELOPMENTS

Add an attacker next to the feeder, who supports the tackled player, perhaps looking for an offload or to clear the defender. Make the box wider and add a defender, by the feeder, who supports the defence.

GAME SITUATION

Put three defenders at the corner of the box and four attackers with a feeder at the other end. Indicate which length of the try line the defenders have got to mark (A=15m, B=25m or C=35m). Give the defenders a couple of seconds to adjust and then play with full tackling.

COACHING POINTS

• Identify who to defend and how - inside player calls the drift, outside player the blitz.
• Close down the space in defence, but don’t get drawn into the tackle too early.