Rugby coaching session to improve body angles at the ruck

What you tell your players the session is about:

• Making individual front-on tackles at the side of rucks more aggressive by wrapping up or turning the ball carrier.
• Getting the tackler in a stronger position to tackle more aggressively.

What you tell your players to do:

• The tackler sets himself so he can grab the player around the chest, either coming from below or down from above.
• Once he has locked onto the ball carrier, the tackler twists the ball carrier to unbalance him, and either turns him in the tackle or brings him to the ground to compete for the ball.

What to shout:

• “Head rigid and eyes open”
• “Keep the arms wide and then wrap and grab”
• “Use the ball carrier’s momentum to bring him to the ground and then compete for the ball”
• “Stay on your feet as long as possible”

What to look out for:

• The defender trying to drive the ball carrier backwards. This is very difficult, so the tackler should unbalance the ball carrier by shifting him from side to side and then bring him to the ground.
• Trying this tackle in open field play. This is a close quarters manoeuvre, to be used off the side of rucks and mauls.

What you get your players to do:

Place two cones 5m apart. The attacker stands at one cone with a ball one metre in front of him. A defender stands two metres away.

The attacker has to pick up the ball and put it onto the cone behind the defender. The defender has to “grab” the ball carrier and stop him from reaching that cone.

Once the ball carrier has gone to ground, the tackler has to get to his feet to play the ball immediately. Start with the attacker “walking”, then increase the pace.

Development:

• Change the starting distances.
• Change the starting stance of the attacker – a high position followed by a low position.
• The attacker and/or defender comes into the coned area from an angle (situations 2 and 3 in the diagram).

Game situation:

Play 5v5 keep ball: A team of five attackers play five defenders in a 10m box. Put the attackers at one end of the box with the defenders 2m in front of them.

The attackers score two points for a try at the other end of the box. The defenders score one point for pushing an attacker into touch and two points for turning over the ball.

Attackers have three attacks (this is tiring) before the teams swap roles. You must referee the game rigorously.

This article is from Rugby Coach Weekly.