How touch rugby can teach better defence

Touch rugby is a convenient way to get players working on their ’heads-up’ rugby and handling skills, as well as practising new moves and ideas.

It reduces contact, allowing longer training periods to practise skills and can be adjusted to increase the levels of conditioning to improve fitness.

However, touch-tackling comes with two issues. What constitutes a touch-tackle? And what skills training elements does it aid?

Too often, touch tackles are accepted as some hands somewhere on a body. But, in a contact game, it is rare for a one-handed attempt to stop a runner, let alone bring them to ground – and, similarly, an attempt to tackle too high may see the tackle brushed off. 

Yet, in games of touch, we see very light ’touches’ often counted as tackles, halting progress. This doesn’t replicate the full contact game in any way and too easily negates what was actually good attacking play.

Touch-tackling more like the game

So what should a touch tackle look like to make it more game-realistic?

The answer will depend, of course, on what the outcomes of any session are, particularly with regards to attack. 

For example, if the idea is to have no possible defensive contact at all, a one-handed touch may be considered quite suitable. 

However, in most circumstances, we should seek to replicate some basic characteristics of a full tackle – for example, good footwork to get close to the ball carrier and enough contact to show that the tackler would have been able to complete a tackle.

Whatever the rules, it is vital that these are properly controlled and that touch is refereed harshly. We need to focus hard on maximising the benefits of the game and it’s our input that makes the most difference.

Therefore, instead of wearing a coaching hat and calling in with praise, we should be penalising poor play or rewarding good technique with our refereeing decisions.

Finally, remember that touch rugby can still be quite rough if you want it to be. Though the players aren’t going to be smashing into each other, they can still bump, push and grab, if you want them to.

Hard rules

Here are some ideas to work with:

Two arms or two hands

It’s unfeasible to ask players to wrap two arms around an attacker in touch, but they can be expected to place two hands fully on an attacker. Two palms pressed against the attacker is a sign that the tackler has got close enough in order to use two arms.

Picking a target and getting low

Insist on a double-handed touch below the waist. This requires the tackler to move towards a low full-tackle position. 

These two rules can be used with all age groups and abilities. They work well with younger players and those new to the game, as they concentrate on classical techniques to form an effective standard tackle. 

They can also be used to put focus on particular tackles as well. If the session aim was the side-on tackle, you could insist on two hands on one thigh. Players would have to get to the side of the runner. 

Front-up tackling

To improve front-up tackling, you need to think about the body position of the tackler. They have to be in front of the ball carrier.

Therefore, ask tacklers to use two hands on a chest. This doesn’t, of course, put a player in a low position, but it does get the defender square on to the attacker, which is where the tackler will have to be when using full-contact front tackles.

This also forces defenders to understand their overall defensive positioning. It creates good spaces for hard runners to attack immediately on the shoulder of the ball carrier, leading to other defenders having to watch their areas of defence to protect the edges of a tackle.

TOP TOUCH-TACKLE TIPS

• Referee hard. Don’t allow poor technique to succeed.
• Make the ’touch’ meaningful - a specific type of touch to work on a specific skillset.