Impact and Influence. Gary Townsend, RFU Player Development Manager

Transcription

1 Impact and Influence Gary Townsend, RFU Player Development Manager

2 Background Continuum written in 1990 No RFU template for skills acquisition U In 2007 identified need to visit first principles and Working Group formed. Exeter University commissioned to carry out a two year research programme. Three reports received and all evaluated by Working Group in November 2009.

3 U9 Tackle Scrum Lineout Ruck Maul 9v9 Continuum New Rules of Play

4 At the moment the game jumps up in too big a step and we never get the foundations in place tackle, pass, catch, run, before we are onto the next thing. And I think if we can do it in a more incremental way then we'll end up with a better balanced player coming out of it. Stuart Lancaster

5 Game Development - Rationale Child Development a focus Emphasis on competitive performance not competitive outcome Incremental Less structure (encourage skills & discourage fear of failure) Easier to referee Increased involvement More individual & collective decision making Less emphasis on contact & more on continuity in early years Rewarding intention to tackle in early years as much as ability to tackle More emphasis on individual skills within team context (running/passing/off-loading/support/kicking/defending) Greater awareness of late specialisation

6 Game Development - Rationale Provide a progressive player pathway which will develop our players by a step by step approach (incremental) Provide clear coaching guide lines for coaches to follow. Provide a game which is in line with the principles of Child Development based on extensive research & expertise

7 Underlying Principles Child centred approach Maintain integrity of rugby a game for all shapes and sizes Game development established on child development Increase involvement De-emphasise contact in early phase (U7 U13) Reduce structure of game Reduce influence of competition on development

8 RFU Player Development Model Impact and Influence Introduction and Development of the Game for Children/Youth AGE CURRENT NEW RULES OF PLAY U7 U8 U9 U10 U11 7-a-side, coaches on pitch, knock-on penalised 7-a-side, coaches on pitch, no going to ground 9-a-side, introduce tackle, ruck, maul, line-out, scrum (Technical) 9-a-side, introduce contested scrum (Specialisation) 12-a-side, introduce 5 player scrum (Technical and Early Specialisation), Kicking (Technical and Tactical 4-a-side, no coaches on pitch, play on from knock on 6-a-side, referee as facilitator, ground to score (if needs be) 7-a-side introduce tackle 8-a-side introduce scrum, nearest 3 (tactical and late specialisation mini ruck & maul 9-a-side, introduce tactical kicking, midi ruck/maul (2 v 2)

9 Small numbers..what you're looking at is for high involvement. So why have 15 a side or 11 a side, why not be running five, six, seven a side little games in small areas with the ball the right size that they can make sure they can control? And if you've got that high involvement then you get the natural sort of skill development which you can then build on later..you're back to saying, if they were doing it as a group of kids in the street what would they be doing? Well they wouldn't be looking for hundred metres by 70 m rugby pitch to play on don't over involve yourself as an adult don't look for the game that the adults play..i think we still do that Sir Ian McGeechan

10 Impact and Influence Averages per player (26 Pilot and 15 Current analysed) U7 RFU Player Development Model AGE PILOT v CURRENT Tries Runs Passes Tags 185% more per player 107% more per player 69% more per player 22% more per player

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12 The longer you keep them (children) away from the physicality the better. Hold the players back, focus on running with the ball, not necessarily playing rugby. Graham Henry

13 Impact and Influence Average per Game - 33 Pilot and 21 Current filmed U9 RFU Player Development Model AGE NEW RULES v CURRENT Tries Runs Passes Tackles Ball in Play 85% more per game 37% more per game 126% more per game 16% more per game 22% more per game

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15 There is a great initiative going through the Union at the moment, where we re looking at the continuum and trying to change the way that rugby s coached particularly in the development stage from tag to contact and it s a really good initiative I think if we can build on that where the gap isn t too big a jump we should be able to develop an even better group of younger players going through in the country Stuart Lancaster

16 Under 10 Percentage Time Ball in Open Play / 10 minutes Pilot Continuum In the Pilot the ball was in open play for 20% more time. Over half the time in the AGR game (53%) was spent: - preparing for and competing in scrums and lineouts - competing for the ball that was being held within rucks and mauls.

17 Duration of breakdowns Duration of Mauls / 10 minutes Total duration of all mauls three times higher in the AGR. On average one maul would last 11.9 seconds in the AGR and 4.3 seconds in the Pilot % higher in the AGR (U= 67.0 z= -3.6, p < 0.001) Total duration of all rucks (t 38 = 3.14, p <.003) 33% higher in the AGR One ruck average in the AGR was 4.4 seconds and 2.5 seconds in the Pilot game AGR Pilot

18 Number of Passes / 10 minutes The Pilot had: - 46% more passes from the breakdown (U= 66.0, z= -3.6, p < 0.001).

19 What s the MOST IMPORTANT to you when you are playing a rugby game? Playing well 6% Other 8% Winning 7% AGR Fun 32% Playing well 8% Position 5% Other 5% Pilot Fun 41% Action 16% Action 21% Friends 31% Friends 20% Having fun (Pilot 41%, AGR 32%) and playing with friends (Pilot 20%, AGR 31%), selected as being the most important. Winning the game receives 7% in the AGR and 2% in the pilot.

20 Summary The results provide support for the pilot game. More ball in open play time likely to provide: - positive fitness benefits (e.g. Rampinini et al., 2007) - more opportunities to develop fundamental motor and decisionmaking skills - increased enjoyment for players. Improved skills at the breakdown with the ball being recycled significantly faster.

21 Summary More opportunities to develop specialized movement skills. - Higher amount of passes between phases in the pilot 20 phases of play: up to 10 or more passes between phases. Total amount and duration of all scrums higher in the Pilot: - scrum replacing the line-out to restart play. - More passes could lead to an increase in knock-ons. Solution: pass instead of a scrum when the ball goes out of play.

22 QUESTIONS

23 Pitch Size U7 CURRENT 1 x 60 x 30 metre pitch = 1,800 square metres 14 players NEW RULES 4 x 12 x 20 metres pitches = 960 square metres 32 players

24 Pitch Size 60 Metres x 30 Metres = 1800 square metres 14 players 8 players 16 players 24 players 32 players 12 x x x x 20 3

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