Thanet Wanderers Rugby Union Football Club 866763 St Peters, Broadstairs, CT10 3AE TRAINING GAME: Corner ball (Dan Cottrell) SMART SESSIONS: Quick, quick, wide (Dan Cottrell) COACHING: Support play options (Colin Ireland) Quote: Jake White * Training game * Corner ball By Dan Cottrell This game is a real brain teaser. In a coned area no bigger than a normal classroom, nominate two players as the attack team, the rest as runners. The attack team has one ball. Their objective is to touch one of the runners while holding the ball, but they are only allowed to pass the ball, not run with it. When touched, a runner joins the attack team. The game continues until all the runners are captured. Play the game without giving any advice at all. Then review the possible tactics of the attack team (you might have to do this anyway if there is not much success early on as well). Developments If the ball is dropped, all the attackers have to run to the side of the box before starting again. Use only two-handed passes, or ban spin passes. What to call out "Force the runners into corners" "Move the ball quickly" "Attackers anticipate the space and run into it" * Smart Sessions * Quick, quick, wide By Dan Cottrell Players need to know what sequence of different moves are being run. This makes it easier to run the right support lines and break down defences over a series of phases. This Smart Session Advanced Skills runs a sequence of plays to attack close to the initial point of contact then wide out. Passing and Support.doc page 1 of 6 Issue Date 17 Sep. 09
What you tell your players the session is about Creating a system for attack: quick short passing, quick rucking and then passing wide. Drawing in a close defence, then attacking wide by using all the players in the line. What you tell your players to do Give and take quick passes without closing down the space between the attack and defensive line. Then release a player wide out into space. Realign deeper for the second attack, with the fly half being the first receiver. The first player into the contact area turns towards the support to allow quick release. The scrum half needs to clear the ball from the ruck as soon as he arrives. What you get your players to do As picture 1 below, put a scrum half with a ball and a forward together and then spread out a back line, but only a few metres apart. The ball is passed out and along the line to the furthest back who runs and falls at a set of cones (A and B). Picture 1 - Quick passes to set up a ruck Pass the ball out quickly with short passes to a player to runs to cones A and B. As picture 2 below, the forward recycles the ball and it is passed out quickly to the backs again so the final pass is in line with a pair of cones (C and D) for the final back to run through. Passing and Support.doc page 2 of 6 Issue Date 17 Sep. 09
Picture 2- Quick ruck, then wide Recycle the ball and use longer passes to the end player who goes between cones C and D. What to call out "Hands up and hips towards ball carrier" "Don't spin pass short passes - pass in front, pull the receiver onto the ball" "Don't take the pass into the body - release the arms and pass across the chest" "Use all the players to help interest the defence" Development Pass left then left from each phase. Then try right then right. Then try switching directions e.g. short left, wide right. Add defenders, three players initially. One makes the tackle at cones A and B and the other two run around to prevent the attack at C and D. Adjust the distances between the two sets of cones, for closer initial attacks and wider secondary attacks. Game situation A team, starting on the edge of the right channel, attacks into the right hand channel from a mini set piece (e.g. a scrum), using four quick passes. If they recycle the ball quickly, they must spread the ball into the far left hand channel to score. If the ball is slow, they attack back from where they came and start the process again. Passing and Support.doc page 3 of 6 Issue Date 17 Sep. 09
Attacking close then wide Attack within a 20m channel and then move the ball wide to the far 20m channel with long passes. What to think about Are your players starting their runs too early? They should wait for previous player to move. How far should each set of passers be from the tackle line - flatter or deeper? It depends on the skills of your team and how wide you want to pass the ball. They should stand deeper for more width. If players are realigning too flat from the second phase, use cones as starting points to make them run from deeper. Should the player who last passed the ball be the first player into the contact situation? Normally yes, but you do need to keep most of the backs out of rucks if you want to attack wide again quickly. This article is a Smart Sessions Advanced Skills. Support play options * Coaching * By Colin Ireland, a qualified sports consultant with 16 years' experience coaching and teaching rugby at every level of the game from minis to international squads Make support play more than just about chasing after the ball carrier. Here are some rugby drills, skills and tips to highlight the many roles a player may take to support team mates more effectively. The tendency for support players is to be overly keen and get too close to the ball carrier. So when the ball carrier is stopped or slows down the support players overrun them and become ineffective (being in front of the ball). The diamond option In open play the players should try and achieve a diamond shape of support. This gives the ball carrier options left and right, with a player coming from deeper who can react to what happens to the ball carrier. Passing and Support.doc page 4 of 6 Issue Date 17 Sep. 09
Practise this formation in training drills by getting your players set up and running across the pitch in the diamond shape. As they run, the ball carrier passes to either the player on the left or right. The new ball carrier moves to the front of the diamond. The player at the back moves up to take the place of the new ball carrier. Support from behind: get through the gate When faced with a well-organised defence, it is essential that your team supports the ball carrier from behind and in numbers. You can practise this with the following drill. Set up a gate about three metres wide using poles or cones. Start in groups of eight, with four in front and four behind. The ball is passed along the front line to the fourth player who runs through the gate. The support players (the second line of four) follow the ball carrier through the gate and receive a pass. This group then spreads out, running and passing. Using the gate ensures the support comes from behind and is close to the ball carrier, so the group has options once the defence is beaten. Options and communication The ball carrier who takes the ball up to the defence has a number of options. The player can: Pass just before the contact. Pass out of the contact. Pass when tackled. Pass if he gets through and beyond the tackle, or run on. For these options to succeed, the ball carrier relies on communication from the support players telling him exactly where they are and what his best options are. Passing and Support.doc page 5 of 6 Issue Date 17 Sep. 09
However, the tackle and contact situation is not always predictable, so the support play formation of the diamond enables the ball carrier to release the ball in all possible directions. Development of through the gate If you add opponents to the drill and make it full contact, it will improve the communication of the support players, and the decision making of both the support players and ball carrier. It will also give the support players an appreciation of where they need to be positioned to be most effective and how deep they have to be to be able to react to the ball carrier's actions. Support in the game Once your players get the idea of supporting from behind the ball carrier you can start to plan who supports where from each re-start. For instance, in a scrum situation where the ball is moved wide to the winger, the nearest two or three players (other backs) have to become the initial support players. This allows the forwards to re-align and become the second wave of attack. Practising this is a simple way to start introducing structure and a game plan into your training drills, without taking away the "play" element. This article is taken from Rugby Coach Week e-newsletter. * Quote * "Total rugby doesn't win the World Cup and the stats prove it. It's knowing how to play and what to do when the scores are locked at 13-13 that makes the difference." Jake White, 2007 Rugby World Cup winning coach with South Africa Passing and Support.doc page 6 of 6 Issue Date 17 Sep. 09