Filed under: Dan Cottrell, Rugby Coaching, Rugby Training | Tags: funding, facilities, training. rugby coahcing resources
The UK papers are full of the news of the shortfall in funding for the top athletes. The credit crunch is squeezing the government’s coffers and the Olympic hopefuls are going to struggle.
There is only a finite pot of money out there. It has to be spread wisely. The argument goes that the top sports people inspire others to go out to play sport. Hence we should fund them.
Grassroots sport is not so sure. Loads of players turn up and for what? Poor facilities and a lack of coaching and refereeing resources.
I watch and hear about valiant parents coping with loads of kids. Many they struggle.
Streuth, I coach a mini’s team with two other teachers a group of 20 delightful kids and that is hard enough. We have hired an astroturf, but we can’t do proper contact.
Resources must be invested in our facilities and coaches. Better prepared coaches create a sporting legacy that will endure for generations. That is where some of this valuable spending should go.
Filed under: Dan Cottrell, Rugby Coaching | Tags: coaching rugby tactics, rugby strategy
On Saturday, I sat in the crowd at the Millenium stadium surrounded by good natured fans from Wales and Australia.
Good natured but NO IDEA about how the game should be played. They bemoaned kicking tactics, taking contact and other such decisions which I knew were the right decisions.
And then I thought, perhaps they are right? Who am I to say they are wrong?
Some coaches are so certain they are right, it makes them sound right and the players believe it, enact it and, hey presto it works. If it doesn’t work, then it is due to the referee, weather, injuries or just poor execution.
Other coaches are so worried they might be wrong, they fuss and fiddle, so the players are confused and they don’t know whether they were right or wrong because no one made a certain course of play.
So which coach are you? Are you certain you are certain or certain you are uncertain or uncertain whether you are certain or uncertain?
Filed under: Dan Cottrell, Rugby Coaching | Tags: coaching, frustration, losing
coaches despair, originally uploaded by pars_man_craig.
This picture tells us plenty about the role of a rugby coach:
1. Passion.
2. Despair.
3. Frustration.
The coach has turned from the pitch - was it a mistake, a referee’s decision, the end of a game?
But for every moment like this, remember the ups. It should make it all worthwhile.
PS: I am the world’s worst referee. The judge: My 8 year old son who I had just reffed to a 4 try to nil loss.
Filed under: Dan Cottrell, Rugby Coaching | Tags: Martin Johnson, RFU, All Blacks, England, Mike Corn, Secrets of the Front Row, Coaching Rugby DVD, How to Win the Lineout, Doug McClymont
In a remarkable piece of good luck (and you can decide for yourself who was the lucky one) I bumped into Phil Vickery and Steve Borthwick yesterday.
I was on my way back from a meeting in Bramley with the Rugby Coach publishers and an old friend of mine asked me to meet up with him. He is a football fan (well he supports Chelsea anyway) and he said he would see me at Pennyhill Park Hotel.
On my way I remembered that the England rugby team were staying there but thought little more of it.
I arrived, walked into the hotel bar, and passed a serious looking Martin Johnson and his coaching team of Graham Rowntree and John Wells. Now in my bag I had my new DVD, “Everything You Need to Know For Coaching Rugby“. I decided this was not the moment to hand a free copy over to Johnson.
I caught up with my mate and we laughed at the coincidence. Then in walks Phil Vickery. Phil has just endorsed our Secrets of the Front Row report, plus given us some signed shirts from his Raging Bull business. I went over to him to say thank you. And also to give our new How to Win the Lineout book which I had as a spare copy in my bag. And in walks Steve Borthwick. Both are charming men and Borthwick jokes about the need for the lineout book, though it is safe to say that it is one area England can feel quite pleased with.
So after a brief light-hearted exchange, I return to my friend, leaving the book with the England forwards. So I expect the England lineout to be in good hands tomorrow!
The coincidences didn’t stop there, because when I arrived home, I had an email from Doug McClymont, who worked with Mike Cron, the All Blacks scrum guru. He has just sent me the methods that make the New Zealand scrum one of, if not the best set piece in the world. More on that in the next Rugby Coach Newsletter…
Filed under: Dan Cottrell, Rugby Coaching | Tags: coaching rugby, Danny Cipriani, rugby kicking
High profile players inevitably draw the most attention. Danny Cipriani, the England fly half, is certainly one. He has had three charged down kicks leading to tries in his six internationals.
Not a great strike rate. But his problem is common to fly halves who are long legged. He needs to adjust his kicking style to accommodate the longer levers when clearing the ball.
In normal circumstances, he will receive the ball in time to strike it with no pressure. However when he receives a poor pass with a defender bearing down on him, he should consider the following:
1. Half a stride steps to kick rather than normal steps.
2. Kick at an angle and not straight downfield.
3. Drop the ball from a lower height.
4. Run sideways to step into the kick and not run upfield.
And use my kicking practice from the Coaching Rugby manual, a video of which is out on Friday!
Filed under: Dan Cottrell, ELVs, Rugby Coaching, Rugby Team Management | Tags: ELVs, IRB, rugby development
The IRB meet annually to discuss the game. This year’s meeting takes place today and is at the Lensbury Club in London.
The IRB conference is focused on “development”. This list of topics makes for interesting reading:
Mark Egan, the IRB’s Head of Performance and Development is leading the forum.
“This forum will explore and debate a broad range of issues and challenges faced by the Unions on the ground. Ultimately, the participants are the practitioners, the people at the coalface of development; the people who help Rugby grow all over the world.”
“Blueprints will emerge from the debate and some optimal forms of action will be identified. In addition there will be seminars on legal and judicial matters, the Laws of the Game and Playing Regulations, on playing surfaces and clothing, on tournaments and competitions, on training and education, medical as well as development funding.”
Filed under: Dan Cottrell, ELVs, Rugby Coaching | Tags: All Blacks, Harlequins, IRB, Robbie Deans, Rugby Coaching, Warren Gatland
Yesterday I read a piece about all the great New Zealand coaches who are not coaching in New Zealand. Robbie Deans and Warren Gatland would be the two highest profile names on that list.
The same could be said of former All Black players in the rest of the world. Hundreds of top class players leave New Zealand every year.
Nick Evans, former All Black half back, playing for English club, the Harlequins
Though the All Blacks nearly lost to Munster last night, their reign as THE number one rugby nation continues. These leakages are not terminal nor in the long run, the end of international rugby.
The key to all this is nothing to do with national teams. It is about playing rugby. Top class rugby bears little resemblence to rugby in the parks, on the sides of hills or in the dusty flats just out of town.
However, despite all the training and pressure, the majority of international players are no different to the guys and girls who run out on a Saturday afternoon in all weathers. They have a laugh and a joke like the rest of us, and want to win for themselves as much as for their team.
What makes things more interesting is the mix of cultures from around the world. No longer are we entrenched in a narrow ways of thinking. Different strokes bring different thoughts. It is fresh, it is vibrant and rugby will grow because of it.
Having access to this wealth of differences makes my job of writing about rugby a constant joy. The interpretations and changes fashion cause debate and provoke new ideas.
I welcome this “smaller” world of rugby, and hope that the IRB does not split us into the Northern and Southern Hemispheres with the rule changes.
Filed under: Dan Cottrell, Rugby Coaching, Rugby Team Management | Tags: B team selection, rugby game plan, rugby management, rugby mental approach, rugby strategy, Rugby Tactics
Tomorrow night a team I coach will be playing the “best of the rest”. The “best of the rest” are the boys who did not make the Young Osprey U16 squad at the start of the season. They will now have a chance to prove a few points.
This game has many positives.
1. It will vindicate many or all of our selections.
2. It might bring to light a player we missed first time, either because they were not developed or they were just did not do enough when we were making the selection.
3. It gives us a chance to look at our wider squad with a couple of the “best” players rested.
Approaching the game is an interesting coaching exercise. Our game plan will not change from a normal game, but it is mentally a different thought process.
I look back on the times when my team was either playing down against a lower league team or playing up in a cup run.
It was quite a good position to be in when playing against a lower league opposition as a winger or fullback. It allowed me more space and time because often the opposition organisation was weaker, even if my opposite number was my equal. It was often the forwards who bore the brunt of the onslaught!
The key mental attributes were patience in attack and physicality in defence. Not bad approaches whatever your game plan. However against lower league teams, you need to back your fitness, organisational ability and all round skill.
It will be interesting to see what the outcome of the game is. I know my team is very excited, but not half as excited as the boys and their parents from the opposition.
It won’t be a stroll in the park. Dare I tell you the score on Thursday morning.
Filed under: Dan Cottrell, Rugby Coaching | Tags: coaching new players, rugby coaching u9s
Remember the time when you attended your first proper contact training session. You would have probably played “tackling” in the park or garden plenty of times, but the first session was special. Whether you were eight years of age or older, you would have felt a mix of apprehension, some fear, much excitement and a desire to get going.
Those feelings are probably mirrored when you first started coaching contact. But what do you cover first, in what depth and for how long?
These questions vex many coaches, experienced or not. In your first year of contact coaching there is a danger of expecting too much from the players and perhaps even too much from yourself. My experience of the first three months of contact coaching with youngsters who played tag the year before is this:
1. Expect some attrition of players. They may return, but it has become a different game with contact and they just may not want that anymore.
2. Don’t “fire up” the players in the way you would older players. They lose skill levels very quickly and are more likely to do damage to themselves.
3. Don’t teach the adult game. Concentrate on the very basic contact skills.
4. Players learn contact in games by playing small-sided games where they are gettting plenty of activity.
5. Don’t expect consistency! You don’t know what cereal they had on match day…
6. Be patient with skill acquisition. It can take months for the penny to drop.
The real challenge is modifying your vision of the game to match the age group you are dealing with. The shape of the game only comes from 11 and onwards. So there is no point in coaching plays, sophisticated ruck ball tactics (bridging for instance!) or defensive alignments other than a simple line defence.
Filed under: Dan Cottrell, Rugby Coaching, Rugby Team Management | Tags: All Blacks, rugby strategy, Rugby Tactics, Steve Hansen, WRU
Alun Carter, the former Welsh international performance analyst, gives us an inside view on Steve Hansen when he was coaching Wales from 2002 to 2004.
Hansen, now the forwards coach for the All Blacks, took over from Graham Henry and saw Wales run some of the big sides close. His team almost beat the All Blacks in 2003 World Cup and arguably started the momentum for Mike Ruddock’s team to take the Grand Slam 2005.
Alun Carter’s interview is quite revealing on how coaches can influence a team for better and for worse.
