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 Team Management | Tags: Rugby Skills, Munster, winning rugby, All Blacks, rugby game plans, Thormond Park
On Wednesday night, the Young Osprey Under 16 team (the team I help coach) beat the best of the rest (the players who did not make the squad) 42-13.
The pattern of the game did not surprise me or the other coaches, and we were 8-6 down at half time. This was in part due to excellent spirit, endeavour and organisation of the opposition. The second half was a different story to the first, and the fitness, strength and speed of the senior boys was too much to handle.
The key reasons why we didn’t win the first half though were:
1. Not executing the basics well - dropped passes and slow movement into set plays.
2. Getting undermined at the the set piece.
3. Not playing the game plan.
A determined opposition can disrupt all these areas, but your team needs to rise above it. Now that can be a big ask for a fifteen year old boy. That’s why you, as a coach, earn your stripes. Your influence can calm the situation, focus the players and maintain the equilibrium.
The half time team talk did just that. Actually it was a two tone talk, with the forwards receiving a little more of the “guts” talk and the backs on the execution and game plan. The second half speaks for itself.
And here is another game which happened the night before. Munster v All Blacks…similiar circumstances?
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 Skills, Rugby Team Management, Rugby Training | Tags: All Blacks, Peter Bills, tries
Here is an excellent article by Peter Bills from International Rugby News about why the All Blacks are the best team the world, even if they haven’t won the World Cup in the professional era.
There are 25 rugby coaching points in here as well.
1) They’re smarter and have far more street-cred on the rugby field than any other nation.
2) They’re like sharks sniffing blood in the water. Show any weakness and they’ll pounce on it.
3) Other teams look for options on what to do during play. New Zealanders don’t need to look and think – they just act instinctively.
4) Just when you think they might be predictable, they’ll do the unexpected.
5) When an opponent gets isolated even for a moment, they’ll strike.
6) When they strike, they do so with lethal speed and commitment.
7) They scavenge ferociously for the loose ball.
8 ) They’re physically intense and fearsome. If you don’t match them in this respect, you have little chance.
9) The levels of expectation within New Zealand rugby circles are absolutely frightening, the highest in the world. When I asked coach Graham Henry, after he had led his team to another Tri-Nations triumph in September, (their fourth in a row) whether that meant the knives were now out of his back, he replied ‘No, but they might have been blunted for a while.’
10) Youngsters growing up in New Zealand dream of playing for the All Blacks. That remains the case today.
11) Their powers of concentration are much greater than most opponents.
12) Their support for the ball carrier is phenomenal, consistently the best.
13) They’re utterly ruthless in winning the ball, especially loose phase possession. Because they do it with such ferocity and intent, they secure it faster which means better quality possession for their backs.
14) They do the basics better than anyone else. These are inculcated from an early age.
15) There is an altogether greater physicality and intensity about the game in New Zealand. Their rugby men define them as a nation.
16) Their speed of recovery when they are in trouble is lightning fast.
17) To beat them, a side has to kick its goals and convert pressure and try scoring positions into points. Fail to do that, as Scotland were guilty of last weekend, and you have no chance.
18) They do what they have to do to stop any danger. That includes illegal play where needed.
19) The speed at which they do things on the field is usually so much greater than northern hemisphere teams manage.
20) There is a precision about their play which is the envy of most others.
21) They’re the best in the world at playing referees cleverly.
22) They push laws to the limit and never stop testing match officials. If they’re not picked up on them, they cheerfully transgress with regularity, a la their collapsed scrums against Scotland at Murrayfield last Saturday.
23) In Graham Henry, Steve Hansen and Wayne Smith they have a highly experienced, smart coaching team. It is a trinity of talent.
24) A fear of failure is forever with them. It drives them on relentlessly.
25) The allure and value of the New Zealand jersey is priceless as a motivational tool. As former All Blacks hooker Anton Oliver says “If they ever sold part of that jersey to a commercial organisation and thereby diluted the uniqueness of the shirt, it would be the beginning of the end for the All Black legend, in my view.”
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.
Filed under: Dan Cottrell, ELVs, Rugby Coaching, Rugby Training | Tags: 22m, All Blacks, ELVs, Frank Hadden, Graham Henry, Ian McGeechan, lineouts, mauls, Peter De Villiers, Robbie Deans, Scotland, scrums, South Africa, Steve Hansen, Syd Millar, Wales, Warren Gatland
There has been plenty of confusion and misinformation, plus a number of conspiracy theories about the ELVs. The world’s top coaches see the ELVs as here, an opportunity and are working how to deal with them.
Here is what the top coaches are saying at the moment.
Filed under: Dan Cottrell, Rugby Coaching, Rugby Skills, Rugby Training | Tags: All Blacks, England, IRB, Junior Rugby World Cup, JWC, South Africa, Springboks, support play, Wales
I have just heard three of the most annoying words in rugby.
Last night I went to the Liberty Stadium in Swansea to watch the Junior World Cup finals. Wales were playing against South Africa for third place and the big prize being contested by New Zealand and England. In a sort of symmetry with the senior game, the power of Springboks and their super offload skills won the their match. The sparks of brilliance from the number one seeds the All Blacks were too good for England.
In the true spirit of rugby, fans from all nations sat side by side, sharing the atmosphere and rivalry in good humour.
Behind me, a South African supporter gave a running commentary to his friend. A fervent supporter but no reader of the game, he said at least three of the seven most well meant but least helpful words in rugby coaching.
Filed under: Dan Cottrell, Rugby Coaching, Rugby News, Rugby Training | Tags: All Blacks, ELVs, England, international rugby, IRB, IRB Nations Cup, lineout tips, Ospreys, Pacific Nations Cup, rugby decision-making, rugby kick and chase, rugby training tips, Under 20s World Cup
A bumper rugby weekend on the international front, with matches in every corner of the world. Full tests in the Southern Hemisphere, an A team tournament, Under 20s World Cup, IRB Nations Cup and the Pacific Nations Cup. Chuck in some women’s sevens and you could easily have sat in front of the television all weekend and not ventured outside.
ELVs or not, there was plenty of scintillating rugby on show, and no sign that international games are turgid, or indeed one-sided affairs.
But we don’t just watch the games for “our team”. We want to take something away with us, a little titbit to take onto the training ground for next week.
Filed under: Rugby Coaching, Rugby Team Management, Rugby Training, Uncategorized | Tags: Rugby Coaching, Martin Johnson, South Africa, Tri-Nations, Wallabies, Wales, Warren Gatland, Declan Kidney, Graham Henry, Springboks, All Blacks, Crusaders, international rugby, Robbie Deans, Peter De Villiers
Here is a fantastic article published this weekend in the South African Independent on Saturday by Peter Bills.
It shows us that the world’s best coaches give the players a lot more freedom to express themselves than previous eras of coaches.
De Villiers, Deans can change rugby
June 07 2008
By Peter Bills
The stagnation of world rugby, a reality confirmed by the recent World Cup and the Six Nations tournaments in the northern hemisphere, could be resolved in 2008’s Tri-Nations Championship.
The arrival of Robbie Deans as the new coach of Australia this week and Peter de Villiers’s innovative hand on the controls in South African rugby, offers the game the opportunity to make overdue progress.
