Filed under: Dan Cottrell, Rugby Drills | Tags: cleanout drills, drills, George Smith, rucking, rucking drills
A very simple rucking drill from George Smith, posted on the eliterugbycoaching Youtube page.
Easy to set up and observe, so you can concentrate on the developing the key points of the ruck cleanout.
Filed under: Dan Cottrell, Rugby Drills, Rugby Skills | Tags: 4 v 3, beating a cover defence, drills, passing, Rugby Training
Here is a realignment drill which I found on YouTube. Simple to set up and easy to run. Note that the players are realigning and then committing defenders.
Filed under: Dan Cottrell, Rugby Coaching, rugby defence, Rugby Skills, Rugby Training | Tags: Better Rugby Coaching, defence, drills, Rugby Drills, Rugby Skills, tackling
August 8
Tackling
You have got to start tackling at some stage in pre season, but when? Why not work on the elements of tackling, breaking it down into component parts. Then put it all together closer to the first proper match.
If you have six sessions before your first game then try this out:
Session 1: Footwork for tackling. Working on getting correctly aligned to make front on or side on tackles. You can use touch rugby or tag rugby where the player has two hand touch or tag the ball carrier on the hips.
Session 2: Shoulders in. In a very small area, players work on their shoulder contact with the ball carrier.
Session 3: Grip work. Grip and holding onto the ball carrier. A static ball carrier is gripped and then starts to move.
Session 4: Pairs. Working together to make tackles. Low impact, walking rugby, with one player focusing on ball.
Session 5: Rough and tumble. Five metre box, 3 v 3 full contact, with a turnover and restart at the end of the box if a ruck or maul forms.
Session 6: Full tackling session.
You can revise each session at the start of the next session to build into one full session.
Filed under: Dan Cottrell, Rugby Coaching, Rugby Skills | Tags: coaching, communication, drills, exercises, fun, intensity, training
As I look whimsically out of my window at the fog covering the snow capped hills outside Swansea, it is hard to remember a time when one of my teams actually played a game of rugby.
It has been a tough few months in the region, with terrible wet weather in November and December and then a bad cold snap that has covered the whole of the UK.
Amongst the gloom, the excitement of the Six Nations is brightening the rugby land, with players staking their claim to World Cup squad places. It won’t be long before we have Super 14 rugby as well.
But let’s forget thos bright lights for a moment and concentrate on our own rugby. Here are three ways I want my rugby to prosper:
1. Clearer instruction
Any exercise will be understood quicker because I have communicated what I want more effectively. I will pander to all the learning styles.
2. More intensity
I will identify exact moments when exercises and drills will be more intense and make sure that the players respond. Short bursts of high intensity.
3. More fun
Following on from last year, I will introduce more games and competitions into training.
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Now to action it. I can’t wait.
Filed under: Dan Cottrell, Rugby Coaching, Rugby Skills, Rugby Training | Tags: contact skills, drills, London Irish, rucking, Toby Booth
The coaches at London Irish are full of excellent ideas. Here is a video of a drill created by David Williams and London Irish Head Coach Toby Booth.
It is quick to set up, interesting and slightly unusual. It gives you an excellent chance to concentrate on honing good technique.
Filed under: Dan Cottrell, Rugby Skills, Rugby Training | Tags: drills, looping, support
A nice little looping and support drill to hone passing skills.
Filed under: Dan Cottrell, Rugby Coaching, Rugby Skills, Rugby Training | Tags: ball placement, drills, rugby body angles, Western Force
Western Force, a Super 14 franchise in Australia, have produced an excellent series of videos on their website.
Here is an exercise which can be used as part of a contact session. I think it will take you about three minutes to use in the session as it is, but you can then develop it with more defenders and attackers.
Filed under: Dan Cottrell, Rugby Skills, Rugby Team Management | Tags: 2 v 1, drills, game sense
Don’t be fooled into thinking that players know what they are doing. Most don’t, they just follow orders.
Well, you wish they did follow orders, but sometimes they forget them altogether, and make even more horrendous mistakes.
And then, just when you think they might be progressing to the next level, someone on a coaching course tells you that you should be using more “game sense” exercises. You go back, tear up the rule book and watch as the players become even more confused.
Game sense is the fancy term for playing “football”, a term I knew when I was starting out playing first class rugby. The “footballer” knew when to pass, kick or run because he played what was in front of him, rather than keeping rigidly to a set of rules.
Introducing game sense sessions to more established players and coaches can be difficult. They prefer the drill-based nature of training, where the drills neatly lead to players moving evenly around the stations over a period of time.
There is no harm in that. It creates repetitive situations allowing players to hone their skills in different environments. Many drills are game related and are arguable already game sense in their nature. A 2 v 1 drill is a good example.
However, the game sense approach is more subtle than that. Instead, players have to make a multiple range of decisions based on a number of factors. These factors are plucked directly from game situations. Interestingly you don’t need to have just purely rugby related situations to help communication, footwork and handling.
But the key to all this: there are lots of right answers and plenty of probably wrong answers. The best players EVALUATE the best options and execute them accurately and on time.
Filed under: Dan Cottrell, Rugby Coaching | Tags: common faults, demonstrations, drills, questioning
I have been reviewed several times in the last few weeks as part of my rugby professional development as a coach.
Here are my action points. They are a list of “to do more of”, than to do!
1. Use the players in the demonstration.
2. Alternatively, set exercise going before getting feedback and making
rugby coaching points.
3. Develop questions rather than ask empty questions.
4. Check for engagement of players.
I was filmed as well, which helped me identify these points.
I have in front of me a list of common faults of rugby coaches. There are 43 in all. I am going to drip feed this into the blog over the next couple of weeks.
One fault that is not there though: Admitting that you make mistakes. Is that the toughest and yet most common fault?
