Three Ways to Be Lethal from the Ruck

Three ways to be lethal from the ruck

When your team wins quick ruck ball, the players have very little time to weigh up the options, make a decision and then execute it. If your players delay too long, the defence will have re-organised and the opportunity will have gone.

To help speed up the decision making process, and therefore increase the speed of the execution, you can train your players to recognise the three options they're most likely to have at attacking rucks.

Add in the "triggers" to help them decide what to do and you not only can have them acting quickly, but also together, as a team. Option 1: Pick and dart

A player picks up the ball at the back of the ruck and attacks a channel very close to the side of the ruck. The player could be the scrum half (9). Trigger

Defenders close to the ruck are disorganised or still retreating. There are smaller or weaker tackling defenders close to the ruck. Option 2: Runner from 9

Your scrum half (9) picks and runs a few steps. He draws the first defender at the side of the ruck to create space, before giving a short pop pass to a player running at pace close to the ruck. Trigger

Ruck defenders are there, but not in great numbers. Your fly half (10) does not have the players he needs to run a move and isn't ready for the ball yet. Option 3: Pass to 10 from a called move

Your fly half (10) calls a move to attack the midfield or out wide. The scrum half (9) delivers the pass where the fly half wants to receive it. Trigger

The close ruck defenders are well organised. Your fly half (10) has a player in position to run a move and attack wider. Practising the triggers In training, you can condition the defence to create the different scenarios to trigger the best decision.

For instance, to replicate option 1, pick and dart, have most of the defenders starting from behind the attack, so they have to run further to get into position.

Then after the end of the ruck, have half the defenders running around a cone to get back onside and into the game.

Ruck triangles

This week's session is "Ruck triangles". It works on lots of different ruck situations in a short space of time, to challenge players' techniques under pressure. 5 steps to effective rucking

Here are five ways to spruce up your rucking skills and techniques to ensure quicker ball. 1. Ruck beyond

When a player hits a ruck, they should aim to end up beyond the ball. Even better is for them to be on their feet, moving forward two or three metres beyond the ball. This prevents the danger of too many bodies over the ball.

Too often players come to rest on the ruck or just lean over. This simply adds to the traffic, legs and feet getting in the way of the scrum half (9) trying to clear the ball. 2. Inside foot

When players arrive they should put their inside foot over the ball. This leads to three great advantages:

 The players driver through and out, so clearing out opponents more effectively.

 They have stronger body positions through the centre of the ruck.

 There is less chance of the feet hitting the ball. 3. Spine in line

It's an old rugby coaching adage, but easily forgotten: get the spine in line with the direction of the play to gain maximum power through the contact area.

"Bums to posts", meaning backsides in line with the goal posts, is another way to phrase it to the players.

It also makes good sense when thinking about how the referee will manage the game. He's less liable to penalise "bums to posts" players, since they're not likely to be coming in from the side like this. 4. Shoulders, hips and finger tips

Get your players' shoulders and hips lower than the shoulders and hips of the players in front of them. They must be balanced, however.

If they can also touch the finger tips on the ground just before the contact, then, as long as the hips are lower than the shoulders, the contact should be enormous. 5. Leave the ball alone! If players look to pick and drive (gather the ball and take it on), or even try to secure the ball by picking it up, then the momentum of the drive is lost. It can simply cause more traffic.

Picking the ball up can also lead to players being off balance and potential knock- ons.

You need to help players make decisions about when to pick and drive and the only time to do this - when the ball is clear at the back of the ruck.

Can you live without tackle pads?

Tackle pads, bags and tubes all have a place in rugby training. (And no, I am not sponsored by a manufacturer!)

But can you run a session without them?

Some coaches are anti-pads. Andy Robinson MBE, the forwards coach when England won the Rugby World Cup in 2003, said to me at the time he hated them. England's physicality in that era marked them out from other teams.

Since pads are something to run into, then that's what players do. They are not great "avoiders" of the soft pads.

Of course, they are not to be avoided when making tackles, since they reduce the impact for the player and allow greater repetition.

The trouble lies in their elasticity. Imagine how many fewer handling errors your players would make if it were a pillow they were catching and not a hard ball.

A tackle pad has similar properties, allowing for a greater error in the timing of the impact. A tackled player is not likely to have, or want to have, the same give.

You can live without tackle pads, because sometimes someone forgets to bring them, or you lose the key to the store room, or your team cannot afford such luxuries. You can also live without them when at training.

In fact, there is some research to suggest that training aids that do not replicate the game very closely - such as, I think, tackle pads - are a waste of time. (Source: Brent S. Rushall February 1997.)

* Training * The centre of attention Here's an innovative way to observe your players, enhance your feedback and freshen up your small group exercises.

Observation during practices is a key component of the coaching process. However, watching more than 15 players at one time can be challenging, especially if you want to give quick and personal feedback to individuals or small groups.

Having a circular exercise area can help and means you are the centre of the action.

Mark out two large circles, one inside the other, with groups of players working in towards the centre and then back out again. Depending on the numbers of players and size of the groups, the inner circle can be up to 10 metres in diameter, and the outer circle as large as you need.

Place a cone as the start and end points for each group and don't allow players to finish inside the circle. Demonstrations and corrective action can take place inside the inner circle, ensuring you have an audience surrounding you, rather than having to gather players from the ends of a line.

After your demonstrations, the players can quickly return to the exercises because they won't have moved far from their original positions.