Rugby drills

8 drills coaches already run every week, each written out with the setup, the coaching points and how to make it harder — and each one animated, so your players can see it before they do it.

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• Under-7 and upCatch-pass in linesMost dropped balls in junior rugby are not bad hands; they are bad depth. A receiver who is level with the passer gets a ball that has to go forward, and a receiver who is standing still gets one that arrives at the wrong time. Running the ball along a line, at pace, with everyone a step deeper than the player inside them, fixes both. 10 min 4 per line, and as many lines as you have
• Under-8 and up2v1 draw and passTwo attackers against one defender should be a try every time, and in junior rugby it usually is not. Either the carrier passes too early, and the defender simply moves across, or too late, and the carrier is tackled holding the ball. The drill teaches the moment in between: run at the defender until they have to commit, then give the pass. 12 min 3 at a time: a ball carrier, a support runner and a defender
• Under-9 and up3v2 overlapA 3v2 is two 2v1s, one after the other, and it goes wrong in the same two places. The first carrier passes before fixing the inside defender, so that defender drifts out and it is 2v2. Or the second carrier runs across the field instead of up it, and takes both defenders with them. Done right, the third attacker gets the ball with nobody left to tackle them. 15 min 5 at a time: three attackers and two defenders
• Under-9 and up, where tackling is allowedTackle techniqueThis is a contact drill, and it is the one to get right first. Most tackle injuries come from the head being in the wrong place, in front of the ball carrier instead of behind them, and from players going into contact at speed before they know where their head goes. So the drill starts on the knees and only gets faster once every tackle is safe. Check your union's age-grade rules for when tackling starts and the tackle height they set before you run it. 15 min Pairs: a ball carrier and a tackler
• Under-10 and up, where rucking is allowedRuck clear-outThis is a contact drill about one thing: body height. The support player who arrives first at a tackle has to move a defender off the ball, and the only safe, legal and effective way to do it is low, square and bound on, with the head up and the shoulders above the hips. Check your union's age-grade rules on when rucking starts and how it is played before you run it. 15 min 5 at a time: a ball carrier, a support player, a scrum-half, a receiver and a defender
• Under-13 and upLineout throw and liftA lineout is won by three people arriving in the same place at the same moment, and by a throw that goes there straight. This drill takes away the opposition so that the pod can practise the timing: the jumper and lifters move together, the throw meets the jumper at the top, and the ball comes down to the scrum-half. It is not a contact drill, but lifting carries its own risk, and many age-grade codes do not allow it for younger players, so check your union's rules first. 15 min 5 at a time: a hooker, a jumper, two lifters and a scrum-half
• Under-9 and upScrum-half pass off the baseThe best scrum-half pass is the one with nothing before it: no pick-up, no step, no wind-up. Every one of those gives the defence a moment to get off the line, and it is why young nines who throw a long pass off the ground beat ones who stand up first. The drill builds the footwork that makes that possible, at the base of a ruck, with the ball on the floor. 10 min 3 or more: a scrum-half, a fly-half, and players to form the ruck
• Under-11 and upKick-chase lineA kick is only as good as the chase, and a chase is only as good as the slowest player in it. A line of chasers who arrive together gives the catcher nowhere to run; one who arrives first on their own gets stepped. This drill teaches the chase as a line, from an onside start, and finishes with a two-handed touch, so it is a youth game as much as a drill. 12 min 6 or more: a kicker, four chasers, a catcher and the catcher's support