Scrum-half pass off the base

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Rugby drill · Under-9 and up

The 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.

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Time
10 minutes
Players
3 or more: a scrum-half, a fly-half, and players to form the ruck
Equipment
  • A ruck pad or two players on their knees to form the ruck
  • 4 to 6 balls
  • 2 cones for the fly-half's starting spot

Setup

  1. Put a ball at the back of a ruck pad, or behind two kneeling players bound together, as if it had just been placed back.
  2. The scrum-half starts 5 metres back and to the side. The fly-half starts about 15 metres away, deep and wide.
  3. On the whistle the scrum-half gets to the ball and the fly-half starts running onto the pass.
  4. The scrum-half passes straight off the ground, and the next ball is put down for the next go.
  5. Swap the fly-half to the other side every few goes, so the scrum-half passes both ways.

Coaching points

  • Get there early and set your feet before the ball is ready, not after.
  • Back foot beside the ball, front foot pointing at the fly-half. Hands on the ball, eyes on the target.
  • Sweep the ball off the ground in one movement, with no step and no back-swing.
  • Follow through to the target, then follow the pass in support.

On the run sheet: Get there early, feet either side of the ball pointing at the target, sweep it off the ground with no step and no back-swing

Progressions

  1. Move the fly-half wider and deeper, so the pass has to be longer.
  2. Add a defender who can come round the ruck as soon as the scrum-half touches the ball.
  3. Put two receivers out, one on each side, and call the side late.

How it runs

The ruck is formed and the ball is at its base. The scrum-half gets there with their feet already set, one either side of the ball, the front foot pointing at the fly-half. The fly-half starts running and the scrum-half sweeps the ball off the ground to them in one movement. The animation hands the ball to the scrum-half as they arrive, which on the field is them getting their hands on it at the base, and finishes with the fly-half taking the pass on the run.

It is a non-contact drill, so it can run beside a contact session for the players who are not in it, or as a nine-and-ten pair on their own.

The law it is working with

Law 15 sets the offside line for each team at the hindmost foot of their own players in the ruck, so a defender cannot come round onto the scrum-half while the ball is still in it. The moment the scrum-half lifts it out, the ruck is over and the defence can come. That is why the pick-up and the step cost so much: they take place after the defence is allowed to move.

The mistakes to watch for

Arriving late and setting the feet after the ball is ready. Picking the ball up to chest height before passing. And a step towards the target before the pass, which tells every defender where the ball is going.

More rugby drills

Put Scrum-half pass off the base in Tuesday's session

It lands on your practice plan already timed, with the coaching cue printed under it, next to your own plays.

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