Rugby warm up drill for pre match footwork skills

When you're coaching rugby skills, footwork is key to exploiting space. A good pre-match rugby warm-up drill is essential to help get your players into their stride.

Rugby drill set-up

Set up a 10-metre wide by 30-metre long box with a line of five evenly-spaced cones every seven metres for this warm-up drill.
Get three or four players to set off down the box, changing pace and running style at every line of cones.
When they reach the end of the box, have them jog round to re-run this rugby drill.

Variations and extensions for rugby drill

Ensure your rugby players change pace at every line of cones.
Have the players first run sideways, then backwards, then sideways again but this time facing the other way.
Get the players to run using heel flicks, then high knees, and striding out.
Have the players jog up the grid, changing their angle of running every time they reach a cone. Then increase their pace and encourage the players to change angles so they are running at least three metres sideways for every seven metres forwards, weaving in and out of the cones.

Many rugby coaches tell me that it is their rugby warm-up drills that prompt most of the "same-old, same-old" complaints when they're coaching their players. You can build on a successful rugby warm-up, so it's worth investing in The Ultimate Rugby Warm-ups Manual to get your rugby warm-up drills right. Click here to order.

Click here for more rugby coaching tips for pre-match warm-up drills.