Rugby coaching game to practise defensive organisation

This is a great game to practise defensive organisation, it is called "Escape from jail".

Set-up

  • Mark out two boxes, one 20m square and another inside it, inset by about three metres.
  • Split your players into two teams of six “jailers” and four “prisoners”. The aim is for the prisoners to escape from the inner box to outside the outer box.
  • The jailers are stationed on the lines of each box and are not allowed to move off that line, though they can move around them. Three jailers patrol the lines of each box.
  • Give the prisoners a time limit to “escape”. A prisoner is captured if the jailer touches them with two hands.

What to call out

  • “Jailers, move side to side facing inwards.”
  • “Jailers, indicate which player you are marking and then say if you have moved to marking another player.”

Development

  1. Prisoners carry a ball.
  2. Capture is through a tackle.
  3. Jailers are allowed to move anywhere in the area between the two boxes.
  4. The prisoners have a ball, which they use to score by any means outside the jail. If a prisoner is caught in possession of the ball, the escape attempt is foiled.

This article is from Rugby Coach Weekly. Use "Escape from jail" to help build good communication and organisation skills for tackle systems.

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