Making rugby passing drills more realistic

Turning rugby drills into games is a must. The players must learn to cope with the pressure of the game situation to see if the techniques taught to them can stand up.

Below is a step-by-step way to build towards a game situation. You will note that defenders don’t come into the drill until a number of techniques have been explored. This allows the players to build up a bank of choices to work with when they do face a defence.

It is worth putting the technique into context as well. For instance, you can discuss the reasons for changing angles in the second stage of the drill.

The drills

This drill involves four players running across an area, passing a ball. At the far side, they hand the ball to a waiting four, who do exactly the same in the opposite direction. Once you are happy with their techniques, build up the steps.

You can progress further by playing a 4v4 game. In which case, widen the pitch as it’s passing that the drill started with, so the game has to build on this.

Technique + pressure = skill

The technique is the pass and catch. You can practise these in isolation as in the first drill below. Add pressure and the technique becomes a skill. The player chooses what techniques to use and when to execute the best decision.