Rugby coaching tips for avoiding contact
Avoiding contact can be the key to rugby success. Jim Love explains how to incorporate avoidance technique in training sessions.
Jim Love has an illustrious rugby coaching pedigree, ranging from coaching the Tongan World Cup team, the NZ Maori, and the US Falcons, to the Italian Heineken Cup side Viadana, where he is head coach. Here he provides insights into his basic approach for rugby success.
Avoid "T-boning"
Too much rugby is characterised by the desire to impose physicality on the opposite number. To do this, the player with the ball often simply runs straight at the centre of the defender's chest, the "T-bone", to gain maximum impact.
A "win" at this collision point leads to a sense of achievement in terms of defeating the opponent and a psychological advantage. However, it is also a risky strategy. It does not promote continuity and is relatively easy to defend against.
Attack doors not walls
I have long been a believer in the French approach of running through "doors" not at "walls".
Think of the physical presence of defenders as a series of walls and the gaps between them as the "doors". The closer the ball is to a defender when the ball carrier tries to breach the defence, the more difficult the door is to open.
This subtly different rugby coaching approach to getting through a gap can make all the difference to an attacking player.
Attack the weak shoulder
Just before a tackler wants to make a tackle, he directs one of his shoulders towards the point of contact. The other shoulder then becomes the weak shoulder. If the ball carrier can use good footwork to force himself onto the weak shoulder, then he should meet with a path of less resistance.
Even if he then "only" makes it halfway through before being held, he should still be better able to offload or present the ball in a way to allow greater continuity.
Side step slow, side step better
Footwork before contact to get through the "doors" is so important that many sides do indeed train hard to improve this part of the game. But they are often trying to run before they can step.
Instead, set up rugby coaching drills where your players learn to side step under pressure, but at half pace. Ingrain the right feeling before going on to practise at a greater pace.
Handling - quality first
In my first meeting with the US Falcons team, the players emphasised handling as one of the areas they wanted to concentrate on. Consequently, we worked a lot on pop passes, aiming to increase the level of "sympathy" in the weight and height of the pass. Why? Because the pop pass is made in very pressured situations, so the receiver needs every help possible.
Just like the side step, I stress you must aim to for quality first. No pass should be made unless a player can run on to it.
Jim Love is head coach of Viadana, the Italian Heineken Cup team, and CEO of the New Zealand Sports Academy (www.nzsportsacademy.co.nz). He is a former coach of the Maori All Blacks and took Tonga to the 2003 rugby world cup.
Jim is also a regular contributor to my Rugby Coach publication, specially designed to help you become a more confident, successful rugby coach in just 30 minutes a month.
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