Welcome to Better Rugby Coaching Issue 84
(Please forward to friends and colleagues without cutting, thanks)

Coaching the side step –
keeping it simple and natural

This season I worked with a bunch of under sixes on the beach on a Saturday morning for about 45 minutes a week. It went under the title of rugby training, but the truth was nearer to running around and falling over, sometimes with a ball. But one thing I was able to improve was their side stepping.

Evasion is one of the areas Jim Love, the former New Zealand Maori coach, brought to the US Falcons, a development side that he turned around in just six days. More of that in the current Rugby Coach newsletter.

Definition of a side step – the truth and the lie

Since the side step is a movement of beauty, most explanations leave the coach and player cold. Forget weights, shoulders and feet, picture this – the ball carrier goes one way, the defender defends that way; the ball carrier now goes the other way before the defender can change. All the ball carrier has to do his convince the defender of one thing, and then do the other. We are going to teach the player to lie. Any decent basketball player spends their game time lying to the defenders; just watch their hands and their head. A simple nod can be enough to deceive a defender.

Seeing and feeling, not thinking

Ieuan Evans, one of the many Welsh side stepping wizards said that you can teach a player HOW to side step but not WHEN to side step. A player needs to be able to perform the step (see “Mechanical practices”) but also to anticipate. Anticipation is something that comes from creating lots of situations for the player to try out. Rugby Coach would suggest
this is a good time for player self discovery rather than setting out rules of engagement. Give them the skill base, give them some decision making situations and let them hang themselves!

Feet, balance, action

Not every player will be able to skip through players like Shane Williams or Mils Mulliana. But there are some very big guys who still use the side step very effectively – think of Rokocoko, Tiquiri and even Jonah Lomu.

They all have some general characteristics to step effectively:

• They are upright before their first movement, so the head is above their feet.
• They have slowed down slightly.
• They are seeking in their minds the space they want to move into.
  

When they step, they are able to move very quickly in the next direction – their footwork never takes them off balance to the extent they have lost their momentum. Too often a side step comes to naught because the step has effectively slowed the player down to mean the next defender can easily catch up, or the beaten defender has time to recover.

There is a circle of balance around your body. Step laterally outside this circle as you are running and you lose control. Some player’s circle is larger than others, and the lateral circle becomes smaller the faster you are running. But remember a small movement may easily be enough to confuse a defender. Again, learning your circle is a natural thing and a coach can easily add value by observing a player’s side stepping and commenting on their changes of pace.

In next week’s issue: Touch Rugby - Friend or Foe?

Dan Cottrell, Editor

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