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Supreme Being
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Hi All,
I was wondering if anyone has a list of coaching points specific to the individual roles and responsibilities of the A, B and C defenders (the players immediately outside the guard/post defenders) either side of the ruck?
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Supreme Being
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That's excellent, thanks Jonesy. The alignment of the outside defenders is interesting.
I picked up the following from an RL source on the subject. As you know the A defenders there are the defenders in the line closest to the ruck who must also cover the area behind the ruck. What follows is for RL but is interesting also from an RU perspective:
"A, B, C defenders are a large part of the ruck area defence & as such have a role within an area
Defender A) Initially you need to establish your ready-stance so that your players are preparing to go forward from the word go - will you use inside foot up (to aim the defender at receiver 1) or will you use outside foot up (to maintain a clear view of the source of the next play).
"A" must know what his distance of separation from the line of the markers is - is it consistently a set distance (tight to protect the back of the ptb or wide to invite the attacker in then shut the trap shut) or is he taught to be reactive to the win/loss situation at the ptb or line break (tighten to the ruck on a loss/post break to get numbers in the next tackle).
"A" needs to scan from the ptb out to potential receivers - does he know how to recognise dangers (people moving behind, attackers pointing where they're going, attackers getting themselves ready).
"A" must be prepared to work in with the other sections of the ruck - markers: get forward to the line of the markers and look for contact unless contact is made earlier, the ball goes past the "A", or to the other side of the ruck. "B": work with him on two man tackles on that side or when tying-in with the movement of the ball.
Defender B) Initial stance, scanning, press, contact, tie-in
Defender C) Initial stance, scanning, press, contact, tie-in
A, B, C defenders must be aware that they are part of a system & must work with the opposite side of the ruck to form a complete system - go forward & shift with the movement of the ball.
An area of defence often forgotten is the reset (returning to the line 10m back from the ruck) - do you have your defenders just off the tackle stay up (active) until the ball is dead then reset at speed - this is to minimise the effect of second-phase play (flop-backs/post-contact offloads) OR do you have them reset as soon as contact is made because you're very confident with your players' ability to complete tackles.
Do your ABC's know & understand how to position or dictate to an attacker so that he is placed in a zone where his lateral attributes are minimised?
The other area of recognition is shape, the spacing between the ABC's, their formation when pressing forward, their formation when following a shift of passes (where does each defender get his timing of when to shift from straight to angle from - the ball or other defender?), their formation around a tackle, & their formation on reset - how much is manageable with the players you have available vs. the competition you will encounter?"
Expanding on the point re dictating to the attacker and when to shift (NB we are talking about up and out/up and in defenses, NOT drift defenses):
"The way we teach this situation is we use lanes as a point of context - a lane is the space between two defenders. When our defenders press forward they are scanning to detect where the ball runner is attempting to operate, once this is recognised the defenders in this area will manipulate the runner into the their lane by subtle presses & holds which present a gap (very slight) which shuts once the runner gets to the point of no return. The spacings between defenders are the lanes, this way players are acting in pairs to execute tackles (2 v 1 ).
Your ABC's should have a set spacing operation (playing to your strengths) - if you want to (& you were confident with your defenders) you could have "B" align inside-shoulder on the first reciever (if he's not ridiculously wide) & the others (A & C) space from him. The cue of operation would be the ball - once it goes past THEN shift inside to out. If you make the ball the cue then your side will be operating at the most important thing on the field - possession. Go forward & react from the position of the ball - up & in, up & out.
Again, this is only touching on a part of a system - other parametres would come into play with edge defenders & further out."
("edge defenders" being a) the next 2 defenders outside "C" or b) defenders who make contact on runners more than two passes from the ruck.)
All interesting stuff.
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Forum Member
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| I am trying to analyse your post and formulate a reply however could you define "ptb" it is an abbreviation I am not familiar with. Regards Jonesy
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Supreme Being
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| PTB=play the ball ie stand up and put the ball back between the legs, ensuring you touch it briefly with the foot en route. didds
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Supreme Being
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| I would add that you need to identify the opposition play maker as a key point for defence reference. Heads up defence means looking ahead and to the contact point. When "folding", which means following around in defence, ABC defenders would preferably be slower forwards. In practice, use yellow bibs or similar to identify these players.
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Forum Newbie
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| Can someone dummy this down for me? In my mind this is one of the most important coaching areas, and like other sports (well hockey anyway) defense is the area where coaching can have the greatest impact. In hockey the saying is: "You can coach defense, but you cant coach natural goal scoring and play making". I think we saw evidence of how important coaching defense is at the world cup (France, Argentina and South Africa). How defense moves forward; aiming at inside shoulder, J shape in approach, move forward as a line, is simple enough. I also understand the guard/post and keeper (scrum half) roles in defense and more or less the back three, but I would love some specific description of how the ABC lineup (match) and most importantly reorganize after a tackle. I really need someone to simplify this for me. (A future subject for Dan? Book even?) I have the tight 5 aim for the guard and post spots given time. Would love some insight into how the inner backs and the back row players set up and reorganize. Very interested in 7's role versus the others. Any insight would greatly be appreciated.
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Supreme Being
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As I understand it, the need to give positions names like guard, post, end, A, B, C etc is because we are dealing with phase play, defending rucks particularly - the players who happen to be there take on those roles. This should not cause a problem if all players understand the system. Another part of any such system is how you go about re-organising the players so one does not get slow forwards out in the midfield defending agile backs.
The ABC defenders are part of the ruck defense system. What they do will also be determined by the wider defensive system being used - drift, up and in, up and out etc. It need not be too complex - just that the whole team need to understand the system. As one can see from the RL information above one can be much more sophisticated - looking to lure runners into certain channels to achieve specific ends - for example isolating the BC and looking to win turnover ball. Alson in looking to dictate to the atackers where the game is played.
At the end of the day it's just about considering what you want the 3 players either side of the ruck (outside the post/guard defenders) to do as part of the whole system you are putting together. They are just one part of the defence.
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