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Forum Newbie
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Last Login: 31/05/2007 11:46:55
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| I have read various rugby coaching subjects on touch rugby as a warm up and they vary, some say yes and some say no, in relation to yes obviously communication, hands etc and in the No corner it seems to be, skivers will skive, bad practise, hogging the ball etc. Surely there has to be a definate answer or weighing up the pros and cons, any views WW
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Forum Newbie
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Last Login: 01/09/2008 12:43:14
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Whenever I use touch/tag rugby as a warm up or as a training session, I vary the rules.
Mixing it up to keep players thinking and getting players involved. It all depends on the aim of the upcoming session, do you concentrate on handling, running lines, defensive strategy, pinning defenders, shepherding attackers, performing set moves (switch, loop, inside ball, miss pass etc).
Also, what happens on a tackle/touch/tag, offload, pass, roll between legs etc.
If I see people are waiting on the wing or doing little in midfield (little more than catch then immediate pass), then I get them involved by making up rules - every move must use every player or possession is turned over.
My only real gripe about touch rugby is that the ball is in hand for some players for far longer in a 10-15 minute game of touch than an entire game.
Pretend inferiority and encourage his arrogance - Sun Tzu
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Forum Newbie
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Last Login: 16/07/2007 22:01:24
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| For what it's worth, when we play touch at the start of training we try and stick to what we should be doing on the field - forwards running stright into a touch are given a bit of 'benefit of the doubt' and are allowed to make a couple of steps forward, whereas the backs are the guys who are supposed to be doing the magic with the hands and making opportunities. As is typical with touch the forwards are supposed to be pretty close together and play the offside rule and do as many quick pick and drives as necessary to draw in the opposition and to give the backs some space, and then lets the backs loose. We also don't bother with the number of plays - it keeps going until a turnover. As is typical, you want to mix the rules upa bit, and once the season starts it gets more physical, for example not just a touch, but a two handed touch, or a touch and hold. This helps improve the defense as much as anything, as well as making more space for the more agile / fast guys. To be fair, I really enjoy the touch, but know that afterwards we're going to have to run our guts out and so a lot of the guys only put in 1/2 effort. Playing at the end of the session is near impossible as most guys want to go home by then. Cheers, Treeve.
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Supreme Being
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Last Login: 08/06/2009 12:44:28
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Personally, I always enjoyed touch rugby, as a warm up or otherwise. If the aim of the warm up is mainly to get the blood flowing and the players warmed up, it can be an enjoyable way of doing that.
If you feel the need to increase the work load and keep everyone, even the lazy players moving, try playing with RL rules - PTB after touch, max 2 markers stood square, defense back 10m from the PTB. That 10m takes it out of you. 6 tackles etc You could even allow kicking to turn the defenders and make them run back to support the FB or whoever will be bringing the ball back out.
Carl, I always quite like the idea of players spending time with ball in hand, esp. those who might not do so much in a game. It helps them not be quite so startled when it does come to them for real!
As you say Carl, it can be a very flexible tool and can be used to practice all sorts of techniques in a fluid, game situation. I also rather like the way that it allows forwards to get into situations they might not often find themselves in (having been relieved of rucking and mauling duties). If all your players 1-15 can carry out a series of basic attacking moves but also read and appropriately defend the same this can be no bad thing. For when play has been through a number of phases on attack or defense, forwards can find themselves in unfamiliar areas. For example in defense, if they have seen a scissors or inside ball or whatever loads of times in training and know the correct defensive play to deploy and their role within it all the better.
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Forum Newbie
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Last Login: 18/06/2007 15:59:52
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I used to be totally opposed to touch. And in particular the play the ball hangover from RL. Then I heard people like Shaun Edwards and the Wasps coaches saying how valuable it was to them So after a few questions I started playing variations like 2 second touch (2 seconds to pass or offload) or no touch, get touched and you turnover.
So we played masses of touch. It became a major part of our training, but with MY rules. At first the guys whinged like crazy, then they started enjoying it and with little nudges in the right direction they started handling and running and having fun. oh and we won every game bar 1 last season and got promoted.
And i got complaints about a lack of handling drills
LOL
John Hill
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Junior Member
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Last Login: 12/06/2008 16:09:53
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| John The last line of your post hit the nail on the head, lack of handling skills. IMHO this is one of the most overlook & under coached parts for RU. To score try`s the ball HAS to be handled, this is fundamental to RU. Watch any All Blacks team & see the handling skills of ALL their players. They score by cutting handling errors, quick hands, & getting the ball moved around the pitch quickly. This may sound a very simplistic analysis, but if the stop to think what stops teams in possession scoring, more often that not the reason is handling errors. Going back to the subject matter, touch rugby is always useful in enhancing players handling skills, but as John pointeed out it needs to be structured. Change objectives, put rules in place, walking touch rugby concentrates the mind for example. There are many variations that can be used, just think outside the box.
Ruck, Ruck, & Ruck again.
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Forum Newbie
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Last Login: 18/07/2007 11:35:13
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| I like to vary the touch rugby by forwards passing the way they recieve and backs passing away from where they recieve. At first it is chaos to say the least but eventually it gets people thinking on their positioning and it involves a lot of communication it also helps with forwards off loads just before the contact area. I also split into small groups of 6 and the defence can only walk up and the attack can not go into contact. What you get is the attacking side will have to back peddle until a gap is opened, again it tends to be chaos at first but eventually some pattern is obtained.
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Junior Member
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Last Login: 10/07/2007 11:38:15
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WW, as you can see from the views expressed there appears to no definitive answer to your question, but it appears all use touch rugby in some part, whether that is for a warm up or a training exercise.
My preferred use is to build intensity by starting with "pure" touch, i.e. 2 hands below the waist, then like others have said changing the rules. I tend to do this about 3 times in a 15 minute session. Stopping the game for a few seconds to explain what is wanted this can also give time to help players correct errors. I also nominate a skipper for each side to decide their tactics this can be a surprising change when your prop forward start talking about attacking space and lines of running.
I am a huge fan of touch rugby but I believe it should not be over used nor should it be only used just for a warm-up.
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Forum Newbie
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Last Login: 02/08/2007 18:59:59
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| hi, its true about players skiving or hiding, to cut this one out dont have to many on ether side ie if you have 20 players break this down and play 5 aside this will definetly involve all 5 on both sides. you can build this to a small tournament great fun.
M.L.Barry
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