Training - Handling, Rucking and Low Tackles

Happy New Year all! As this was the first session back after Christmas, it was the ideal opportunity to brush up on some of the basics! As part of the warm-up, two games of touch focused on quick passes away from the break down. To encourage running into space, the tackler also has to 'take a knee' for a few seconds after making the tackle, to create and encourage running into space.

Some 'passing along the line' practise then followed, working again on quick passing through the hands. After quite a few dropped balls, it was clear that a passing refresher was needed! To get the hang of quick hands across the body, the U11s were encourage to reach for the ball and to catch it as early as possible. To make the pass, they worked on turning the hips and keeping the ball in front and away from the body and releasing the pass into the hands of the next player. Sounds tricky, but it was great to see the U11s getting the idea and some great consistant passing then followed in the practise matches. For these games, the U11s also played full contact involving tackling and rucking. To encourage low tackling, extra points were awarded for tackles below the waist.

The second practise excersise worked on the quick recycling of the ball at the ruck. Some videos of each of the groups is shared on the website showing what the U11s were working on. Building on the quick passing from earlier, the ball was passed down the line and taken into 'contact' on a pad. Rucking over the ball, the scrum half then sent the ball quickly down the line replicating game play. Each player had multiple goes at different positions to experience all aspects of the excersise. Each time, the U11s were encouraged to make the passes quicker and sharper.

Training was rounded off with two more games, putting into practise all that the U11s had been working on. It is great to see the low tackles starting to come and the quick passing to players in space. Strong straight running is clearly key in attack, but defenders need to remember to hang on and complete the tackle! Well done all! A big welcome also to Sammy and Finn, I hope that you enjoyed the session. Hope to see you all next week for, I believe, a joint training session with Twickenham RFC; more details to follow.