Ellis Rugby Skills and Drills

Bending the Line Some time ago I worked with Backs Coach Andre Bell who would often speak of ‘bending the line’ with his attack. I was always intrigued by this but to be honest never had a full understanding of its use. With defence now often dominating the game, bending the line is being seen by more teams around the world and it has grown from being a simple ‘back door’ pass to one of many variations and options.   Teams in the northern hemisphere are showing greater variation than us in the south who still look to carry hard and play off the back of that. Teams like Bristol and Northampton show a real willingness to test the defence at every opportunity. Teams that really rush up hard on defence cannot afford a slight disconnect in their line integrity and creative attacking sides are looking at doing just that by having ‘front door’ and ‘back door’ options but more importantly very active blindside wingers. Running lines and timing are key to success in these plays...

Space: the final frontier   The influence of rush defence in the modern game means the ability to identify space and react in time to exploit it is an essential part of the attacking game. With fifteen players in the opposition on a 100 x 70 metre field there must be space somewhere. According to a reliable source allowing 31 sqm for players and a ref leaves 6969 sqm of space and that is not including the in goal. When eight of these players are bunched in a lineout or scrum this opens up even more space. From set-piece situations the distance between the attack and the defence is greater. Why do we seldom take advantage of this? Is it fear? Are we afraid our skills are not good enough to get to space or do we just not see it? In phase play we need time to see the space as the positioning of the defence may vary and the availability of attacking players can change. In set-piece we have both time and space plus the knowledge of the defence and attack positioning. Fin...

Options - Are they in your attack plan? Teams who want to develop their attacking game need to have multiple options in their attack plan.   The complexity of your plan depends on your personnel and the level of the competition you are playing in. Many years ago the Wallabies ran a simple shape referred to as the ‘Aussie Box’ and it completely changed the way backlines attacked.   ‘Aussie Box’ variations Since then many sides have gone on to develop similar shapes around their forwards.   Today we see whole team attack shapes as a big part of the modern game. At the highest level these shapes are not only an orchestrated manoeuvre, they are specifically tailored to unlock the defence structures of the opposition. This is possible thanks to the advanced level of analysis used in professional rugby. Knowledge is power when it comes to designing attacking shapes. But the unpredictability of the game can also lead to unexpected chances. Opportunities ...

Breakdown Policy - Do You Have One? Do you have a breakdown policy? If not, you should.   A policy helps guide players actions at the breakdown. Alongside accurate skill execution, it can help to win the race. Having a policy does not replace good decision making, but when executed well it can greatly enhance it.   So, what does a breakdown policy look like? Most teams will include a list of non-negotiable points in the policy. These would usually include: Carry with evasion. Leg drive. Present the ball. Ball carrier plus 2. Remove threats. Control space over the ball. Other teams may go deeper and include these: Fight to stay up. Ball presentation outside place or inside place. Control top shoulder. Fight on ground. Always clean over the ball - often at the head of the ball carrier. Numbers to the breakdown as needed. Take space past the ball. Tackle the tackler - create a ‘speed bump’. Move ball if available. Action...

The influence of an offload game.   The use of the offload as a means of attacking space is a growing trend. Rugby World Cup 2019 has shown how the top sides have taken this skill and used it as part of their team strategies.   For those who may have read an earlier blog about the ‘Race’ the   offload is a good attacking skill to use against a bigger, more physical side or one that has a strong defensive set up. The offload allows the attack to win the race over the defence who do not have enough time to get into shape and off the line. There are several drills available to use when developing an offload strategy. When looking for some ideas The Rugby Site is a great place to start.   Check out the video by Kyohie Morita, former Japanese international.   One of the best places to start when planning your own drills is to ensure the player throwing the offload gets eye contact with the receiver. While players at the highest level may throw...

Reaction! Good decision makers are often associated with having an abundance of time. This equates to more vision. Basically greater time to see more! As coaches we really push our players to work hard off the ball. What we want are our players to be set early so they have time to see more and thus make better decisions. But then what?   Hesitation can be a real killer when under pressure. ‘Fight, flight or freeze’ are our natural reactions to these moments of pressure.   Let’s look at ‘act or react’. If we work hard we have a better chance that we can dictate what happens next, we ‘act’. This is the perfect world and one we tend to train the most. But following on from a previous blog about the race, we have an opposition who are also trying to set early. Should they beat us then we are often forced to ‘react’. What this looks like can have a massive impact on the game. At some stage in a training session we need to throw in the unknown. Doing this can help...

Missed tackles and their impact. Good tackle technique varies based on the physical attributes of the tackler, position on the field, carrying style of the attacker or even the time in a match. Team policy should include guidelines for these areas. However basic tackle technique comes down to a few key points, for example: Feet close Head up Wrap Squeeze Leg Drive Let’s look at ‘feet close.’   There are many buzz words and phrases that have been used in the past and when properly explained they help players to visualise the correct technique. A personal preference is not to refer to the feet at all and shift focus to ‘ chasing hands’ into the tackle. Understanding what this looks like is crucial. The term I use is ’T-Rex.’ It describes the positioning of the hands like the T-Rex dinosaur. It works well with younger players where we can say “ be a T-Rex not a Pterodactyl ” to illustrate keeping their arms in and up. ‘Chasing’ their hands means don’t extend ...