Ruck Clearing Exercises

Two crucial clearance techniques - the saddle roll, and the duck and clean. It's important for players to practice these at length, under pressure, under fatigue, and with an element of decision-making in order to best re-create a match situation.

Continuous Breakdown Drill

This drill takes you through a simple drill where multiple breakdown and contact skills are tested. You'll also be given the reasons why it is practised this way.

Continuous Breakdown Drill

This drill takes you through a simple drill where multiple breakdown and contact skills are tested. You'll also be given the reasons why it is practised this way.

Neal Hatley - Breakdown Summary

Neal Hatley shares his views on the breakdown and provides an insight into some of the exercises he uses to coach "Defence at the breakdown"

Breakdown Tips!

Australia are dominating the breakdown. Coach Nathan Grey explains why the breakdown is so important and provides some tips

Quins - Tackle, Bounce & Compete

Harlequins senior squad work on the breakdown

2nd man at breakdown

What is the role of the 2nd defender at the tackle or breakdown? How do you coach players to be effective

Sale Sharks - The Breakdown Experts

The breakdown is the key to the game, whether you're trying to provide your attack with quick ball, or slow down the opposition, the breakdown is a crucial part of the game and one that deserves the attention of all coaches

Ball Presentation Game

Creating quick ball is crucial to a great attack. Take your players out of a game and into this practice and you'll notice significant improvements in the game pace!

Contact Square - Inside Clear

All attacking players need to fix their opposite defender.

Ruck Clearing and Decision Making

Advanced clearing exercises for senior players. The support player makes a decision on how to clear out the ruck based on the position of the opposition.

Games for coaching Contact

The coaches use a variety of conditions for both the attackers and defenders to reinforce the coaching points. Small sided games enable players to learn in a live environment similar to actual match conditions

Breakdown - Tips to dominate

Head coach Dickon Edwards provides some technical background prior to the academy coaches going through some of the basic principles of the work that needs to be done on the floor during contact. Winning the collision is not only about when you are on your feet

Breakdown - Win the collision

A series of progressions that develop the skills required for players to manage and possibly dominate contact

Breakdown - Win the collision

A series of progressions that develop the skills required for players to manage and possibly dominate contact

Ground work is crucial to retain possession

It is important for players to practice working hard on the ground to get the ball presented back to their team. This session uses bodyweight exercises to practice the movement and enforces it with a conditioned game.

Managing the Contact Area

Concentrating on the actions of the tackler and the support player in the moments after a tackle. It's important to practice the correct body position and technique so that the right decision can be made on the pitch.

Worcester Academy - Jackal Technique

Take a look at how they coach the jackal technique at Worcester academy!

Leg-drive in Contact

Staying strong and maintaining a leg-drive when in contact can help to gain territory, give teammates more time to support, and sometimes, counteract the tackle entirely. In this clip, Eastbourne College score a try against Eton as a result of powerful running and leg-drive.

Ball Retention Techniques

Progressions are used to build the technical competency and the confidence of players learning to clear defenders away from the contact area. It is interesting to see that no contact shields are used

Ground Work and Ball Presentation

It is important for players to practice working hard on the ground to get the ball presented back to their team. This session uses bodyweight exercises to practice the movement and enforces it with a conditioned game. Log in to see the full video.

Ground Work and Ball Presentation

It is important for players to practice working hard on the ground to get the ball presented back to their team. This session uses bodyweight exercises to practice the movement and enforces it with a conditioned game. Log in to see the full video.

Worcester - Breakdown decision making

The coach progresses a static decision making exercise into a moving one. The coach uses a ball strapped to a tackle sausage to replicate attackers and where they may be tackled. The defenders then have a decision to make, either jackal on the ball or clear opponents

Breakdown - The race for space

The battle to dominate the breakdown is often the difference between winning and loosing. This area of the game is always changing so coaches need to regularly learn new things and challenge their players

Worcester - Decision Making

The coach uses a tackle sausage and ball to replicate an attacking player. If the player falls back towards the defender he secures the ball, if the attacker falls further away the defender clears aggressively. This exercise could be worked as a support player for one of your own attackers

Turning defence into attack

The Northampton saints approach to defence is to "Turn over ball" and to this end the tackle is only the start of the process and the coach outlines this approach and provides some examples

Rucking Zone

A tiring exercise of continuous rucking. Encourage your players to maintain good standards even when tiring and highlight the importance of getting straight up after one breakdown to make another.

One handed offload out of the tackle

Develop a players ability to make an effective pass under pressure with support players trailing

Breakdown - Grip and Roll (Saddle)

The grip and roll clearing technique, (Known as saddle clearing to some) is a technique to use when defenders have already established a strong position over the ball. Using brute force will probably fail so approaching the defender slightly from the side and using the clearers momentum he grips and rolls the player away

Worcester Academy - Clearout Techniques

Worcester Academy - Clearout Techniques

The Breakdown Battle

The breakdown is becoming more important in rugby and elite coaches are delivering more detailed training sessions to teach the basic skills required to be effective and make decisions quickly and accurately

Worcester - Live breakdown work

A further progression for players to make decisions with multiple attackers and defenders on what the 1st and 2nd player does at the tackle

Breakdown - How to ensure quick ball

An exercise to promote quick recycling at the breakdown. Coaches can use a variety of conditions to make this exercise harder or more intense

Leg drive and offloads

Staying strong in contact and using the leg-drive can commit extra defenders. If then, you can make an offload to supporting players, overlaps should be created. It is difficult to defend a strong offloading attack, and here, Stowe School are rewarded a try for their slick hands.

Coaching the breakdown with games

The challenge of using games to coach contact is a tricky one for many coaches. This clip shows the Leeds carnegie academy coach explaining how to integrate games into his coaching and the different styles of delivery

Sevens - Uncovered - Attack

Elite coaches discuss their attacking philosophies and this underpines the skills and techniques they will work on as coaches and the type of trainign sessions they will plan. As a coach how do you coach the skills that the Fijian players possess or the patience the Welsh side had to win the last 7's world cup. Does the team represent the ideas and plans of the coach?

Worcester - Live breakdown

Here players progress from making decisions at the breakdown using pads and bags to live defenders. The supporting players have to make a decision based upon the ball carrier

Sevens - Uncovered - The Breakdown Specialists

The breakdown has become a significant area for coaches and players to focus on. All players now need the technical skills and the intensity to compete at the tackle area and if players are poor in this area teams will be exposed. Some teams will select a specialist in this area and combine his skills with tackle technique from other players so that they work in units to turn over possesion

Sevens - Uncovered - The Playmaker

This footage outlines the importance of "decision making" in seven's. The top sides have players with a variety of skills but to be consistent performers teams require a playmaker who has the vision and tactical acumen to manage team tactics "On the move" and the ability to create opportunities out of nothing

Breakdown Skills - Progressions

Sevens - Patterns of Play 3

Working in units and working through phases is crucial to modern day sevens and in this clip the White team show great technique and patience to work their way up the field to score. Key factors : Ball retention - Communication - Work in units - Accurate passing - Patience - Stamina

Offloads - Keeping the ball alive

In this clip, Eton College keep the ball alive through a series of offloads and long passes, deep within their 22. Eventually a gap emerges for them to exploit, finishing off the the try with a final offload.

Offload Passes

When a solid Filton defence has denied them the outside, Oaklands College are able to break through the line thanks to good running lines from close supporting players and accurate offload passes.

Contact skills introduction

Warm ups should include contact and collision work

Ball retention wide

If a drift defence has you pointed towards the touch-line, the wide player should change their running direction and attack the inside defender. This is proactive and gives more chance for the ball to be recycled for another attempt.

Focus on the Breakdown

Managing the contact area is an essential part of rugby union, made up of various elements and techniques. Here's a quick look at just a couple that are featured on the website.

Lions 09 - Clearing the tackler away

With the new adjustments around the tackle zone, what variation would you adopt now so that this drill is now legal?

JWC 2012: Multi-phases

At the JWC 2012 there was an increase in the number of tries scored after 7+ phases. It is taking longer to break down better defences.