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Rugby Coaching Drills Video Library

The Breakdown Battle

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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

Video Subtitles

But progress right through this and we'll do some after the tackles me getting on our feet quickly and driving through the contact. So just with a partner if you get yourself a bag you just going to hold on your chest. That's a down like that drop on it spring back on your feet and then go right past them through the ball. So you put a ball on the floor in front of your pad dead simple guys when you're ready three or four each Think about the shape it back. If Kate you don't even have your your shoulders lower than your hips. Nice and Powerful stay low though. Don't get up to a soon as you get up high. People can come underneath you might want to use the bit of the crawl at it chicky. Good luck. Good. Good. Giant keep your hands on the floor little bit. That's it. Josh. Good. All you going to do now is you're going to drop onto the floor with your pad. You're going to get up. All right, I might have come in to.

Breakdown techniques

5:56

Tower of power

The "tower of power" is the most important fundamental for coaching children contact skills. It is the basis of a players body position prior to and during contact and is one of the first techniques that should be coached

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4:27

Collision Fitness - Spinning Bears

Another innovative exercise from "The Athlete Factory" which combines speed & power with technical accuracy. These exercises can be applied to all age groups to build confidence

4:55

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.

9:20

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.

2:30

Breakdown Tips!

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

1:36

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.

6:38

Breakdown - Coaching Players To Make Decisions

The coach uses a combination of drills & games to deliver a session on making decisions at the breakdown. There are some technical points and observations on the coach using classic "Tell & Yell" instructions

7:02

Breakdown Skills for Mini age groups

Introducing contact and breakdown skills to younger players can be a challenge for many coaches, in this clip the Northampton saints community coaches explain some of the technical points and use some simple practises to help them learn

3:50

Groundwork Skills

Improving some simple ball presentation skills can have a significant effect on the quality of your breakdown and the speed of the ball delivered from the contact area. This is a great technique that all players should learn

2:41

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

2:06

Breakdown - Accurate Rucking

This series of clips shows how conditioning and good technique are crucial to be effective at the breakdown. The progressions are simple and the key coaching points are Low to high body position Strong leg drive Accuracy on the target - The tackle bag

0:55

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

1:27

Turnover session - Clearing

Breaking down the turnover situation into separate technical elements, players can work on their essential skills.

Here, in a series of progressions, the emphasis is on the first defender to arrive at the breakdown. They should attack the breakdown and fight to get through and past the ball.

1:32

Turnover session - Learn to Jackal

This drill encourages players to contest for the ball while staying on their feet.

Progress to include reaction to a tackle and focus on getting on your feet quickly

1:31

Turnover session - Competing for the ball

To ensure players consider the best options at the moment they win turnover ball.

The easy option may be to go straight back into contact, but this gives the opposition time to organise a defence.

Encourage players to move the ball away from contact and attack the space wide

1:52

Breakdown - Duck and Clean

Body position is crucial to compete at the breakdown, "Duck & Clean" is about ensuring that the players hips are lower than his opponents, this enables the player to get lower and clean in a "Low to high" movement which is both safe and effective

2:02

Breakdown - The Saddle Roll Technique

This clearing technique is used to remove defenders who have latched onto the ball and are in a low body position. Coaches can vary the angle that the clearers approach from

1:14

Breakdown - Getting started

The contest at the breakdown is always changing and new techniques are often introduced however there are some fundamental skills required and this clip explains some of them

1:01

British Lions - tackle then jackal

It is important to practice not only the body shape of the defender but also those doing the clearing out of the defender