Defensive Line Game
The Defensive Line
It is important that the players and the coach have a common understanding of where the gain line is, from a set piece and also from a ruck or maul. This is often not fully understood and may influence the success of both attack and defensive objectives. It is also important to understand where the tackle line might be, as this will impact on the strategy and alignment of the back line.
Using different angles of running confuses tacklers and pulls a defensive unit out of line. Learning the skills to both run these lines and pass the ball accurately is key to any ambitious team looking to attack and offload
Modern defensive lines are well-organised and hard to break. It depends on the quality execution of attacking fundamentals. A good introduction is 'unders' and 'overs' running lines. Log in to see the full session.
This exercise focuses on the key elements of a strong defensive system, including scanning, line-speed and staying linked with your team mates.
Ex Harlequins coach Collin Osborne explains his fourth defensive principle - Line Speed.
This clip shows past footage, but from this bird’s eye view, it clearly illustrates the organisation required to be a sound defensive team
To take advantage of the forwards being grouped and to utilize the space this provides, the appropriate strike call needs to be made and space attached.
Attacking the space between the two teams is paramount and attacking the ball when running support lines will assist the offload and turn defenders.
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