Make Your Warm Ups Competitive

Add a competitive element to your warm ups to engage your players and mentally prepare them for the session.

Defence - 3. Press Up and Out

This illustration is an up-and-out system and not a drift
This relies on the defenders continuing to press forward, closing the space as they shadow the attacking players

Press Up Wrestle

Players get into pairs and take up a press-up position facing each other. They then attempt to slap away their opponents arms. The exercise requires balance, core and upper body strength.

Combat fitness - Press Up Jackal

Our combat & collision skills are behind the southern hemisphere and elite coaches are working hard to change this. Here is a simple exercise for both technique and fitness

End ball game for warm ups

A fun but competitive warm-up game that get's players switched on and ready to train.

Coaching 7-a-side Rugby - Side line press

In Defence:

Stay alert, keep on toes, specific communication, react, work hard

Defend what is happening – not what you think is going to happen

Trust the defence system, trust your team mates – trust yourself

Conditioned touch - Defence press up

Allow your players to put what they've learned into action. In this example, one attacker and one defender must take a knee at the tackle area to resemble the breakdown.

Breakdown fundamentals- Star push ups

This exercise is only for those who have worked on their conditioning previously. The star push up works all areas of the body and is a great way of strengthening your body for the contact elements of rugby, this exercise is a series of fundamental body movements to prepare the body for more agility and power close to the ground

Touch rugby with press up variation

A game for understanding space & movement

Touch rugby with press up variation

This variation allows the attack to be more successful - and for the defence to work hard to cover the attack

Passing Warm-up Game

A passing game that encourages quick hands to catch out team-mates. Include press-ups to include a bit of upper body warm-up as well.

Warm up with Games

Games are integral to all warm ups, players respond when active and engaged. Use progressions and only spend a few minutes on each activity

End Ball & Connecting Players

Fantastic game for warm ups, integrating new players and working on a wide range of skills. Its fun and this example has a "Game within a game"

Bouncing - The key to contact skills

Encouraging players to improve their "Floor" skills is the key to improving contact skills such as tackling, rucking and competing for the ball. It might be simple but it is effective

Catch Up Passing Game

A quick handling game to warm up. Handy if there's a few players standing around at the beginning of a session, waiting for others to turn up.

Single Arm Tug Of War

Get in pairs and players start in a press up position. Players hold onto opposite arms whilst still in the press up position. The aim is to remain balanced and work to pull the other player over

Kicking Session Warm up

The coach uses small sided games with progressions as part of the players warm up with a focus on the stretches that are related to kicking. Moving between the games and dynamic stretches keeps the players motivated, active and gets the blood flowing

Warm up options

A warm up that uses some simple games as the central theme. The session planned is for kicking so the coach conditions the stretching accordingly

Training at Home

Premiership coaches discuss the benefits of extra-curricular training at home and participation in other sports to develop skills.

Conditioning for Young Players

Even if players are too young to go to the gym, it can be beneficial for them to do bodyweight exercises that help to prepare their bodies for more physical rugby in future years. Sam Bennett from Leeds Carnegie highlights some of the key points for young players to consider, which apply to all players at amateur or competitive level.

Training at Home

Players can develop their ability by putting in extra work outside of their rugby training sessions. Premiership coaches explain the benefits of training at home.

Warming Up

Saracens academy coaches explain why they use games for their warm ups and show some examples

Collision Fitness - Slaps & Taps

Combat style exercise for agility, tackle technique and general warm up. This should make players work hard on the their feet for 60 second bursts

Harlequins Academy - Warm-Up

The warm-up is an essential part of training and match preparation. Here's an example from Harlequins Academy on how to prepare for a handling session.

Fitness - Body circuits are crucial

All elite fitness coaches will recommend body circuits for all rugby players. No player should be using weights unless they have followed a good core body weight program. This body circuit can be applied to junior players and senior players. We have other video clips that show the techniques in more detail

Warming up - Options to consider

Should coaches combine games, drills and stretching in their warm ups. The Wasps coaches combine some physical running work and games as an example

Fitness - The Bear Crawl

This is a brilliant exercise to add to your circuits, warm ups or conditioned games to improve core strength. It is important to master the technique before performing high repititions.

Fitness - Bodyweight Circuits

When players have mastered the squat and plank techniques, they can incorporate them into a bodyweight circuit, that can be developed to suit various fitness levels. Challenge yourselves to decrease the rest time between sets and perform each exercise for longer as you progress.

Chaos Grid For Multiple Skills

This practise will challenge all players at all levels, originally seen at Bath RFC in 2012 it is been adapted for all players. The coach can change the width and pressure to fit in with the player abilities. The players love this !

Warm up resistance with wrestling

Warm ups need to include dynamic preparation exercises

Contact skills introduction

Warm ups should include contact and collision work

Coaching Defensive Systems

Coaching defence starts with some warm up games and progresses to specific skills and the coach then builds upon these basics. A system of defence is then introduced and practised in a conditioned game

Saints Academy Warm Up 2015

Saints Academy warm up is similar in approach to other elite squads but has a few interesting variations. Coaches should consider mixing their warm ups occasionally to keep players motivated

Three Channel Passing Challenge

Adding pressure to key skills is crucial to improve your players and to practise like you play. This exercise covers a variety of skills but essentially is about accurate passing and fixing defenders

Quins - Rugby Netball Game

Rugby netball is a ball game that is great for warm ups and getting a session started. The coach can set targets for the number of passes or set up goals to score through, just set the conditions you want to work to

Quins - Beating a Drift Defence

Some warm up exercises with varied catch & pass skills in preparation to move onto fixing defenders and how to beat a drift defence

Fun Passing Games

Children are naturally competitive and will engage more in training exercises that include a competitive edge. This challenges their skills under pressure and creates excitement and fun

Passing Under Pressure

Changing your catch & pass practises is always a good way to add variety into your sessions. This practise is not only different but the defenders are putting pressure on the attackers from a variety of angles

England Sevens - Tom Mitchell - Conditioning Circuit

7s training

Grip Games - Ball Retention

This great game helps you work on your ball transfer and fend. It teaches players how to keep the ball away from contact increasing ball retention on the pitch!

How Gloucester academy prepare for matches

See how the Gloucester academy manager prepares his squad prior to an academy fixture. The warm up includes lots of games, stretching and unit skills with a gradual increase in intensity

Building the scrummage

The new scrum laws are providing a challenge for all levels of the game, here Jon Curry from Northampton saints questions junior players on their knowledge, clarifies his interpretation and provides some practical answers and solutions to executing an effective scrum

Gloucester Warm Up

Coaching is constantly changing and so does the "Warm Up", this clip goes inside the Gloucester academy squad during their end of season finals at the Allinaz stadium. You should find some new ideas

1v1 Evasion Skills

This video takes you through the skills to use in a 1v1. Use the fend, ball transfer and footwork to beat the man.

Fitness - Burpees

Love them or hate them, burpees are a great tool for fitness. Whether incorporated into a game of touch or your own fitness circuits, the whole-body exercise is extremely game related and requires technique under fatigue. When you have got the technique nailed, see how many GOOD burpees you can complete in a minute. Look to constantly improve on this number.

Game - Defence Touch

Another conditioned game that will test your players' fitness. This requires all defenders to perform a 'down-up' after each touch, before re-aligning. As players become tired, more gaps will appear, testing the defence even more.

Lineout Lifting Basics

The lineout is a key part of rugby union and it is vital for player safety and success that the proper technique is learnt. James Cannon of London Wasps walks through the key technical elements of lineout lifting and jumping. Log in to see the full session.

Lineout Lifting Fundamentals - Get started

An effective line out is based upon the fundamentals of movement, jumping and lifting. James Cannon from London Wasps takes some amateur players through the basic skills and techniques

Passing Under Pressure

Being able to pass under pressure is how players perform in games. This exercise challenges players to react to multiple prompts and is great for all junior and senior players

Fitness - Burpee's & progressions

Burpee's have disappeared from most fitness training but with the breakdown now so important the "original" military exercise is back with a vengeance. There are two progressions and an explanation on how to integrate them into your touch games

How to create & share coaching plans

This clip explains how to create coaching plans and share them with other people

Learning to Lift for the Lineout - Get started

Some slightly different progressions in building upon the basic skills for an effective line out

Fitness - The Reptile Walk

Another great whole-body exercise to add to your circuits or your conditioned game. Keeping the body low and in control during these slow movements is great for your core strength

Drop off touch - start with a game

Chris Kibble of Esher RFC & Whitgift school says to start your sessions with a game. In this clip Chris runs a game called "Drop touch" where the players run back to a line when they make a touch. This is good for fitness and creating wholes to attack

Conor O Shea - Gamesense for elite

Conor O Shea relates GAmesense coaching within the professional environment

Principles of Defence - Spacing

Ex Harlequins coach Collin Osborne explains his third defensive principle - Spacing.

Farrell & Ford - Spin Passes

The quality of passes from Ford and Farrell to enable Elliot Daley to slide past his defender was the difference in the Wales V England match. The skills required to perfect these passes were honed on the training ground over several years. See what type of drills they did and still do

Home Training - Competitive Games

Lots of passing progressions to test players off all abilities. The exercises should be challenging and fun. Apply some targets (Do 10 of these) to keep the focus

Coaching the new Scrum Laws

An brief summary of coaching the new scrum engage sequence. Always include a good upper body warm up and highlight the importance of a strong core with your players. Check the 'Body Position and Technique' section for full videos including hooking technique.

Fitness - Reptile crawls for rucking

Fitness exercises to help players improve their effectiveness in contact are very popular at present. Jack Crehan talks through this exercise and demonstrates how it should be done

How To Hold The Ball - Grip Games

Young players are very rarely taught how to hold the ball. This video explains why this is important, how to coach it and incorporates some fun grip games to enforce the technique.

Back Play - Attack From Line Out - Older Youth

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 attacked
It’s not a matter of going through the strike move repertoire. It is about specific selection from the repertoire in order to attack identified areas of the opposition and game situations

Attacking the space between the two teams is paramount and attacking the ball when running a support line will assist the offload and turn defenders

Tag Game - Any Direction Tag Clip

Helps to identify space and works vision and decision making skills

Scrum Factory - 2. Tower of Power Demonstration

Good body posture is essential and applicable to all players regardless of age and gender
This posture transfers to the tackle, ruck, maul and in a vertical plain the lineout, so it is important that all players are coached to adopt good posture in contact

Tackle technique

Learning the tackle technique

Tackling 19 - Conditioned Games

Tackling 19 - Conditioned Games

Interview - Conor O Shea why a coach?

IRB 7s - Single Phase Tries

The 2011/12 Sevens World Series saw an increase in the number of tries scored with no rucks or mauls in their build up.

Games or drills ?

The coaches explain why they use games and provide examples of how they deliver a session using games with technical skills as the basis for learning

Defensive Game with Coaching Points

A touch game conditioned to develop the drift defence. Worcester Warriors Community Coach Tamara Taylor explains the objectives of the conditions, gives feedback and adjusts them when necessary.

Passing and Support Lines

This clip shows the classic passing process but with a significant twist in what players can do post the pass

Kiwi Tackling - Pre Tackle Practises

Sharing our coaching ideas is great for the game. Players in New Zealand hone their skills at an early age and it is globally accepted that they have the best techniques across all positions. Coaching the tackle is a key fundamental that all players practise regularly

Why Train In 4 Minute Blocks!

London Scottish Players and Coaches explain why they often train in 4 minute blocks.

Military fitness for games - Pre season

Pre season fitness can be tedious and repetitive however you can integrate the latest fitness drills into games of touch or other conditioned games to make your training more challenging

The Importance of Footwork

Footwork is a vital skill for rugby players as it means they can win contact situations and beat players. Log in to Premiership Rugby Coaching for more training ideas.

Speed Training - Warm Up Exercises

All athletes and especially sprinters use agility drills to get the body ready for speed training. Tom Varndell outlines some of the essential techniques players go through before the sprinting starts. You MUST WARM UP

A Player's Responsibility to Prepare

It's not just down to coaches to prepare players for the game. Most of the work must be done by the players themselves, to ensure they are in the best physical and mental condition to perform and learn.

Fitness mid season

Midway through the season and time to review and refresh, is it time to integrate some fun fitness exercises into your coaching sessions

Speed Training - Speed Off The Mark

All players can train to get quicker & being quicker off the mark is a great asset to have when playing rugby. Tom Varndell one of the quickest players in the game goes through some acceleration drills

London Irish - Our Training Style

An insight into a Premiership Rugby training session. Do the top teams train differently to amateur clubs and schools?

The Tackle Battle

Winning the collisions in contact is crucial in the modern game. The coaches provide some theory and practical examples of drills and games to reinforce the basic principles to be effective. The coaches use a variety of progressions and games to keep the session challenging

Coaching Philosophy - Contact is key

Head coach Dickon Edwards talks through the theory behind their approach to contact and why that approach is important in understanding how you want to play

Modern Coaching at Oaklands College

This clip provides a summary of how coaches at Oaklands college - Saracens academy partners - approach training and provide some examples of both "What to coach" and "How to coach"

Lions Memories - Part 1/2

Tackling 24 - Game Situations and Kick Chase