.......from the coaches group on rucking......
on rucking
R ecycle ball
U se possession quickly
C lear opposition from interrupting ball flow
K eep possession for long periods
sounds like the brumbies eh!
...I'm not sure it's easy for me in English
I'll try to do...The problem when you are not ;big (it's the case for my team, with a pack of about 750 kg only) is to be more mobile andto try to fight only when you choose to, and, if possible far from the other pack.
When you play lineouts or scrums, it's the same principles ; try to playon the borders.Not always with your backs, but always where there is less kg in front of you. It is also important to put the opponents on the ground.
You have to put them on the ground very quickly because you don't want the opposite team to be organize (on mauls or rucks). For example, the last final I plaid with my team, 2 weeks ago, my n 7 made 18 tackles, and the n6; 6 too.
We win because of our defense.It is also important to playlonger and longer in the intervals, keep the ball in movement without rucks and mauls.
A ruck is an accident for you. It's a way to ;transform the ball quickly.
We have 2 priorities (during training and during a match) : - the defense, that is to say the organization and management of the line, and importance of tackles the life of the ball.
The goal is to keep the ball and to play with it. If you have no solution, you have to use a very quick transformation, often on ground.So we play80 % of our technical training. 60 % of the time at 60 % and the rest at 100 %.
The only thing you have to do, is to explain where the players have to be : If you are late, don't go outside the inside shoulder of the ball keeper.In defense, you must have always a line they have learn to speak together.
Hi all,I am not sure that I agree with what seems to be the popular school of thought whereby if you have a smallish mobile pack, rucking should not be part of you game plan. We heard from Patrice who alluded to the French style of fluid rugby where players use lines to put the ball and the support player into space.
That is a magnificent style of rugby, and one for which I admire the French greatly.
It does however require a skill level which most players, I believe, do not possess.
It also is a very dangerous style to play because it relies heavily on individual players responsible for retaining possession.
Turn over ball can be very costly.
The ruck, I believe, is a means of retaining good possession, while removing defenders from the opposition line.
We need to look at what a ruck is... it is one or more players from either team, in contact, over ball on the ground.
Therefore if we create a ruck situation passed the gain line at the tackle, we immediately create an offside line behindthe opposition forwards and gain a considerable advantage.
If ours is the more mobile pack, we have created an offside line behind the less mobile pack, surely we are on the right road to dominating that pack.In the loose, no contact style of rugby, we create no offside line and therefore do not disadvantage the larger pack.The ruck should only involve 3 to 5 players, and some of them may be backs.
The ruck also does not commit any more defenders than that, and most often less.
Therefore any ball recycled from the ruck needs to be quick.
If it is slow a team only gives the opposition time to fan its defense.
We see the key to rucking as;
1. The ball must be placed or rolled back in the tackle
2. The ball carrier should remain on his feet until support arrives
3. The support players must be prepared to arrive early and blow out defenders
4. All players must learn to ruck - including the backs
5. We must not over commit to the ruck if our ball is already secure
6. You only enter the ruck area if you are going to shelter the ball or blow out defenders
7. Play must not become stationary at or from the ruck
These are the principles we apply to our rucking game.
We find that a lot of our points are scored by the outside backs and the ruck is an efficient and effective means of both gaining territory and retaining possession.
To practice the ruck we use several methods.
My favourite is to have two groups of 8 players.
One group is the defense and the other the attacking side.
We start our exercise on one touch line and work our way to the opposite touch line, remaining in the area between the 22 metre and the 10 metre lines.
The defending team will complete this exercise with crash pads until the attackers become competent at retaining possession.
Once they do, the defenders either wear tackle suits or no protection at all.
A runner hits up into the defenders and goes to ground while no more than 3 supporters blow out the opposition.I run at half back and feed the next lot of attackers who lets say are on my right.
When they recycle the ball I feed the first lot of attackers to my left.
So they have got off the ground and given themselves some depth to attack again.
When their ball is recycles I feed the attackers to my right who have regathered.
This carries on to the far side of the field when we stop to debrief the drill, find the skills done well and the ones done poorly.
We then head back across the field with the roles reversed. I find this drill allows us to build in the fitness component required for long sets of phase ball, teaches urgency in getting to the next phase and allows us to utilise the time well because half of the team is doing defense/tackling work which is also debriefed during the recovery period.
R ecycle ball
U se possession quickly
C lear opposition from interrupting ball flow
K eep possession for long periods
Just a thought.Good luck.Tony McAleveyDunedin Rugby Football Club