Can your players turn defence into possession? Turnover ball creates some of the best attacking opportunities in rugby. But players need to recognise when to contest, make the right decision and execute the right technique. This week we solve our 4th Coaching Problem: HOW TO WIN THE DEFENSIVE BREAKDOWN FREE COACHING CHALLENGE Download the How […]
How to Win the Defensive Breakdown Read More »
‘Oom’ Paul Roos’ famous telegram to the 1937 Springboks contained only three words: ‘skrum, skrum, skrum’. Those legendary Boks remain the only South African side to have won a series away from home in New Zealand, and that one word distils much of the double world champions’ attitude to the game. If you cannot dominate
Skrum, skrum, skrum: what is the future of the scrum after RGR 3? – part one Read More »
The Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series has reached the halfway point, and the score is even at one win apiece. The All Blacks claimed victory at Ellis Park and the Springboks took their revenge in Cape Town. But very few of the two chapters in the storybook thus far have been either fair or balanced. The
Will All Black smarts outperform Springbok brawn in the RGR series? Read More »
Attack, Attack and more Attack tracked some of the newer developments in the game at ruck and maul in the practice of the recent Nations Championship. The first three rounds of that competition provided a very tasty primo to the secondo course, a full-bore, seven-week tour of South Africa by the All Blacks which begins on
Why the Greatest Rivalry tour will be a battle of contrasts Read More »
The inaugural Nations Championship marked a watershed in rugby’s professional era. Across 18 matches, 653,210 people attended the opening three rounds of the Nations Championship, with and average attendance of 36,289 per match and 80% stadium occupancy at venues all around the globe. At the home of the 2027 World Cup in Australia, the outcomes
Attack, Attack and More Attack Read More »
Before the 2026 Six Nations began, there was scarcely a peep of positivity out of Ireland. Even the note of cautious optimism seemed excessive, and Irish rugby supporters were distinctly apprehensive about the nation’s prospects. The men in green had lost two ‘must-win’ fixtures on their November calendar, by 13-26 to the All Blacks on
How to attack the red zone – the Ireland way Read More »
It may not be exactly a return to the bad old days of ‘kick and clap’, but the amount of kicking in the game of rugby is beginning to worry some high-profile pundits and influencers. When the rules around the pursuit of a high ball were tweaked in late 2024, with the ‘escort service’ previously
Are the current kick-chase rules sustainable? Read More »
In 1974, and the National Football League moved the posts from the goal-line to the back of the so-called end-zone, the equivalent of the in-goal area in rugby. It added 10 yards to any goal-kicking attempt and conveniently stopped players from running into the posts, but it did not add more scoring to the game.
How to put a twist in the tale of your attacking play from 9 Read More »
Modern pod systems have been transformed by the new breakdown guidelines, which quickened the tempo of attack considerably. But if the new emphasis on lightning-quick, 0-3 second ball from the ruck created myriad problems for the defence, it also generated a fair few for the attacking side as well. ‘The quickening’ allowed less time for
How to work a modern pod system with LQB Read More »
Attacking presence in the so-called ‘red zone’ deep inside the opposition 22m area generally means only one thing: offensive claustrophobia. The wings play up and flat and there are usually 14 defenders manning the line. It can be intimidating and force the attacking side back into its shell. More often than not, the attack tends
Why a counter-intuitive kick can be the red zone panacea Read More »
With the introduction of the new breakdown guidelines four years ago, the speed of ruck resolution changed overnight. Defenders were suddenly allowed to win the ball by the simple action of lifting the ball off the ground, tacklers were required to roll away from the cleanout ‘runway’ immediately, instant release of both the tackled player,
How to implement the ‘double jackal’ on D Read More »
One the most popular measurements of scoring efficiency in the modern game is the so-called ‘red zone entry number’. Every time you enter the opposition the 22, you make a note of how many points you score, then average the number of points accrued out over the number of entries. Anything over three points per
How to make a point with your 5m driving maul Read More »
The new rules for the defending 9 at the scrum mean that he/she can no longer’ chase to the base’. They may not advance beyond the mid-line of the set-piece and spoil the opposition feed from a position well ahead of the rest of their team-mates. Instead, they are forced to adopt one of two
How to use the new scrum guidelines to free your attacking #9 Read More »
The new rules for ‘escort runners’ – defenders ahead of a high kick forming a pocket of protection around the intended receiver – were first trialed in the November series of Tests in 2024. Previously, defenders in front of the ball were legal if they did not deliberately change running lines to block a chaser.
What the new ‘escort’ rules mean for aerial contestables Read More »
Ten years ago, it was very much ‘the day of the jackal’ at the breakdown, with outstanding crop of number 7’s like George Smith, Richie McCaw, Michael Hooper, Sean O’Brien and Sam Warburton always looking to pilfer ball at the tackle. They all tended to play the same blue-riband position, at open-side flanker. Measuring the
What defines the impact and effectiveness of a Jackaler/Pilferer? Read More »
Of all the top clubs in European rugby, none have undergone a bigger face-lift than perennial URC leaders and EPCR Champions Cup contenders Leinster over the last three years. At the end of the 2022-2023 season, one coaching mastermind on attack, Stuart Lancaster, was replaced South Africa’s world cup-winning defensive Svengali Jacques Nienaber. It was
How to make hay in the grey area at the defensive breakdown Read More »
One of the biggest talking points in contemporary professional rugby coaching is ‘how to get best use out of an eight-man bench?’ The fires for that discussion were first lit by South African supremo Rassie Erasmus’ switch to a 6-2 bench split [six forwards, two backs] in 2019. They were stoked further by his move
What is the best solution to an eight-man bench? Read More »
Believe it or not, but there was a time when Sir Wayne Smith’s coaching methods were not de rigueur in the rugby world. ‘The Professor’ was no martinet who drilled his charges into submission, and into the dirt of the training ground. He wanted to ask questions, to create curiosity and provoke more self-awareness in
Upwardly mobile or treading water? Are Razor’s All Blacks still on trend? Read More »
