Rugby: big time

In what situation is the miss pass best employed

any service to help stay better in touch with players by email or phone?

If you have 30 min before the start of a match how should you prepare a team of under 10 players. How do you get them suitably motivated to hit the ground runnung with a high level of intensity.

Some of my U9s players, who are experiencing contact for their first season, are showing reticence in tackling - how do you coach or get through the fear factor/element?

I was asked a question  by email recently and I thought it would be good to put it here as a question for anyone else to comment on%3A Dear sir, I played for 35 yr.s mostly hooker, some back line play. I was tutored in 1972 by former US Eagle hooker Jessie Lopez. We need to stabilize modern era scrums, specifically the front row. The way it's been done forever is wrong. Currently two pressure points come together head to head; and ofcourse the front rows twist amp; turn, left and right, up and down. Thus we are having more injuries with increased focus on scrum strength. FRONT ROWS SHOULD COME TOGETHER CONCAVE AS OPPOSED TO CONVEX. The hookers need to take the under bind on the props instead of the traditional over the top.This technique works much better by dispersing/spreading the impact.Also the hooker being set back about 6 inches is less at risk. If you don't think I know what I am talking about then ask some professionals who serve as the battering ram to try it. Their is a thin line separating safety from serious injury my friend. The way it's done now is time proven to be dangerous. You sir are probably not a hooker or tight head, so go inquire. It might not seem like a noticeable difference, but if it saves a couple people from getting thier necks broke next year - THEN IT BECOMES A BIG DIFFERENCE !! Thanks, Tim Nicodemus Fort Wayne Rugby Club

I am looking for a set up for receiving a kickoff in rugby. We are using the expoloded scrum method and marking their forwards on the kickoff now. But if the forwards move or are split we end up looking like the Keystone Cops trying to match. What is a prefered set up?

Hi im a first time coach and is still getting the hang of how the technical details of the game works the back line is my department and whould like any help i can get to know what drills to do and anything helpfull in the backline im currently coaching for the under 9 and 10

I have just started helping our head coach with under12's team. He wants to retire and has put me forward to be head coach next season. I am a little worried on how i should aproach training with the boys, going to a full 15 a side team on a full pitch. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

I have started an under 10s team up, and I would say about 8 from the 13 children I have , did not play rugby until about 6 months ago. Of these players, there seems to be a lot of potential, as we are scoring tries against teams, that very rarely concede tries.the problem I got with them, is that we are very poor at organising our selves in defense when the opposition has the ball, which does result in us conceding quite a few tries. We have some very good tacklers in the team. Can anyone offer some ideas on how I can get them to organise themselves? Thanks . Chris.

I'm coaching and reffing U11 rugby and one of my players is the definitive 'big lad'. His 'strength' is his size and his power, but last weekend he didn't seem to get reffed fairly. The opposition couldn't tackle him down, one on one and when another two joined in to make a mini maul, that didn't slow him down much either. The ref then let other people join in the (one sided) struggle to tackle him down, which seemed very unfair as A) it's outside the laws of U11 rugby,, B) it makes it nigh on impossible for him to offload, C) when he is brought to ground, he has 4-5 players all over him and he got pinged for 'holding on'. He is a recent arrival to rugby and it was our first game for a couple of months, so the situation hadn't reared his head before. We are keen that he learns all of the core skills of rugby and doesn't get used as a battering ram, but after seeing a pack of hyenas trying to pull down the big fella, something just didn't seem right to me.I'd be grateful for any thoughts and opinions.

I have just started helping our head coach with under12's team. He wants to retire and has put me forward to be head coach next season. I am a little worried on how i should aproach training with the boys, going to a full 15 a side team on a full pitch. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

I'm coaching and reffing U11 rugby and one of my players is the definitive 'big lad'. His 'strength' is his size and his power, but last weekend he didn't seem to get reffed fairly. The opposition couldn't tackle him down, one on one and when another two joined in to make a mini maul, that didn't slow him down much either. The ref then let other people join in the (one sided) struggle to tackle him down, which seemed very unfair as A) it's outside the laws of U11 rugby,, B) it makes it nigh on impossible for him to offload, C) when he is brought to ground, he has 4-5 players all over him and he got pinged for 'holding on'. He is a recent arrival to rugby and it was our first game for a couple of months, so the situation hadn't reared his head before. We are keen that he learns all of the core skills of rugby and doesn't get used as a battering ram, but after seeing a pack of hyenas trying to pull down the big fella, something just didn't seem right to me.I'd be grateful for any thoughts and opinions.

I have started an under 10s team up, and I would say about 8 from the 13 children I have , did not play rugby until about 6 months ago. Of these players, there seems to be a lot of potential, as we are scoring tries against teams, that very rarely concede tries.the problem I got with them, is that we are very poor at organising our selves in defense when the opposition has the ball, which does result in us conceding quite a few tries. We have some very good tacklers in the team. Can anyone offer some ideas on how I can get them to organise themselves? Thanks . Chris.

My fowards seem afraid to ruck and stand around the ruck while in the way of the scrum half trying to get the ball out to the backs. They also don't support the ball carrier while he is being tackled. Please help me with any suggestions!!!

Some of my U9s players, who are experiencing contact for their first season, are showing reticence in tackling - how do you coach or get through the fear factor/element?

an RFU directive states that coaches should not hold pads/shields for juniors to run into during sessions, or even juniors holding pads for each other!!! I notice a lot of drills utilise pads as this was something we always used when I trained years ago! I personally think they are a good thing (especially since some of the juniors I coach are 'not small'!) BUT wondered what the general thoughts were out there in SportPlan world....

Hi, I’m coaching under 9s next year which involves tackling, mauls, rucks etc. I’m after advise on what to coach first and the amount of time spent on each area. Added to this I’ve somehow become the lead coach after a couple of coaches stepped down (feeling a little under pressure!) Would anybody be willing to share any sessions so I can plan the first month or so. Cheers

I need ideas for fun team building activities and any fun games to help towards team building. Has anyone got any ideas on what to do? Anything to spice up rugby training sessions in the dark, cold winter nights.

We have recently formed a new under 10s team. Out of the team , roughly half have played before, and the other half are new to the game. We played Sunday and were well beaten , although the side we played has a very good reputation for being a good side. I do see promise though in our team, it's just the organisational side that needs attention. Example, keeping our players from bunching, realigning in defence, etc. after doing the coaching course, I am we'll aware of trying not to pigeonhole players into positions, but I think they need this to help them organise themselves easier. Are there any drills to help with the above? Cheers, Chris.

I coach under 9`s rugby and a lot of the kids have a bad fear of tackling, they lack the confidence to get stuck in. What is the best thing to help them overcome this?