Speeding up play offensively

Back in the old days of American rugby, before it turned professional when tries were worth three points the state of the game of rugby (to paraphrase Hobbes' description man's natural state) was solitary, poor, brutish, and SLOW.

The game, especially in America was solitary because there was no world cup on television, no live streaming rugby on the web, no internet coaches forums, not Amazon to buy coaching books or DVD's. As a result American rugby teams were left for fend for themselves adapting techniques, tactics and strategies from anyone passing through a practice with an accent. What trickled down to American college rugby was a hodgepodge of different playing styles melded together into a messy morass of slow ball in the forwards, and overly complicated back moves. The brutish forward play is a hold-over from the British origins of the game where fields were soggy, balls slippery, and close play was required. The fancy back play is imported from the relatively dryer pitches of the southern hemisphere that allowed for faster paced rugby. Unfortunately the mix of styles would be the American football analogy of running a west coast passing game with a power running blocking scheme--the line would be smashing their opposition off the line, and the wide receivers would be running fantastic routes but the quaterback would be trying to hand off to a running back who was trying to run a pass pattern. The end result is a relatively poor level of rugby.

The brutish forward tactics of giving pop passes to the forwards un-necessarily slows the pace of the game down. Ball coming out of the ruck is slow allowing the defense to set-up. The scrum halves are usually stationary popping passes to their forwards into the teeth of the fringe defense. Since the defense is established the offense must commit more energy and men to the ruck, slowing the delivery of the ball down and perpetuating the cycle. Occasionally the backs will receive the ball and attempt a complicated back move into the established defense and continue the slow ball cycle as well.

Combine this offensive slow ball cycle with another aspect of the modern rugby game aggressive rugby league like tackling and defensive patterns. These modern tackling methods of chest high smother tackling, aggressive head on, low body position tackle, and the defensive pattern which look amazing like an American football defensive scheme are more easily adopted by American teams. Thus we have American college teams vainly trying to play an old time rugby offense against a modern rugby defense perfectly adapted to the strengths of American football players.

The most frustrating part of these cycles is that players and coaches will return to practice the next week thinking that players need run harder off the ruck, commitment more men to win it, and work on the back timing more to make their moves successful. This is not the modern game of rugby.

The world game has moved on, and a few elite college and mens teams have adopted fast paced tactics of quick hitting scrum and lineout moves, running scrum halves, weakside attacks, forwards with the ability to decide to pick up the ball on a dynamic ruck, backs rucking, forwards in the backline, quick tap penalties, passed before contact rather than in contact and quick decisions.

The intent of the posts is not to be pejorative, but rather enlightening. Certaintly there are aspects of old time rugby which are useful in the modern game, but many traits of the old style of play have gone the way of the three point try.

The next few posts will detail how to play this modern style of game. Coaches, captains and players please pay close attention. These posts will accelerate your understanding of the game, and enable you to outplay your opponent by playing faster and making quicker decisions rather than by perpetuating the Hobbesian path of solitary, poor, brutish and slow rugby.

Think fast, act fast, play fast,
Toby


Here some Miami photos showing the old style game

2001 Miami tour of Florida--static scrum half dishing to a pod of forwards. A running scrum half could have drawn the Florida defender and hit the forward at pace.













2001 Miami vs Cleveland Rovers old time maul. A quicker hitting maul could have created or exploited space and fewer Miami players in the maul could have attacked the space.











2001 Miami Florida tour static scrum half again dishing to a pod of forwards. Static scrumhalf failed to draw defenders, or read the possible overlap on the near side of the field. Although the distance from the ruck of the forwards is a good start to a more dynamic game.















2005 Miami penalty play runs into the teeth of a well formed West Virginia defense. Need I say more about running directly into the teeth of a formed defense. If your gonna hit a penalty play make it a quick decision against a unformed defense.

Fitness vs Energy

There is not substitute for fitness and the only way to get fit to to dedicate yourself to running sprinting and other cardiovascular activities. A good training regime will do wonders for every team. There is probably no such thing as an over trained rugby team. There are two things coaches and player often overlook: rest and replenishing energy.

Rest is important for the body to rebuild and adapt to a training routine. With proper rest intervals players bodies can do more than with constant work. Miami players should not kid themselves that two practices a week and a game is over training and that they need more rest. Elite rugby teams practice five days a week, some do two a days during the season during bye weeks. You will be amazing how you body can adapt to a rigorous training routine.

Food is also required to replenish the bodies energy and provide the fuel for vigorous workouts. Eating well is as important to an athlete as training and learning the game. There is enough information out there on how to eat right that each player should investigate sports nutrition on their own.

An often overlooked facet of rugby is replenishing energy during the game, even a super fit athlete will drag ass during a game if they run out of food. Experiment with energy gels, sport bars, oranges, bananas. Recent studies of endurance athletes have found frequent replenishing of energy boost performance. So add gel packs, sports bars and energy drinks to every water break.

Also don't be afraid of caffeine it is a proven performance booster, it can delay fatigue, increase brain activity, and heart rate. Contrary to popular belief it doesn't dehydrate as fast as people would believe. Just take caffeine in moderation, and remember coffee is a natural laxative. This isn't and endoresment for red bull, but it might help.

Your second half fades last season might be the result of a failure to replenish energy and not fitness, or substitution strategies.

Remember use your head to solve your performance problems.

Toby

Winning lineouts

There are three keys to winning any lineout: quick, stable lift; shoulder position; and hands with a wide range of motion. Notice I didn't say height. Any team can get a jumper to maximum height, but only teams that really work on shoulder position and wide ranging hands can consistently win lineouts.

See how the Cal jumper has his hands forming a basket in front of his face, with elbows slightly bent. This allows the jumper to quickly move his hands to where the ball is thrown. If its thrown low, or high or inside he has plenty of motion in his arms to reach the ball.

Also notice the stable base the Cal lifters are providing.



The other key to winning lineouts is shoulder position. It doesn't matter how high you jump, if you are jumping behind your opposition you are almost always at a disadvantage. The key is to have lifters and jumper work in unision to read the opposition and jump in front of the opposition. This is an art and required many repetitions to get right.



Remember good base, wide ranging hands and shoulder position.

Lift and Drive Technique

Downloaded directly from BBC.com I am reproducing here so I won't be a bandwidth stealer.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/skills/4198376.stm


Note this should be used for both offensive and defensive lineouts.

Create a comfortable base to jump from.

Listen out to the call from the hooker or scrum-half - most teams will have practised set moves on the training field.

Most of the momentum for the jump will come from your knees.

So as the ball is released, coil your legs and prepare to jump, using your arms for extra power will also help get them in position above your head ready for the catch.

Keep your eye on the ball and jump.

Keeping your eye on the ball, catch the ball in your hands.

Both teams should have a one-metre gap between them before lift-off and players are not allowed to push, charge or hold an opponent.

But that doesn't mean there isn't often a lot of bumping and barging!

So make sure you have full control of the ball before you make your way down to ground.

Get ready to make the ball available for the scrum-half to collect.

Turn your back to the opposition as soon as your feet touch the ground.

This creates a wall, preventing the opposition from getting their hands on the ball.

Make the ball available for your scrum-half.

Purpose of the pattern is to train your mind

Rugby is a chaotic game, no other team sport has more athletes on the field. It is a dynamic game with lots of open field opportunities. Unlike other popular American sports every player has the chance to run, pass, catch, kick and tackle. Adapting new players minds to thinking fast is a difficult time consuming task. There is a lot to take in so I have tried to write down in ways I understand and have coached to accelerate new rugby players decision process.

Words are one way to do this. I made considerable efforts to boil down what I know about the 'elite' college game into terms and patterns any player, team or coach can understand.

Pictures are another way to demonstrate what the pattern looks like. I have culled through the photo archives of the elite college teams in America to uncover remarkable similar patterns of play. It takes some time to find camera shots that capture my specific teaching points, but it doesn't take too much time to see that all elite college teams are playing the same pattern. It is with much pride that I see tactics and techniques we developed at the Air Force Academy be implemented in other elite college programs.

The goal is to play an efficient game, plan several phases out, and limit the number of decision that need to be made. The goal of the patterns are to narrow the decisions a player has to make in any given situation to about three. Another goal is to get players momentum in the right direction. Another key is limiting penalties and other unproductive actions. How many times in a game do you wish you had one extra step to make a tackle, one split second to make a break or to do something spectacular on one phase only to have it break down in the next phase.



Cal, Navy, Army, BYU and other played a significantly different style of play before Air Force won the 2003 National Championships. Having played all of those teams while we were building our championship team we adapted many of their techniques--but the quick rucks, two pod line out lifting, the quick lineout maul, the rapid pace of attack all came from the Zoomie game plan. Cal used to run complex back moves, Army used to run pods of forwards, Navy used to run a complicated defense, BYU used to try and out ruck opponents. Many of the things we experimented with were discarded in favor of a simplified game plan based on the pace of play, the speed of decisions, and a high pressure mentality. Elite teams play this type of rugby because they play against similar teams and learn what works and what doesn't. It takes a long time for these patterns to trickle down to division 2 teams. Don't think its because division 2 teams can't run the patterns because they are not elite athletes, they don't run the pattern because they don't know about them. Air Forces freshman team played the same basic pattern as out national championship side.

Rugby is not about being a better athlete than your opponent its about making faster decisions than your opponent, and forcing them into making poor decisions.

Think faster, think in multiple phases, act faster and have fun winning rugby games.


Thanks Toby

How to use this blog

Use it to shape you thoughts, and conversation about the game.

I have gone out of my way to highlight how the elite teams in American are playing, and break it down in words and pictures you can understand.

There are other ways of playing the game, and other ways of talking about it. Some tactics, techniques and strategies are equally effective as these 'quick rugby' patterns. Many of them are incompatible with this style of play.

When thinking about the game think in terms of creating a dynamic offense, a high pressure defense, and thinking in multiple phases. The rest of the game will flow from this.

Conversations should revolve around executing your pattern--putting defensive pressure on first phase, setting a stifling wall on second phase, launching quick attacks on offense, and keeping play dynamic.

This blog should also be referred to coaches who want to help out. If they give advice contrary to the concepts in this blog refer them to these pages, give them my credentials, and stay the quick pace course.

Thanks Toby,

Second phase defensive pattern

The whole point of expending so much energy in the first phase scrum and lineout is to make the first tackle on your terms, with your defense on the front foot, and the opposing team struggling to make a decisions.

Second phase defense starts with a good tackle. The first four pictures detail two to most effective tackle forms, and the most effective things for the second man to the tackle to do. A good tackle should stop the runner, give the defense a chance to make a play on the ball and let the defense set up.















The Chest to chest tackle is one devastating way to tackle. If players have the form and upper body strength this tackle will stop the offense cold, and prevent the offender from making a good pass.



















The low tackle is another great form. It allows the defender to deliver a tremendous amount of energy into the opposition, stopping them cold, and immediately dropping the opposition.


















If supporting players are immediately on the tackled players they can do one of two things. The can hold the offensive player up, tie up the ball and prohibit the offense from gaining possession. The Cal #10 is doing this against Navy in Yellow.
















Another technique for man #2 in a low tackle is to smother the ball. The Utah player in white is doing just that in this picture.










If supporting players are not immediately part of the tackle they should fan out in defense. Supporting players should look primarily to set up the second phase defense on either side of the tackle. There are three things the defender should not do.
1. They not try and form a ruck over the tackle.
2. They should not try and poach the ball.
3. They should not be offsides.

The following pictures of the nations best college rugby teams should give an indication of what perfect second phase defense should look like, and reinforce the three things defenders should remember.















Cal Defenders are forming a perfect wall against Navy. Notice there are zero, 0 Cal players in the ruck. Defensive rucking is no longer a viable strategy. Burn that into your cortex, no defensive rucking.

















Arriving defenders should not be trying to poach. These Cal players are not poaching, the player leaning over pulled the runner to the ground. the other players are getting ready to form the defense.














Wyoming defenders committing no one to the defensive ruck, and have fanned out.

















BYU against San Luis Obispo, BYU tack brings man down, arriving players immediately position themselves in defensive positions.
In conclusion: tackle hard, tackle high, tackle low stop the offensive attack. Arriving defenders should immediately reform defense. Remember 3 things, no poaching, no rucking, no offsides. If you follow this pattern you should absolutely stifle any offensive patterns.

Defensive pattern off scrum

The strength of the Miami Rugby team when I played was its scrum, especially its defensive scrum. By vigorously practicing a few key scrum techniques we were able to disrupt opposing teams offenses in three ways: by giving them inconsistent hooks, by turning the ball over, and by giving our flankers and backs an extra step advantage in launching their defense. When I played hooker in Belmont Shore, and in Japan the disrupting power of a driving hooker became evident and we began calling offensive plays on defensive scrums. While coaching the Air Force Academy in the first season we scored more tries off defensive scrums than in all other ways combined. That year (200) our tight head prop was MVP, in 2003 using the same technique our tight head made the all American team even though he was in pilot training during try-outs. The Miami tradition of powerful defensive scrums carried the team to the Mid-west playoffs in 1994, where legend has it the team pushed over a try on a defensive scrum against Penn State, the scrum began on the 22 meter line. Strong defense and sure tackles start with a defensive scrum.


The strong scrum starts with and 8 man push, with hookers feet back in a driving position, flankers bound tight, in a driving position and the 8 man bound tight in channel 2 (between the second rows. The following picture of Cal v Navy in the 2005 national championships shows Cal executing the 8 man shove perfectly.

See how the Flankers are committed to the push, and have theirs eyes on the ball ready to launch their defense.

It helps to have the scrum half call a cadence for the scrum to drive in sync. It also is essential that a loud 'balls out' is called so the fowards don't give up too soon.


The importance of the 8 man push carry over to the backline defense. Look at how the Cal back are able to lean forward ready to pounce





















The effect of the 8 man push allows the flankers and backs to launch the defense quickly, and confidently to stifle any attack the opposition attempts. See the picture below. Cal defenders are 10 meters deep in the Navy backline. This is how teams win national championships.















One final note that distinguishes the Miami scrum mentality from others I have encountered is the sustained commitment to the drive. Nothing is more frustrating for me as a player, coach or spectator than to see a team execute a perfect 8 man shove, and drive the opposition back a meter and then let-up. Never let up if you have the advantage drive until the other team is completely demoralized, drive them back 5, 10 or 15 yards, give them dirty ball, let your scrum half wreak havoc. When you get the turnover, keep the ball in your scrum for a while and keep driving. Once you have the advantage keep it. Mastering the defensive scrum and launching your defense on your terms is the most important cornerstone to your game.

Defensive lineout

Perhaps the most overlooked defensive pattern of play is the defensive lineout. Defending team sometimes try and lift a player in the off chance they will steal a lineout, the rest of the defending players will hang around hoping to catch an tipped ball. The scrum half will stand defensivxly exactly where he stood offensively right in the middle. If the opposing team tries to drive they will mill around the maul desperately trying to slow the offensive teams momentum. If the other team gets the ball out, the defending forwards will redirect their efforts to stopping the attack. See the following picture of UCSB and Chico State standing in awe of the BYU (in blue) lineout:













Thankfully with a minimum of effort teams can adopt some better defensive lineout tactics that will put tremendous pressure on the opposition.

First tactic is to put the scrum half in the 5 meter channel where the defensive hooker usually stands and put the open side flanker at the end of the lineout facing the offensive flyhalf. Open side flanker is technically the scrum half so he must stand off the line a bit. The following picture of Cal (stripes) vs. Navy should clarify. If you look carefully you will see the Cal scrum half standing a few yards deep in the 5 meter channel, this too is perfectly legal.
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Second tactic is to lift two pods in defense. It takes a little bit more energy to be constantly lifting, but it forces the other team to be deadly accurate. Believe it or not Cal Poly is on defense in the picture to the left. Another subtle trick to lift two pods is to have the hooker (or scrum half) lift the first jumper from across the 5 meter line. Lifting two pods is not a sometimes thing its an all the time tactic. You will need to be fit enough and strong enough to do this. You will be amazed how this pressure will cause turnovers and change the game. If you are worried that the opposition will maul if they catch it, there is a lift and drive technique that will limit this. I will do a separate blog on this tactic to be used either offensively or defensively.






In conclusion. You can put a hell of a lot of pressure on the opposition without expending too much more energy by adopting these two tactics.

Heres some more pictures from the 2005 national championships. Cal Utah, Cal Navy, and Cal Tennessee. From Mobilescore.net

Penalty decisons

Penalty plays are perhaps the most unproductive facet of American collegiate rugby. All teams try them, they rarely work and usually result in static ball or worse a turnover. The reason is most attacking teams approach penalty situations like an American football play--they stop, huddle-up call a play and then attack. While this is going on the opposition sets its defense, and waits for the slow moving attack. You will rarely see an international team run a penalty play. Here is a better way to approach a penalty awarded.

1. Threaten quick-tap: as soon as the whistle blows every attacking player should be ready to run a quick tap. Scrum half with put ball on ground where ref sets the make, gently tap it with foot, and pass immediately to a player running at full speed. The quicker the better-catch the other team off guard. If another player is certain they can create a dynamic attack they can tap and go.
2. Take points--if in range
3. Kick to touch
4. Take a scrum--little known rule is that a team can take a scrum


If you adopt nothing else adopt this decision cycle, practice executing it quickly and making quicker decisions. Penalty plays are evil.

Miami University Rugby Football club pattern of play.

This blog will share my thoughts with commentary on how to execute a pattern of play for the Miami University Mens Rugby Football club.

The pattern is based on putting pressure on an opposing team to create more opportunities to play open rugby. The pattern is based the following principles:
-apply defensive pressure in all first phase opportunities: scrum, lineout, kickoff, and 22 drop outs.
-reform second phase defense quickly: commit fewer men to ruck, don't poach fan out quickly


-attack offensively using quickness off first phase off scrum and lineout, and always threaten quick tap on penalty
-make quick decisions off ruck to keep the ball dynamic
-use a running scrum half rather than pop passes to forwards
-stretch the defense sideline to sideline by attacking up to the 5 meter line and sometimes beyond

-counterattack quickly off defensive turnovers and kicks

-focus on making opportunities in areas of the game where teams often let up: kickoffs, kickoff returns, 22's, and penalties
-abandon less productive patterns many American college teams favor: penalty plays, complex first phase back moves, and pop passes off rucks to forwards.


The pattern takes a full team commitment to fitness and to playing within the pattern. It is extremely fun to play, but it is physically demanding. It should shred most division 2 teams, and give any team a shot a beating more talented (but less dynamic) teams.

The blog will detail my best effort to articulate with words and pictures how to execute the pattern. I will detail the following areas:
-High pressure defensive scrum tactics
-High pressure defensive lineout tactics
-Quickly reforming second phases

-Quick attack offensive scrum moves
-Quick attack offensive lineouts
-Making quick decisions in open field rugby

-Special teams:
--kickoffs
--kickoff returns
--22 drop outs
--penalty decision process

Lets roll.