Coaching the Coaches

The Rugby Coordinator and Pre-Season Preparation – Coaching the Coaches

The important aspect at Small Blacks level is to set about helping your coaches master the skills as set out in each of the three booklets.

• Beginning Rugby (Under 6/7)
• Learning Rugby (Under 8/9/10)
• Playing Rugby (Under 11/12/13)

Compulsory courses are in place for Small Blacks coaches but the coordinator should ensure that there is plenty of follow-up reinforcement of the appropriate skills.

The following are some ideas to help plan a coaching programme for teenage rugby and above.

Philosophy
Playing a style that suits the physical and mental abilities of the players.    
Passing, supporting, running – use of space and quick continuity- small, fast team.
Close support and contact – big emphasis on defensive aspects – physically strong group.
[Make a plan which is sufficiently flexible to adjust according to the needs of your team.
It is important to involve your squad in this on an ongoing basis]

How other aspects fit in to the concept.
Small, fast team - speeding up lineouts / lineout variations / kick off variations / tap kick usage / phase play options – ball a moving target
Physically strong group - Driving lineouts / close in play and continuity / use of the blindside / keeping the ball

Safety
Safety requirements: scrummaging, tackling, contact
Some of this will be covered in ‘Rugby Smart’ which is compulsory for all coaches.
These topics should be covered by the best coaches available which could well mean bringing in some suitably qualified person for a session or two.

Training Sessions
Strategies for training sessions.
Well organised, relevant, intense, accurate …. They must relate to your philosophical approach.
Having fun is a biggie. Play games that are hard work but enjoyable. Make sure there is a mix of serious endeavour and a bit of fun.
Discipline is important.

Culture
Creating a team culture. Discuss what this is and what each coach needs to do.
Small disciplines (being on time) / fun and hard work at training / being well organised / players having a say / activities outside training / working with individuals
You cannot force a successful culture it will evolve if you are doing a good job.

Draw up a philosophy for 2018 based on these discussions with all the coaches.
Adapt it once you have your squad in action and allow them to have input.

These are just some ideas to provoke thought when getting your coaches together.

The basis of your coaching can be taken from the NZ Rugby coaching booklets; “Foundation of Rugby Coaching” and “Developing Rugby Coaches”.
Each provincial union will run courses every year with these booklets as the basis. The rugby coordinator should attend and they should encourage as many coaches as possible to register also.

These cover a wide variety of coaching requirements including Growth and Development, Mental Skills, Physical Preparation, Principles of Play, Coaching and Analysing Skills, Creating a Positive Environment and Unit Skills.

There is a wealth of information in these productions which are well worth having in your rugby library.