Defence Drills

Defence drills for backs and loose forwards

Drill One

Go forward quickly/balance
Get foot into his space/step
Get in close / shoulder on
Two handed touch/tackle
Wrap arms/squeeze/drive
Get up and recover ball
Work attacker to outside by staying on his inside.

Drill Two

A can score at x or y
1v1; 2v2.
Need to control the attacker
Get on their inside – work them out
Go forward quickly then into balance / shorts steps/crouch.Elbows in close / eyes up
Big step in close/shoulder on / wrap arms/complete the tackle

Drill Three

Deep defender comes forward to control the ball carrier.
Outside defender runs back to form a line with his mate.
They then work as a pair and try to force the attack over the sideline.

Drill Four

Ball carrier runs left or right and links ups with 2 from that side.
Defenders start from middle cone
3v2 – 2 Attackers start from the middle cone

Drill Five

Coaching Strategies for the defensive players.
-    Work together by forming a line where the player closest to the ball has the other two players slightly behind him so that they can read what is happening and communicate from the inside out. Use calls such as “push”, “hold”, ‘blitz”.

Coaching Phrases
-    “Fast – Balance – Explode”
-    (Go forward quickly – get in to balance with small steps and crouching – drive in to the tackle by accelerating; taking a big step in close; hitting with the shoulder; wrapping the arms; driving the legs; completing the tackle)

Watch for
-    Players stopping and getting caught square (legs apart and parallel / arms out wide – crucifix position)