Rucking Zone

A tiring exercise of continuous rucking. Encourage your players to maintain good standards even when tiring and highlight the importance of getting straight up after one breakdown to make another.

Maul and Ruck - Clearing the Ruck

Clearing the tackle area with pace relies on committed support. Clearance rucking is a dynamic method of restarting the attack if the defence has managed to create a breakdown.

Maul and Ruck - Under 13s and 14s Ruck

Training through traditional drills does not develop game understanding and players often become robotic in their behaviour

Conditioned games promote game understanding and encourage players to recognise the needs at any given situation

The drill should be used only to refine technique and the danger is to develop players that act without game understanding

Small-side game - Ruck Touch

There are many versions of ruck touch with the support players needing to recognise the needs of the tackled player.

The defence should be conditioned to provide increasing pressure to the tackle area. This will develop the situation recognision of the attacking players who must play accordingly. Robotics in rucking regardles of the situation should be discouraged and the option of picking upthe ball and going forward should be an option

Maul and Ruck - U9 Coaching

Notice how these players do not naturally set up rucks. Both teams try to keep the ball away from breakdown situations.
What would these games look like if the coaches stepped in and insisted on rucking?

Ruck Clearing and Decision Making

Advanced clearing exercises for senior players. The support player makes a decision on how to clear out the ruck based on the position of the opposition.

Maul and Ruck - Maul Gain Lines

With the maul, the gain line is fluid and the defence can be forced onto the back foot
With the ruck, the gain line is static and the defence are often set and on the front foot

USA Sevens - Learn The Rules Of The Ruck

With less players the breakdown is much cleaner in Seven's and knowing the laws and being accurate in your skills wins matches. Mike Friday clarifies what can be a complex area and why many coaches focus on this facet of the game

Materiality Clip 11 - Ruck Management