RugbyGames & Drills
Simon Worsnop
Human Kinetics
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Rugby games & drills / RFU ; Simon Worsnop [contributor].
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN-13: 978-1-4504-0213-2 (soft cover)
ISBN-10: 1-4504-0213-5 (soft cover)
1. Rugby football--Coaching. 2. Rugby football--Training. I. Worsnop, Simon. II. Rugby Football Union. III. Title: Rugby games and drills.
GV945.75.R84 2012
796.333--dc23
2011021474
ISBN-10: 1-4504-0213-5 (print)
ISBN-13: 978-1-4504-0213-2 (print)
Copyright 2012 by Rugby Football Union
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Notice: Permission to reproduce the following material is granted to instructors and agencies who have purchased Rugby Games & Drills: p. 174. The reproduction of other parts of this book is expressly forbidden by the above copyright notice. Persons or agencies who have not purchased Rugby Games & Drills may not reproduce any material.
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To my mother and father for giving me a good start and to Carys and Josie for making me such a proud dadS.W.
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Preface
W elcome to Rugby Games & Drills, a resource for rugby coaches, conditioning coaches, and teachers involved in rugby union and rugby league at all levels. This comprehensive book is packed full of ready-to-use games and drills and will help you design your own games and drills by outlining key pointers in the process. The activities in this book can be used by players of all ages and abilities; some of the simpler games that can be used with small children as major parts of a session are also suitable as part of a warm-up with adults. Many of the more complex games can and have been used to good effect with international professional players. With greater involvement, participants enjoy themselves more and are more receptive to learning, whatever their age and ability.
As a player, how many training sessions have you attended that were boring? How many hours have you spent doing mindless, repetitive drills? How much time has your field conditioning consisted of endless sprints between cones for no particular reason? How many sessions lacked any intensity during the technical and tactical part only to be followed by 10 minutes of gut-wrenching interval sprints completely unrelated to the previous hours work?
If the preceding scenarios are familiar to you, then your coaches had little awareness of a games approach to coaching or an understanding of integrated field conditioning. This book will help you avoid falling into those traps; instead, you will create interesting, effective, and enjoyable sessions. Players of every age love to play games; this is the reason they started playing and continue to play the sport. Playing games keeps players focused and on task and physically active and develops in them a positive attitude to physical activity. The approach outlined in this book is especially useful for those who have limited time to spend with their players and must make every second count. Following is a brief explanation of what you will find in each chapter.
Chapter 1
Chapter 1 looks at the theory and practice of drills and games. It touches on theories of skill acquisition, the learning process, and games understanding.
Chapters 2 and 3
Chapters 2 and 3 look at small-sided handling and kicking games, respectively. These games can be used with any age group; some of them could be used as general games activities with children. For older players, you can use them as general skills warm-up games or as competitive but fun activities within sessions.