The One to One Sessions continue to roll out. Last night i worked with a promising young Player who plays for Llanishen High & Llanishen RFC. We worked on the positional aspect of his game, then on some of his options when he shows up in central areas from his initial Right Wing Position. By anticipating an opposition Box Kick, a Big ‘Tell’ for example, would be when a 9 starts to organise a ‘caterpiller’ ruck…So can he communicate, say 1 of his quicker forwards to stand off at the short side, which allows my pupil to drop off early to support his full back, where 1 off them is in a position to deal with the kick & the other can assist the ball retention. Hopefully, his team have been coached to ‘hold’ their running lines which hinders a kick chase in a straight line, thereby allowing time & less pressure to field the high kick? Furthermore, they should take advantage of this defensive tactic by moving several players quickly behind the ball and out into wider areas for a counter attack? Should his full back catch the kick and bring the ball back to where it came from, my pupil & I worked on offering a ‘switch’ option to bring the ball into a central area, hence he would now require the vision and ability to initiate a counter, with several options… Can he chip & catch? Can he roll a long spin pass to a support player? Can he beat a defender with evasive footwork? Can he simply kick a long ‘wiper’ and bounce into touch for a ‘50/20’? His stronger kick is with his right foot and his stronger pass iss off his left hand! The scenario created means he is ‘sweeping’ from right to left.
His skill set now requires 2/3 left footed kicks and a long right handed spin pass. I must say this lad has made huge progress in 1 session. He has a super attitude, really wants to learn and his Rugby Intellect gives him every chance of making it in the game.