Six rugby drills that connect handling to breakdown support

Use these rugby drills to connect a carry to the next useful action: pass into space, present the ball after a tackle, or arrive in support under control.

Context: adult club rugby union, led by a qualified coach. Most drills are non-contact; drill five introduces walking-speed binding without a collision or drive. This is not a live tackling or contested-ruck session. Youth teams need their own union’s age-grade progressions and restrictions.

The setups below are suggested practice formats, not a prescribed World Rugby session. They follow the principle of moving from simple movements to combined skills described in World Rugby’s Breakdown Ready programme.

Before starting

Warm up before the drills. Use suitable ground, check equipment and leave enough space between groups to prevent accidental collisions. Match partners appropriately for size, experience and confidence; World Rugby warns against mismatches when developing tackle skills in its Rugby Ready coaching guidance.

Have balls, cones and bibs ready. Give each drill a short practice block—around three to four minutes—then pause for feedback. Increase difficulty only when players can repeat the checkpoint reliably, not because the time has expired.

Stop for pain, loss of control or a player asking to stop. Anyone with suspected concussion must stop playing or training, must not return that day and needs medical assessment, even if symptoms resolve. Follow World Rugby’s concussion guidance. Community rugby does not use the elite game’s temporary Head Injury Assessment process.

1. Moving pass and support

Setup: Three players, one ball and an approximately 10-metre-long, six-metre-wide channel. Players start spread across its width, with each receiver slightly behind the passer.

Action: Walk forward and pass along the line. After passing, keep moving in support rather than standing to watch. At the end, turn, reset the spacing and work back with passes travelling the other way. Progress to an easy jog.

Cues: “Hands ready.” “Pass behind you.” “Keep supporting.”

Checkpoint: The receiver catches without stopping or reaching behind their body, and the passer remains available for another pass. If players crowd together, restore the width before adding speed.

2. Two attackers against one touch defender

Setup: Two attackers and one defender in an eight-metre-long, six-metre-wide channel. The attackers start at one end, with the support player slightly behind and to one side of the carrier. The defender starts near the middle. Use touch only—no grabbing or tackling.

Action: The carrier advances while the support player maintains a passing option. The defender chooses whether to close on the carrier or move towards the receiver. The carrier decides whether to keep running into space or pass. Reset after a touch or reaching the end; rotate roles.

Cues: “Look at the defender.” “Keep the passing option.”

Checkpoint: The carrier can explain what the defender did and why they ran or passed. Do not reward a completed pass alone: a pre-planned pass can still be the wrong decision.

Progression: Vary the defender’s starting position before increasing pace.

3. Track, close and stop—without contact

Setup: A carrier and defender in a five-metre-square area. Begin at walking pace, with no contact permitted.

Action: The carrier moves towards the far edge and makes one gentle change of direction. The defender tracks them, closes the gap and stops short in a balanced position. Reset instead of completing a tackle.

Cues: “Eyes on the carrier.” “Short steps as you close.” “Balance before contact.”

Checkpoint: The defender remains facing the carrier and can stop without lunging or colliding. If they overshoot, reduce pace or simplify the carrier’s movement.

Tracking, closing space and establishing stability are part of World Rugby’s tackle fundamentals. When players are ready for actual shoulder contact, arm wrap and a controlled finish, use a separate coach-led tackling progression.

4. Present and release the ball

Setup: In pairs, the carrier starts lying on their side holding the ball; the receiver stands on the team’s side. No defender, tackle or falling action is involved.

Action: On the coach’s signal, the carrier presents the ball towards their team using both hands, then releases it. The receiver collects without stepping on or leaning over the grounded player. Practise on both sides.

Cues: “Towards your team.” “Two hands.” “Present, then release.”

Checkpoint: The ball is accessible to the receiver, away from the imagined opposition, and the carrier does not keep holding it.

World Rugby’s ruck guidance calls for quick, two-handed presentation away from opponents. Do not use “squeeze ball”—forcing the ball backwards between the legs—which that guidance tells coaches not to encourage because of injury risk.

5. Ruck approach and binding rehearsal

Setup: One player stands in a stable position just beyond a ball on the ground, representing an opponent. A second approaches from their own team’s side. Use cones to mark an imagined ruck offside line through the hindmost point of a participant—the point nearest the approaching player’s own try line. This rehearses approach and connection, not a complete ruck. Both players must understand the coach’s binding demonstration.

Action: Start behind the marked line. Approach at walking pace, shorten the final steps and establish a bind before or at body contact. A bind means grasping the partner’s body between shoulders and hips, with the whole arm in contact from hand to shoulder, as defined in World Rugby’s laws. Pause on balanced feet. There is no charge, shove, drive or attempt to move the partner. Separate and swap roles.

Cues: “Eyes up.” “Bind as you connect.” “Support your own weight.”

Checkpoint: Neither player falls, lowers their head or shoulders below their hips, or depends on the partner to hold them up. Stop and reteach if connection becomes an impact.

For an existing ruck, an arriving player must be on their feet and join from behind their offside line, alongside or behind the hindmost player. Binding must precede or coincide with other body contact. These are Law 15 requirements. For later opposed work, review the legal clean-out checks.

6. Touch, present and play away

Setup: Four attackers against three defenders in an approximately 15-by-12-metre area. This is a modified training game, not match-law rugby. Use touch only, with no breakdown contest.

Action: After a touch, freeze play. The carrier gets down under control using a previously coached method, presents and releases the ball. Defenders retreat three metres as a drill rule. One teammate arrives behind the ball as a passing option; another collects. The carrier moves clear before play restarts with the collector’s pass. Nobody steps over, binds onto or contacts the grounded player.

If controlled grounding has not been taught, keep everyone standing: the touched carrier passes to a trailing teammate instead.

Checkpoint: Support arrives from behind, the collector has clear access, and at least one attacker keeps width for the next pass. Rotate roles so the same player does not always collect.

Finish by identifying the weak link: handling, reading the defender, presentation or support timing. Repeat the relevant drill with one clear correction. Add opposition or contact in a later coached progression only when control remains repeatable.