Rugby Coach - 5 Steps To More Effective Rucking
By Dan Cottrell, Editor of Rugby Coach Newsletter, Thu Dec 8th

5 Steps to More Effective Rucking Spruce up your ruckingtechnique to get quicker ball

1. Ruck beyond When a player hits a ruck, they should aim to endup beyond the ball. Even better is for them to be on their feet,moving forward two or three metres beyond the ball. Thisprevents the danger of too any bodies over the ball. Too oftenplayers come to rest on the ruck or just lean over. This justadds to the traffic, legs and feet getting the way of the scrumhalf trying to clear the ball.

2. Inside foot When players arrive they should put their insidefoot over the ball. This leads to three great advantages: ·Driving through and out, so clearing players more effectively ·Stronger body position through the centre of the ruck · Lesschance of feet hitting the ball

3. Spine in line The old coaching adage in rucking, but easilyforgotten – get the spine in line with the direction of the playto gain maximum power through the contact area. Bums to posts(meaning bums in line with posts) is another phrase beingshouted at players at the moment. It also makes good sense fromthe point of view of the referee, who will

penalise players whocome in from the side.

4. Shoulders, hips and finger tips Get your players’ shouldersand hips lower than the shoulders and hips of the players infront of them. If can you also touch your finger tips on theground just before the contact, then, as long as the hips arelower than the shoulders, the contact should be enormous.

5. Leave the ball alone If players look to pick and drive(gather the ball and take it on), or even try to secure the ballby picking it up, then the momentum of the drive is lost and itjust causes more traffic. Also picking the ball up can lead toplayers being off balance and potential knock-ons as well. Helpplayers make decisions on when to pick and drive and the onlytime to do this –when the ball is clear at the back of the ruck.

About the author:Dan Cottrell is the Editor and founder of Coach and hasexperienced coaching at most levels. Dan qualified as anRFU coach in 1997, he has worked with Jack Rowell (formerEngland coach) Brian Ashton (former Ireland coach)and atBristol, with Dave Alred, famously known as Jonny Wilkinson’skicking coach.