Fear of Rucks

[Gay-Guy]

Hi there..

Well I am about to start coaching the local Under 12/13 club team next week. I have coached that same age group at school level. One thing that I have noticed with this age group is that they are reluctant to enter rucks. I and others have tried everything to try and get them into one but it still seems to be a big problem. Often when I watch these games at this age level both for club or school whenever there is a tackle it seems to be a mess of kids who are ruck shy and either go into the rucks standing too high or they don't enter the ruck at all.

We saw this as a problem last year and did so much ruck training...however as soon as it was kickoff the kids resorted back to type and went ruck AWOL!

Obviously the kids are a bit afraid of getting hurt when they bridge over and seal the ball as this leaves the back of their head and particularly the back of their necks exposed to being hit. I have a sneaky suspicion that another reason why they are reluctant to enter is because they want to be the star of the team and going into a ruck is not seen as the glamour thing to do in rugby....to much of an emphasis to want to prove themselves as individuals ratehr than wanting to work for their team mates.

My question is....does anyone have any ideas on how to get these kids into rucks?

 

[BLR]

I noticed the same thing when I started playing rugby for my high school a several years ago....the kids didn't know how to play and for most of the season it was me and another guy in the rucks against 8 huge islanders...not fun...

I would suggest a reward/punishment system. I'll leave this up to you but if they refuse to go into the ruck maybe during training make them run repetitve and boring drills through most of the session (of course with only a small amount of the 'fun' stuff so he doesn't quit) so that not only does he get the point that he needs to get into the ruck but it'll hopefully increase his skills by running drills over and over again.

I think the glory hunting thing is a youth thing and can only really be stopped at that age if they know that if they don't do the hard work they will have to work three times as hard at training the next week...

 

[Gay-Guy]

I noticed the same thing when I started playing rugby for my high school a several years ago....the kids didn't know how to play and for most of the season it was me and another guy in the rucks against 8 huge islanders...not fun...
[/b]

:lol: :lol: !!!

Yea we did do a WHOLE lot of ruck training...but the kids always seemed to change when it comes to game day....very unusual. So we would do EVEN MORE ruck training...but it still was the same thing every week. Basically it was always magnificent during training but the complete opposite when it was game time.

The rewards system still doesn't get to sove the root of the problem as they are still afraid and reluctant at heart and are only doing it because they are forced to do it. Ideally I would like them to enter rucks because they want to do it for the team and to secure possession possession possession.

I think the answer may lie with reaching them psychologically. I think I may have to change the value systems they have with rugby and start to promote team tackling and team rucking as the the things to be valued highly rather than individual running and scoring.

 

[Steve-o]

I think you touched on a very important point there GG. It seems these kids have been exposed to too much razzle dazzle. The hard grafters don't get much credit from the public in general. Do other teams have this problem as well?

 

[Gay-Guy]

I think you touched on a very important point there GG. It seems these kids have been exposed to too much razzle dazzle. The hard grafters don't get much credit from the public in general. Do other teams have this problem as well?

[/b]

Lol it is everywhere here in Auckland at this age level! The ones who are fast runners and agile are told they are backs and they just run all day. The ones who are slow are told they are forwards and have to go from ruck to ruck and not stand in the backline. It is the old traditional ABC teaching of rugby but it is flawed as kids all want to be the Caucaunibuca. Even Richie McCaw said he wanted to be John Kirwan when he was young.

 

[Steve-o]

The odds are really stacked against you then!
I can only share what my coach did back when I was 13 to get our forwards into, not sure if it'll help.
We had 2 practices a week, in the latter practice we would start by playing our B team. Our coach would stand behind us with a fresh picked stick and would give us a good whip on the ass if we weren't commited to the ruck.
He also built the game plan around the forwards. We had fancy line out and scrum moves. The rolling maul was our biggest strength.
We became the best team in the region.
Good luck

 

[O'Rothlain]

Beleive it or not, I had a similar problem with my university club. Now take in the idea that this is america, and 88% of my team had never played, let alone seen rugby. So, I started game night. We all get together, and watch a match. I have the pleasure of getting to glorify and praise the various aspects of the game. Now I also have the advantage of having Tivo (or a DVR, don't know what your equivalent is) and I can pause, rewind, ect...

Soon, however, they began to understand the importance of the ruck and what was really supposed to be going on in a break down. I constantly praised the big hard working forwards and made what they do seem like the underdog-glamourous job.

It's all a bit of psychology, really.

 

[Gay-Guy]

Exactly! I think I have to appeal to them and say that the toughest in the ruck is the toughest is the land!

THIS
IS
SPARTA!!!

 

[O'Rothlain]

Exactly! I think I have to appeal to them and say that the toughest in the ruck is the toughest is the land!

THIS
IS
SPARTA!!! [/b]

You Are Exactly Right. What Kid Doesn't want to be the badass?

 

[Rakulex]

Here in Brazil , i start top play in university and many of the players ant to show fearless and make anyone to look THE GUY. Here many play football, but not many play contact sports.

The rugby in here is to show who is the real man, so many in here is crazy to make anything that hurts and said that don't hurt.

 

[Gay-Guy]

Ok well I think I know what training I will be doing. It will drills aimed specifically at the area they are afraid of. After teaching them the correct way of blowing over and bridging we will go into intense specific sealing drills. One guy lying on the ground with the ball placed. A guy bridged over him. Another as a defender a few feet away from the tackle situation with a shield. Then on my whistle the guy with the shield will rush at the guy bridging and try and knock him out of the way. The whole idea is to train the guy bridging to be strong and try and hold his ground....and if he feels he is losing it to collapse on the ball and seal it. Then after a while I will get two guys with shields on one bridger...who knows maybe even get three guys with shields on the one bridger...then maybe get two guys bridging perhaps.

Ultimately I will be imploring them to HOLD THEIR GROUND and saying that "THIS IS SPARTA!!!" I will ask them what this is (pointing to the ruck) which they will say "Thats a ruck coach"....but I will reply..."No. This is not a ruck. This is Sparta. This is where we hold them. This is where we stand. This is where we fight. This is where they die!"

"THIS IS WHERE WE HOLD THEM! THIS IS WHERE WE FIGHT! THIS IS WHERE THEY DIE!"

 

[BLR]

Exactly! I think I have to appeal to them and say that the toughest in the ruck is the toughest is the land!

THIS
IS
SPARTA!!!
[/b]

Show them the video of Richie McCaw of Alternative Rugby Commentary and then show videos of him in the ruck, create a 'Chuck Norris' character out of him.

 

[Steve-o]

My advise didn't seem to help, but atleast my avatar did

 

[Gay-Guy]

My advise didn't seem to help, but atleast my avatar did [/b]

Lol...I can't use a stick on them...I would get arrested!

 

[Steve-o]

<div class='quotemain'> My advise didn't seem to help, but atleast my avatar did [/b]

Lol...I can't use a stick on them...I would get arrested!
[/b][/quote]
Yeah, you'd get alot of replies like: "This is madness!"

 

[Gay-Guy]

<div class='quotemain'>
<div class='quotemain'> My advise didn't seem to help, but atleast my avatar did [/b]

Lol...I can't use a stick on them...I would get arrested!
[/b][/quote]
Yeah, you'd get alot of replies like: "This is madness!" [/b][/quote]

Yep...I can just see the police saying to my coaching staff "Spartans, lay down your weapons"

 

[Steve-o]

<div class='quotemain'> <div class='quotemain'>
<div class='quotemain'> My advise didn't seem to help, but atleast my avatar did [/b]

Lol...I can't use a stick on them...I would get arrested!
[/b][/quote]
Yeah, you'd get alot of replies like: "This is madness!" [/b][/quote]

Yep...I can just see the police saying to my coaching staff "Spartans, lay down your weapons"

[/b][/quote]

And if you're really lucky they'll be standing in front of a big hole (aka Paris Hilton's ass) and say "Madness?!... This is not madness! THIS IS SPARTA!!!"



I'll forgive you for not actually watching the movie lol

 

[peppers07]

I am an under twelves player and have the same problem at my club we have a massive panel and out of about twenty five forwards only about five will rook im a center and me plus a few other backs often are forced to go in or else well lose the ball (and we normally do any way becaus were **** at rucking) Part of it is wanting to run with the ball part of it is being afraid of getting hurt and part of it is not a proper understanding of the game.
maybe you should carefully choose an international game with some great rooking and some **** rooking with a few turnovers. Then swhow it to them and point it all out to them

 

[Canadian_Rugger]

lol I found that this was a problem when I played in High School.... simply because people were new and did not know the game. I think the best way to do this is to simply have them do the drills over and over again to get them confident with the movement but also run them through in a game situation and explain why rucking is so important and where it fits within a game situation.



Personally I like nothing better than getting in a ruck and dummying some people and I am a 5'11 180lb winger .... nothing better than coming in and dump tackling someone in a ruck :cheers: or feeding them a good punch when nobody is looking



Just teach the kids that its fun to beat the **** out of each other and get them used to contact...

 

[Cymro]

Basically a few of the points have been addressed already.

It's something that until recently I was not great at doing but its more psychalogical than physical, and after the injury it is now something Ive mentally got to get over

What you need to tell the kids is that it might look hard, aggressive and they might get hurt, but in fact it can be the best thing about a game. Tell them that this is where the game is won or lost. Also tell them that if they go into a ruck thinking they are going to get injured then they will, but if they don't think about it they will go in fine.

Rucking drills are also a great way of buidling up their confidence.

1. Just get them running into a tackle bag and clear the man away. In groups of 3-4
a. Build this up so they have to go past two people standing next to each other with bags.
b. Do the same again as a but add a third bag man in.
c. Do the same as a again but now tell them when they beat the bag, they must drive the bag back to a certain distance repeating the rucking drill.

2. It similar to the ideas in 1 but instead of adding bag men together get them stadning a good few feet apart and get groups of 3-4 players rucking together.

3. Get a tackle bag and lay it on the ground (so it looks like a sausage, if you dont have a massive tackel bag pile of small ones) Basically this simulates a man on the ground and the players must get over it and hit the defenders on the bag. Probably 3 defenders on tackle bags and again in groups of 4-5.

4. A game situation. Set two cones together, and split the lads up so two equal teams line up behind each other. Mark out a grid, large enough for a game but also failry narrow so it encourages rucking. Declare one team the defence and the other group attackers. The object of the game is simple, score past the defenders. The coach ill need to call numbers more attackers than defenders or sometimes equal numbers and make sure that the players run round a cone at the end of the grid, one end for attackers and one for defenders, they run round the cones and then defend / attack the opposite group. They have to ruck / maul the ball all the way to the try line / end of the grid. This is a gret drill and has massive competition in it, it improves: rucking, mauling and tackling as well as communication skills.

Hope that helps