Stop slow ball killing your gameDespite being on the losing side over the weekend, Richie McCaw, the New Zealand captain, stood out. His "tackle turnover" count was phenomenal, but equally as important was his art, perhaps dark art, of slowing down the ball for the opposition. Luckily we don't all face the likes of McCaw, George Smith of Australia and the much penalised Lewis Moody of England. But we still get too much "slow ball".
In other words, the ball does not arrive in the hands of the scrum half quickly when there is a breakdown. Here are some easy training solutions to stop slow ball killing your game.
Clean ball, dirty ballAny ball that is not in contact with the opposition is "clean ball". Everything else is "dirty ball". So the quickest ball is generated by having the cleanest ball possible. The worst is ruck ball.
Footwork
The first way to create quick ball is to avoid contact at all costs : run at "spaces not faces".
Training tip:
Practice, with forwards especially, using footwork to find space in a crowded channel. Then reduce the space available. Increase the pressure with more players to beat. Narrower channels keep the challenge intense.
Good contact with opposition A good contact must be defined as one where the ball carrier is in control of the situation. If the ball carrier can stay on their feet as long as possible, then they should be in a better position to drive forward and/or present the ball in the best way.
Training tip:
One on one wrestling where the ball carrier needs first to stay on their feet, and if they subsequently go to ground, then present the ball back towards their team. Develop by the player walking into the wrestle situation and finally towards running.
Professional slow ballWatching the internationals can be a persuasive advert for cheating. Players at the tackle have learnt to bend the laws by "hands on" until the referee kindly tells them to "hands off". What this means in practice is the second player arriving on the defending side immediately puts their hands on the ball and does not release until told to do so, despite knowing the ruck has formed.
Lazy rollers are another problem. Heavy forwards at rucks fall to ground in the "tackle", and make some, but not much effort to roll away. Inevitably this causes a slower ball. The only solution, if the referee is not calling it, is to avoid "dirty ball".
Offload : basic retrieval firstIdeally we don't want the player to form a ruck if the player is tackled : that is the ball having to be left on the ground from the tackle situation. An offload is the last stage before a ruck could be formed. It is more risky than a pass, but if it works, then should be quicker than a ruck. But if we want the best retrieval rate, quick ball, then offloading the ball into the space right behind the tackle situation is probably the safest type. The support is more likely to be there, the opposition further away.
Training tip:
Work with three players in very narrow channels; two attackers, one defender. Success is measured only by either the first ball carrier scoring, or the second attacker receiving a clean ball from the tackle.
Contact bounceIn this era of big hitters and straight running from close to the side of rucks and mauls, it is worth exploring a different contact tactic. The player looks to take the contact, but immediately bounce back towards their supporters. The front leg is planted, then the player rocks back.
Training tip: This is best first tried against tackle shields. The shields can either, stay solid, twist to either side, or even fall backwards. The ball carrier bounces backwards off the solid shield, or stays balanced and passes the ball back to a supporting player. With confidence, then the shields can be removed.
