Coaching rucking

The Guru speaks

The Guru, the wisest coach in all the world, speaks about rucking.

I have often said, to the sneer of some of the coaching pundits, that rucks and mauls are confessions of failure - failure to keep the ball in the hand, failure to penetrate defences, failure in alignment, failure in depth lining, failure to get the ball wide where defences are weak, failure from first phase ball...and so many other failures. Most of the failures I have listed are dependent upon one another.

For example, if you support in depth, you are more likely to be able to keep the ball in hand successfully; if you pass and support the man you to whom you pass, look after him, you will most likely be able to keep the ball in hand and penetrate the defences. If you do not do as I suggest, you will end up rucking and mauling.

Those of us who believe in the type of game I and many others advocate have to face the grunts of disgust from those who insist that our game is a "pretty" game - inferring that "pretty" is superficially "nice" to watch but lacking in strength and efficacy. We, on the other hand, accept that there can be weaknesses in our ball-in-hand and running approach but, we say, only if it is poorly executed - for example, if we allow the entire side to drift sideways in running the ball without straightening or bringing the ball back inside on an angled run. The truth is that the "running game" or the "ball-in-hand game", the "pretty game" is a bloody side more difficult to play, to master than the "keep-it tight", ruck-'n-maul variety. You see, you have to be extremely skilful and more talented to play the wider version of this sport; the ruck-'n-maul game is easily taught in a mechanical way and you do not need nearly as many skills or talents as you do for the other version. In fact I strongly advocate that if you have players without much talent at all, ruck-'n-maul because the other game is too difficult for your side.

The wise owls who refuse to become involved in making absolute statements will point out that a good side will mix up its game and sometimes ruck and maul, and at the correct times run the ball and keep it in hand or else kick it into touch or behind the opponents, where it deserves to be.

Of course, ideally, that is true and we coaches, or some of us, try to be idealists, to produce the "perfect" side that is able to adapt its tactics to the conditions and the opponents. However, no one can deny that the modern coach has a tendency to distrust a ball that is moved away from thick support, by, usually, the forwards, of the prospective tackled player and will therefore play a "close" game where support players can get to the tackled ball, thickly, in numbers, in order to keep possession through rucking or mauling. Rucking is preferred to mauling because it can supply a quicker ball than can a maul (pity the wing!).

I recently had the pleasure of watching a well-known coach of international standard working with young boys and admit that the one thing he has been able to do with them is to teach them how to ruck effectively, since when they have become a more organised side. His game plan is a simple and effective one. From first phase ball, he will have the players "take the ball up"; this mean to run straight at the opponents, crash through or across the gain line, go to ground in the correct manner, laying the ball back under control, have the close supporters ruck over the ball quickly, recycle the ball and if there are still too many opponents hanging around in good defensive positions, take it up again, quick ruck, recycle...until you have an overlap because you have sucked in so many of their defenders to the rucks. Then you move the ball along the line (which will now probably have some forwards in it because some of the backs have, quite correctly, been involved in the rucking and the "clearing-out" process) and you score through your superior numbers.

This is not a method to be sneered at because it works. A number of years ago, one of the more adventurous international coaches introduced this system to his country (he borrowed it from Australia). He called it "adding and subtracting" but in truth, it should be "subtracting and adding" for by taking the ball up, you force opponents to come in to tackle you (subtracting) and to ruck the ball out. If you ruck well as an attacking side and clear-out efficiently, you do not have to put your whole side into a ruck to win it, so you can line some of your players close to the ruck (adding) in order to take the ball up again; thus you try to force the opponents to put as many men into these contact situations as possible (subtracting all the time) while you keep adding men to your attacking line-up and eventually, keeping possession through "patience" you will have an overlap from which you will score. This particular coach I talk about has been one of the most successful in his country because he was prepared to be innovative and he is a great thinker and motivator. The "take it up" coach is also one of the best coaches of his country, in terms of results, in recent years, anyway. One could even argue that in his time he was the top coach in world rugby.

So, you see, you can base your entire game on rucking - and it is one of the easiest games to coach and to play. I have simplified it to an extent and perhaps minimized the skills required to play this type of game. The point really is that it works!

Next week I shall outline methods I have recently used to get my players to ruck more efficiently- nothing new and very basic- but, effective. (By the way, we still run the ball from anywhere although our rucking has improved so do not feel that I have deserted the "enlightened".)