A catalog of previously used games and drills, extracted from past session notes and organised by zone type (Warm-up / Game-zone / Skill-zone). Each entry is tagged with the skill focus it was used for, so it's easy to search for e.g. a continuity game or a defence skill-zone.
This is a reference bank, not a session plan on its own — pull individual activities into a plans/ session file (see the session-plan template) and adapt them to whatever the current block needs. Entries use the same fields as a session-plan Activities entry (Coaching Points, Setup, Description, Progressions, Adaptations, Video where available) so they can be copied straight in.
When building a new session, check here first for something reusable before inventing a new drill from scratch.
Quick reference for picking a game to match the session's contact-level target (see claude.html for the Thursday contact-light / Sunday guidance). Full detail for each is in Game-zone below.
Contact-level ladder (low to high):
Other coaching variations (layered on top of whichever contact level is in use that day):
Focus: Defence (line-speed)
| Setup | Ruck shields. |
| Description | A line-speed movement warm-up in three parts: "zoom" (fast approach), "cruise" (settle, stay on toes), "boom" (contact/finish on the shield). |
| Coaching Points | Focus on the zoom (line-speed) and the cruise (staying on toes) — don't worry too much about the boom itself. |
| Where it's used | The fourth and final phase of the standard warm-up (see warmup.html), run off the try-line onto shields at the cone line. |
| Adaptations | Run with whatever group split fits the numbers out that day (e.g. several teams rotating through, some in the game-zone / some in a skill-zone). |
Focus: Handling
| Setup | Coloured cones set out in two parallel lines, matched colour opposite colour (e.g. a red cone on one side directly opposite a red cone on the other). |
| Description | Players pass across the gap between the two lines of cones. The coach calls a colour, and players move to (or pass across) that colour's pair of cones — varying the width of the passing gap on the call. |
| Coaching Points | (not detailed in the source notes) |
| Adaptations | Vary which colour is called (and how far apart that pair of cones is) to control the passing distance/width on the fly. |
Focus: Handling
| Setup | Players in three lines (A, B, C) spaced out for passing. |
| Description | Ball zig-zags down the lines: A1 passes to B1, B1 to C1, C1 to B2, B2 to A2, A2 to B3, and so on — each player filling in at the back of the line they just passed to (or received into) once they've exited. For "crazy," add a second ball into the pattern at the same time. |
| Coaching Points | General handling cues — elbow up, hands out, catch early, etc. — plus communication and awareness (especially once a second ball is added). |
| Adaptations | Good for warming hands up and waking players up early in a session; add the second ball once the basic pattern is running smoothly to raise the awareness demand. |
Focus: Continuity
| Description | Touch rugby adaptation — the first time a ball-carrier is touched, play continues; a second touch on the same player before they've offloaded is a turnover. |
| Coaching Points | Teaches players to support the ball-carrier and to look for support themselves, since a turnover only comes from being caught a second time. High-activity and well-liked — good return for the skill work involved. |
| Progressions | Add a distance-limit or a time-limit on how quickly the ball must be offloaded/moved after the first touch. |
Focus: Continuity / Contact-offload
| Description | Touch rugby adaptation — on a touch, the ball must be popped up off the floor to a supporting player (rather than just passed). |
| Coaching Points | Support — being there for the pop. Communication. Eye contact with the arriving support player before popping the ball — don't pop blind. |
| Progressions | - Add a time-limit to how quickly the ball must be popped. - Introduce a turnover if the ball isn't moved on within a set time (e.g. ~1 second). - Step up into the dedicated Offload Technique skill-zone (below) — treat this game as the live application of that skill-zone's work. |
| Adaptations | A good interim step before introducing something more specialised (e.g. the Offload Technique skill-zone) — manage the contact level here rather than needing a separate skill zone first. |
Focus: Continuity / breakdown
| Description | Touch rugby adaptation, at the same contact level as Pop-up Touch but coaching the other half of the breakdown — on a touch, the carrier goes to ground and presents the ball back towards their own side for a support player to pick up and play. The ball is not contested. |
| Coaching Points | Go to ground deliberately, not as a fall — turn as you go down so your back is to the opposition. Present long: both arms extended back towards your own team, ball as far from the defence as you can reach. Body between the ball and the opposition. Support player calls early and picks with their eyes up. Speed of recycle is the whole point — it is our game (see playbook.html). |
| Progressions | - Put a time limit on the recycle (e.g. ball away within two seconds) with a turnover if it is missed. - Let one defender stand over the ball without competing for it, so the presentation has to be genuinely long. - Nominate a 9 who has to clear every ball, so the pick is a pass rather than a pick-and-go. - Step up into Ruckly-Touch, where that same ball becomes contestable. |
| Adaptations | - Slow the whole game to a walk for a few phases if presentations are sloppy — placement is a technique, and it does not fix itself at speed. - Alternate it with Pop-up Touch phase by phase ("pop" or "present" on the coach's call) once both are known, so players have to choose rather than run a routine. |
Focus: Continuity / Contact-offload — the contested step up from Pop-up Touch
| Description | As Pop-up Touch, but the "ruck" area on the floor is actively contested by the defence rather than the ball being handed straight back — defence can compete for it. |
| Coaching Points | Same as Pop-up Touch (support, communication, eye contact before the pop), plus urgency to secure and present the ball quickly now defence can contest it. |
| Adaptations | The step between Pop-up Touch and Full Contact on the ladder above — use when the group's ready for contested-ball pressure but not full tackling yet. |
Focus: Continuity and Defence — the same base game, tuned two different ways (see Adaptations)
| Description | Touch rugby with a turnover-after-N-touches rule. |
| Adaptations | This game has been run two different ways for two different objectives — tune whichever fits the day's focus: - Continuity version: reduce the turnover limit to a low number (e.g. 3 touches) — forces the attack to move the ball rather than get repeatedly caught in contact. Progression: run the same idea in (limited) contact. - Defence / line-speed version ("Linespeed Turnover Touch"): condition that if the defence gets to the ball-carrier within a set time (e.g. 2 seconds) on a set touch count (e.g. the 3rd), the defence wins a turnover. Tune the touch-count and time-limit to the group. Progressions: penalise the defence for being offside; restrict who's allowed to talk (e.g. only the fullback) to make the value of communication obvious by taking it away. |
Focus: Defence (line-speed)
| Description | Touch rugby with the condition that if the defence catches the first receiver still in contact (i.e. before they've passed the ball on), it's a turnover. Named for the Springboks' rush/blitz defence — see playbook.html's Bang call. |
| Coaching Points | Rewards fast line-speed and pressure on the ball straight from source, rather than only rewarding tackles further out. |
| Progressions | Combine with the Blitz Defence (4v3 shape drill) below once the group has the idea. |
Focus: Continuity
| Description | Touch, with the adaptation that when the coach/ref calls "LINEBREAK," the ball-carrier may take up to 3 steps before offloading; if there's no support available, they must go to the floor and recycle. |
| Coaching Points | Support timing — being in the right place to receive the extra-steps offload. Communication. |
Focus: Continuity
| Description | The contact version of Turnover Touch (above) — same turnover-after-N-touches idea, played with (limited) tackling instead of touch. |
| Adaptations | Keep the tackle count/turnover trigger tight while introducing contact, rather than opening it up to a fully live contested game straight away. |
Focus: Defence
| Description | A team stands in the middle and repeatedly defends attacks coming from alternating directions, resetting each time. |
| Coaching Points | Quick reorganisation and communication under repeated pressure from different angles. |
| Adaptations | Works well as a bookend either side of a skill-zone (e.g. run it, break off into a skill-zone, then come back to it to finish) rather than only once in the session. |
Focus: Continuity
| Description | Standard 2-vs-1, with the condition that the ball must be moved via an offload rather than a standard pass. |
| Coaching Points | Looking for support (communication). Timing and depth needed to receive an offload — players usually stand far too shallow. |
| Progressions | - Add contact (makes it more chaotic and demands even more depth from the support player). - Add randomness (e.g. gates to run through) to vary the picture each rep. |
Focus: Contact / offload
| Setup | Ruck shield(s) / tackle pad(s) — a shield can make the kneeling stage more comfortable. |
| Description | A staged progression for offload technique: start on knees (falling forward into the offload), progress to running at a tackle pad and offloading round the back of it, then progress further to running between a pair of pads while looking for the offload. |
| Coaching Points | Eye contact and communication with the receiver. Hands free to give the offload (don't get caught one-armed). Lift the ball for your team-mate rather than leaving them to dig for it. If in doubt, keep the ball and stay active on the floor ("pencil") rather than forcing a risky offload. Avoid a double recycle. |
| Progressions | - Offload with both hands, not just the stronger side. - Introduce other offload types — cat-flap, and round-the-body. |
| Video example | Offload on Knees – Rugby Toolbox |
Focus: Defence
| Description | A tackle-technique skill-zone drill run in a diamond-shaped setup (exact grid dimensions weren't captured in the original notes — worth fleshing out next time this is run). |
| Coaching Points | Defence "wins" the rep if the tackle is completed over the halfway point of the diamond. Technique cues used alongside it: low — chop!, shoulder contact, squeeze. |
Focus: Defence / Attack
| Description | Continuous attacking phases against a defence operating under a set condition. |
| Adaptations | Toggle the defence's condition to dial the difficulty up or down — passive (defence gives token resistance, attack focuses on shape/execution) or pressure (defence competes properly, forcing quicker decisions). |
Focus: Lineout / hooker throw
| Setup | A set of posts, and a ball each (or a feeder returning balls). Hookers work in a small group; mark a throwing spot on the ground so distance is consistent rep to rep. |
| Description | An accuracy-and-height challenge for the throw, using the crossbar as the target instead of a team-mate: throw over the bar to start, then step it up to hitting the bar. Self-scoring — count out of ten, and hookers compete against their own best rather than each other. The bar gives instant, unarguable feedback on both height and line, which cones and a moving jumper don't. |
| Coaching Points | Consistent pre-throw routine every time — same feet, same grip, same ball position. Ball back behind the head, both hands on it, thumbs driving through. Step and transfer weight into the throw rather than throwing with the arms alone. Follow through with the hands finishing pointing at the target. Eyes on the target, not on the ball. |
| Progressions | - Increase the distance from the posts. - Move from "over the bar" to "hit the bar". - Call the target as the hooker starts their routine, so they can't pre-set. - Swap the bar for a receiver at front/middle/back of a 5-man line once the technique holds up. |
| Adaptations | - Shorten the distance if the ball isn't reaching cleanly — a throw that's a strain has no technique in it. - Give a non-hooker a few throws too; useful cover, and it keeps the group moving. |
| Video example | Learn the Hooker Throw from Jamie George — Rugby Lineout Masterclass |
Focus: Defence
| Setup | Big pitch / wide channel; 4 attackers vs 3 defenders. |
| Description | Touch progressing to a "simulated-ruck" touch (a touch variant where a tackle is simulated and the ball recycled, rather than just popped). Within that, a skill-zone (max ~10 min) runs the 4v3, with defence coached to blitz up and cut off the wide options, before going back into the main touch game. |
| Coaching Points | Number up. Call your man. Outside shoulder. |
| Progressions | Award defence a turnover for getting off the line and to the ball fast. Overload the attack (add an extra attacker) to force the defence to communicate even more to cope. |
| Adaptations | Can finish the session with a version of this in (limited) contact once the shape is understood. |
Not standalone activities, but reusable ways of structuring a session that came out of the same notes: