Rugby: Ping Pong

4 players stand on the corners of a 5x5m grid, and one player in the middle (the piggy).

They play piggy in the middle until the whistle goes.On hearing the whistle:

• The player with ball in hand is pillar aka 1. The rest of the players FOLD in and become 2,3,4 and 5 in the defenesive line.
• Once they are set, they call hold hold and press off the line.

Make sure your warm-up area is marked out before the players arrive.

• Depending on the number of players you have at training, mark out several warm-up grids.
• The size of your grid is a suggestion, but around 10 meters x 10 meters. The bigger the grid, the easier it is for the attackers - they have more space. The smaller the grid, the easier it is for the defenders. Break your players into two groups, pads and passers.
• One third of your players will be passers; the rest will be on the pads.
• Have one team quickly demonstrate the game to the other players. In each grid have four players on pads, and two passers. You could have more passers; I'll leave this to your judgment.
• The job of the players on the pads is to put pressure on the ball carrier, to surround them and stop them from passing the ball. The players on the pads are also trying to force the passers to make mistakes e.g. drop the ball, throw a bad pass etc.
• The passers have to move the ball around the grid, avoiding the pads.
• Passers can pass the ball in any direction.
• Players on the pads should have a little fun, and within reason push the passers around a little.
• You can award points for each successful pass, and points to the defending team on the pads for every occasion when a ball carrier is surrounded or the ball carriers make a mistake.
• Don't forget to change the players around, and to give players on the pads a go at passing the ball under pressure.
• Law Variations: You could insist that passers have only 3 second to make their pass, or risk losing a point to the defending team.

• Within a group there are two groups of 4 attackers and one chaser/scrum half.
• At the middle point, marked by a cones, the scrum half moves the ball to the first attacking line.
• The scrum half firstly tracks the progress of the ball, as the exercise progresses - the scrum half should apply more and more pressure to the ball carrier - working up to the point of becoming a full on defender.
• When the ball reaches the opposite end of the grid, the last player in the line sets the ball down.
• The scrum half then feeds the ball to the next attacking line, fulfilling their own role within the exercise.
• The opposite attacking line should realign in preparation for the next attack.
• The tempo of this exercise should be high.

• Brief your players, but keep it brief!
• In each grid there will not be two channels. In each of the two channels there are two players with a tackle bag and two players binding with their back to the runner. The players binding will be leaning/driving against a tackle shield (similar to how they would be during a maul). The shield will provide support and resistance just before and during the runners hit.
• The first player starts and runs to the player with the tackle bag and makes a tackle before moving on.
• After the 2nd tackle they runs to bind with the 2 players and drives them across the line, their bind should result in their head between the hips of the two players in front of him and his shoulders in contact with the from two players backsides. The players driving position should be low and the hit proportionate. When the 3 players cross the line, one of the 2 binding players takes over and continues to run up the other channel, with the first running player now binding with the other remaining player and taking up a driving position against the shield.
• Change players around to ensure that every player has an opportunity to play different roles.