Tag Rugby Practice/Intro

crisco10

Hi guys,

Been roped into running the company tag team this summer. We will be playing social leagues but a few players have already said a few training sessions would be good before the league, just so we can be somewhat organised for the games. The attitude is very much "We don't need to win to have fun but we do need to be competitive."

I haven't played much tag myself, played plenty of the full game but not much tag. Just looking to you wise boardsies for some advice/drills to run a few training sessions with. Although I suspect step one will be explaining the rules!

I suppose we will have the usual mix in as any social game, girls/guys, sporty people/not sporty, fit/not fit etc

My first instincts were to concentrate on 3 things:

-Flat line in Defense
-Run from deep
-Communication

I'm sure a lot of Boardsies have been roped in similarly as I have so would appreciate any experiences/tips etc.

Cheers,

Crisco

veXual

Take the tag!! I can't stress this enough. Some people get excited at the prospect of being tagged and just throw the ball away/hastily off load it. Tell people its ok to be tagged the team has 6 of them.

Also tell people to run straight, I know this sounds simple but running if straight lines usually offers the best gains. Too many people run laterally instead of going forward.

Everytime you get tagged the opposition must retreat so technically you should gain ground on a tag aswell. Let people know this.

They're the main points I can think of at the moment.

TheVoodoo

Quick ball, quick ball and quick ball.


As stated above, defenders must retreat back when the tag is made, the quicker you recycle, the more chance you have of breaking their lines because they have not had chance to 'get back in line' or man mark.

Pick a (wo)man. Don't get sucked in, which is basically just keeping your line on D.


Most importantly, HAVE FUN.

Seriously, if everyone is shouting and yelling at each other for missed tags or knock ons, it's just not fun. The more relaxed everyone is, the better everyone will gel together. I'd be in my 8th year of playing now, and I can assure you that the social teams that have fun and don't take them selves TOO seriously, will 9/10 do better. But of course that doesn't include absolute p*ss taking .

JustinDee

crisco10 wrote: »

Hi guys,

Been roped into running the company tag team this summer. We will be playing social leagues but a few players have already said a few training sessions would be good before the league, just so we can be somewhat organised for the games. The attitude is very much "We don't need to win to have fun but we do need to be competitive."

I haven't played much tag myself, played plenty of the full game but not much tag. Just looking to you wise boardsies for some advice/drills to run a few training sessions with. Although I suspect step one will be explaining the rules!

I suppose we will have the usual mix in as any social game, girls/guys, sporty people/not sporty, fit/not fit etc

My first instincts were to concentrate on 3 things:

-Flat line in Defense
-Run from deep
-Communication

I'm sure a lot of Boardsies have been roped in similarly as I have so would appreciate any experiences/tips etc.

Cheers,

Crisco

We'll be launching a set of skills and tips videos for online hosting that we filmed last Saturday. Keep an eye on the IRFU Facebook page or follow on Twitter.
Will be presented by a familiar face from the Irish camp and should be available in a couple of weeks, once editing and voice-over is completed.

If you want some tips in the meantime, drop an email to tag@irishrugby.ie.
Cheers.

Mr.Applepie

crisco10 wrote: »

Hi guys,

Been roped into running the company tag team this summer. We will be playing social leagues but a few players have already said a few training sessions would be good before the league, just so we can be somewhat organised for the games. The attitude is very much "We don't need to win to have fun but we do need to be competitive."

I haven't played much tag myself, played plenty of the full game but not much tag. Just looking to you wise boardsies for some advice/drills to run a few training sessions with. Although I suspect step one will be explaining the rules!

I suppose we will have the usual mix in as any social game, girls/guys, sporty people/not sporty, fit/not fit etc

My first instincts were to concentrate on 3 things:

-Flat line in Defense-Run from deep
-Communication

I'm sure a lot of Boardsies have been roped in similarly as I have so would appreciate any experiences/tips etc.

Cheers,

Crisco

This one always kills our team. There are 2 of constantly shouting to hold a line an move up together but there are always stragglers....

Also get people running with two hands on the ball. A lot of people starting off run with one hand on the ball and unintentionally block their tags

omb0wyn5ehpij9

Mr.Applepie wrote: »

This one always kills our team. There are 2 of constantly shouting to hold a line an move up together but there are always stragglers....

Also get people running with two hands on the ball. A lot of people starting off run with one hand on the ball and unintentionally block their tags

The flat line in defence should go up at the pace of the slowest player, not the quickest

I have played rugby all my life, i've reffed tag rugby for about 2 years and I've played it for even longer. Most of the important points have been covered so far:
- Flat line in defence. This line should go forward to meet the attackers while keeping the line flat. The line should move forward at the pace of the slowest defender to make sure that no dog legs appear
- Run straight with the ball
- Ball in 2 hands
- Don't be afraid to get tagged
- Get the girls involved more. Like so many teams i've reffed and played with/against, the girls just seem to stand on the wing and wait for the ball to come to them. Get them more involved in the game. Have them in the middle of it all. It will be more fun for them (Tag is all about fun really), and they will improve their skills. All of the best teams i've encountered have all had girls who are good at the game and get involved.
- No need to have somebody drop back in defence and play full back unless it's the last tag, and that play is starting more than about 10 yards out from your line
- Don't have the whole line of defence follow the ball. If the attacker starts running across the pitch, make sure all defenders don't follow him/her or else massive gaps will appear (this is a massive issue from my experience)
- Talk to each other constantly
- Run onto the ball as opposed to catching it and start running then
- When you get tagged, move quickly back to where you have been tagged and start again. The quicker the better, as it means less time for the defending time to re-align

Tag rugby is all about fun, so make sure your team enjoy it. As for training sessions.....personally, for a social standard team such as this, I would start off the training with a lap or 2 of the pitch to warm up while passing a ball between you, then show them some stretches so nobody gets injured and then I would just play a match. It is the best way for anybody to learn. You can have as many breaks as you wish, and you can point out any issues you have seen during the breaks. I don't think people are going to enjoy drills or be too pushed on returning to training if it's all going to be about drills. I would say everybody on your team is only playing for a bit of fun!

I'm sure there are other points that i've forgotten, but that should be a good start!

Shelflife

Tell the newbies that they can do no wrong and not to be afraid to play at scrum half and look for passes.

Praise every one and everything good tagging is as important as a line break, include the girls as much as possible nothing worse then seeing the girls that just run up and down the wing just waiting for the pop pass after all the work is done.

errlloyd

I've captained three teams of complete newbies before, some of the advice you have here is great.

My main suggestion for the first game or two is to properly coach the offside rule. New players can be offside and completely oblivious to the fact they are giving away a penalty. So coach them to stay onside at all times.

Otherwise girls tries are key, and I can't stress it enough. That works both ways, in attack get girls to score and in defense mark their girls even when there is a good chance you could catch a breakaway guy!

Encourage your players, particularly your girls, to have a go, run at a defense. If its ITRA teach them to spin very early, its a potent weapon, if its IRFU encourage them to just have a go, when people are bad at tagging at the start of the season you can win 1 on 1s quite easily.

Mr.Applepie

BDJW wrote: »

The flat line in defence should go up at the pace of the slowest player, not the quickest

You're right, we're just shouting at the stationary people

mrkiscool2

As a referee. I amn't sure I completely agree with the take the tag advice. If you are slightly isolated (i.e more than five feet from a team-mate) by all means take the tag. However, an off-load if a player is near is helpful for two reasons
1. Keep possession and get even a few metres further up
2. There will be most likely two players (if you run straight at a gap) concentrated on tagging you. Hence, the offload will create a gap for your team-mate to run through, giving your team a chance to score.
Also, swivel your hips. So important, just make it a bit more difficult for them to tag you.
That and everything else mentioned already

errlloyd

mrkiscool2 wrote: »

As a referee. I amn't sure I completely agree with the take the tag advice. If you are slightly isolated (i.e more than five feet from a team-mate) by all means take the tag. However, an off-load if a player is near is helpful for two reasons
1. Keep possession and get even a few metres further up
2. There will be most likely two players (if you run straight at a gap) concentrated on tagging you. Hence, the offload will create a gap for your team-mate to run through, giving your team a chance to score.
Also, swivel your hips. So important, just make it a bit more difficult for them to tag you.
That and everything else mentioned already

Rather then "always take the tag" when I say "take the tag" I mean "don't panic if someone is near you".

For example we had a match last night and a girl playing for her first time threw the ball backwards over her head because her initial mentality was simply not getting caught in possession, it led to a turn over and a try.

At the best of time accurate and well timed offloads are very difficult, playing a new sport with a team you've never played with its clearly very difficult. So take the tag!

Winters

Check out the tagging drill video here http://www.tagrugby.ie/Coaching-Videos.html

Its good practice for people who havent played before.

Also, in a practice game set aside a period where only girls can score - your players will get in the frame of mind to offload to girls and the girls will start supporting runners etc.