Rugby Wisdom in 3 with The Rugby Trainer
For my latest Rugby Wisdom in 3, I connect with, Ben John aka The Rugby Trainer. He is an influential coach with a huge following and is consistently producing quality rugby content. After retiring from professional rugby due to injury (check out his highlights here), Ben switched his focus to coaching where he specializes in skill development. Ben’s Instagram account has over 140k followers and is a great source of drills, skills and activities that you can try with your team. Check it out!
1. You are the master of individual and small group work. When planning these sessions, what is your work process? Also, what equipment do you like to use in these sessions?
When planning a 1-1 or small group session, I always start with basic movements and ball skills that are not always rugby specific. I like to use tennis balls, cricket [baseball] or golf balls, etc as those balls are difficult to catch and therefore this engages the player's mind into the session. I would do this whatever the focus of the session, whether it's tackling, passing or any other facet of rugby.
I would then focus on the basic skill we are working on in the session and add progressions and external challenges, like decision making/movement/intensity. To finish the session I like to put that skill under pressure through fatigue for a short period.
Also, I like to film parts of the session so the player can look back at it and see what I see, so they can learn and coach themselves when I'm not there.
2. Rugby is a multifaceted game with a seemingly endless list of focus points for a coach. When coaching at the amateur level (2/3 x per week), what would a week look like?
This is a great question. Not one mould fits every team as some teams have a wider range of players' abilities. I always push the players to take it on themselves to do extra individual skill work before or after every session for 10 mins (I help with the drills).
Tuesday
Part 1: Split forwards & backs
Part 2: Team attack aspects
Thursday
Part 1: Team defence aspects
Part 2: Shapes for the match
The above is flexible and can change depending on numbers, week focus, work on’s, etc.
3. Can you recommend a book, either rugby-related or not, that has had a positive impact on you?
These are 3 books that I have recently enjoyed: