Why Passes in Rugby Go Astray

Why do so many passes in rugby go astray? Even at higher levels of the game, many promising moves break down because the receiver has had to reach up, or even reach behind him (or her), to take the ball.

Sometimes, there will be technical reasons, such as passing off the wrong foot. Often, the pass from 9 to 10 will go high because the 9 has been imbalanced at the point of ball release. This can particularly happen if the front foot has come too far across. In an effort to maintain balance, the head comes back and up, with the result that the pass has an upwards trajectory.

But the main reason that passes go astray is that they have not been aimed properly, and this generally happens because rugby players are human beings. If one person is looking to see where another person is, it is natural to look for their face, just like you would look for somebody’s face in a photograph. But if you are looking at the receiver’s face when you pass the ball, it’s likely that the ball will go in the general direction of their face. If the receiver is running forwards, the ball may well disappear somewhere behind their head.

The other problem is that receivers like to read the intentions of the players inside them. In particular, they might want to see if the ball carrier is looking in their direction, so they can anticipate when the ball might be coming in their direction. In order to get a good view of the face, they come up almost level with the ball carrier. This means that the ball carrier has only three options, all of which are poor: a forward pass; a flat pass that the receiver can’t run onto; or a pass behind the receiver.

The answer is to train players, ideally from a young age, to use their vision effectively. How many coaches drum into their players that passes should be made for the receiver and not to the receiver? How many explain where the ball should be aimed, and how this varies according to the speed of the receiver? How many tell the receivers about being able to see the number on the back of the ball carrier’s shirt so they don’t overrun the ball?

Above all, are coaches using realistic opposed drills, so the players can put all this in the context of the timing of the pass, and whether to pass or not? If you are, then asking the right questions, even with young players, can lead to the players working out the answers for themselves. For instance, what are they looking for in the defenders that tells the whether to pass or dummy? What can they do in their footwork that would make them more effective?

But if players are taught in a mechanistic way, then you might as well just pick bigger and bigger wrecking balls, and not bother about the fact that they can’t pass a ball. Some would say, we’ve reached that point already.

David Donner

Sports Vision Casebook - Scrum Halves

The rugby players I’ve worked with most have been scrum halves, but I think I’d use a similar process for a player in any position.

We began by doing some profiling, which was something some of the players had done and some hadn’t. We looked at the skills required to be a great scrum half, dividing them up into technical, tactical, physical and psychological categories. We used this to work out which areas would be most useful for the players to work on so they could progress to the next level of the game.

I also tried to work out some of the visual requirements for being a scrum half. Whereas most people in this field would think of things like peripheral vision and visual acuity (seeing clearly), I wanted to concentrate more on how these players should use their vision in game situations. So I came up with a list that included things like identifying and focusing on targets when passing and kicking; scanning both sides of the field for overlaps and mis-matches; searching for areas of space behind the defence to attack; and analysing defenders at the ruck to aid decision making.

The players wanted most to work on their passing skills, which we narrowed down to speed and especially accuracy. I started off by getting them to pass a series of balls against a marker on a goal post. This was done from both sides, initially with balls on the ground. Some competition was introduced by timing them against each other. We then set up simulations of passing from a ruck (they had to dig out the ball from under my foot), and from a line out (I would toss the ball over my head for them to catch before passing).

This was all fine, but you’re not passing against a post in a match. In order to do this I needed a receiver, but I wanted to keep to the same levels of accuracy. So I’ve introduced a rule which begins by saying that the receiver must maintain the same body position as he moves forward to catch the ball: no stooping or jumping up allowed. Next, the receiver is also only allowed to move their arms below their elbow. And finally, they can only move their hands to catch the ball – no other arm movement is allowed. The scrum halves score a point for each pass that is successfully caught under these conditions.

I also videoed the players’ passing. It was interesting to see that one player kicked out his back leg as he passed the ball. He had clearly fallen into the habit of doing this in order to keep his balance, and was understandably reluctant to change his technique. I did feel, however, that this was a sign that he was inherently unstable when he passed, and this explained why he would sometimes lift his head when he let go of the ball. This also helped to keep his centre of gravity more central, and stopped him from falling over. Unfortunately, it also meant that the ball would fly over the receiver’s head.

David Donner

Rugby Passing 2

Of course backs are also perfectly capable of dropping the ball. One of the most common causes is simply taking their eyes of the ball, being distracted by the opponent advancing towards them, or looking at the inviting try line ahead, for instance. This is particularly likely to happen if your passing drills are unopposed.
It could be that the weather is particularly bad on the day of the match and the ball is slippery. But why not practice this by making the ball deliberately wet or greasy? As well as preparing the players for quite a likely eventuality, it would also make them watch the ball into the hands more carefully.
There is another category of errors which comes from when the ball shouldn’t have been passed at all, because there was no one in position to take it. One of the things that set the top players apart is their decision making. They take the opportunities that come their way, but they don’t make rash decisions if the opportunity isn’t there.
A simple variation to touch rugby could introduce the concept of decision making from a young age. The attacking side forfeit the ball if they’re touched in possession of knock on as usual. But they would also have another option. If a player shouts “tackle” before they’re touched, they must stand still, but are allowed to pass the ball when a team-mate becomes available. The coach would decide how many times this “tackle” option would be allowed before the usual rules are back in play.
The key to making good decisions is using ones vision to analyse the situation as much in advance as possible. The players should therefore be told that they should expect that the ball is always going to come to them, and to think about what they’re going to do before the pass to them is made. But they also need to keep monitoring the position of their own and opposition players so they can change their mind at the last moment if necessary.

David Donner

Passing In Rugby

The standard of passing in the Six Nations so far this season has been rather variable, from excellent to the frankly ridiculous. Sometimes the guy with the ball is so desperate to keep the ball alive, either to stop it going out of play and conceding a line out, or because having beaten two or three people he’s got carried away, that a totally inappropriate pass is given, which the receiver has no chance of catching, and may even be picked off by the opposition.
Sometimes, however, a perfectly acceptable pass is made, and then dropped. If it’s a forward who’s dropped the ball, there tends to be a collective “If only that had gone to a back” reaction. But how much time is spent on improving the handling skills of forwards?
The process of catching the ball starts long before the hands try to make contact with the ball. The fly half could probably recognise the type of pass (e.g. spin, pop pass or loop pass) from the scrum half well before the ball is actually released. But a forward is less likely to be less able to do this.
So one could start by getting the scrum half to demonstrate some different passes to the forwards who would be told to watch how the scrum half shapes to pass the ball, to watch the ball into the hands, and to pay particular attention to the feel of the ball in the hands when it’s caught. This is then repeated while taking the ball on the run. Some deliberately poor passes – too high or low – can be added as passes won’t always be perfect in a match.
The final stage would be to convert this drill into a more realistic match practice. For instance, three forwards have to score a try past two defenders. The move begins when the scrum half makes one of the previously demonstrated passes to one of the forwards of his choice as they’re running forward. The three then have to use passing and movement to ensure their numerical supremacy counts.

David Donner