THE INSIDE L INE

Be a fab full-back with these drills, says Sean Holley

1 Breaking point

To break the line from the backfield requires scanning, footwork and acceleration. The ref is usually in the chasing line and is a good point to attack as he’ll get out the way. And teammates can provide roadblocks to make use of to find gaps.

Simulate a kick chase to your 15. Have players on his team in bibs to show potential fracture points to attack. Stagger the chasers so there are dog-legs to promote stepping around them. And create mismatches on the edge of the line to promote a willingness to attack the edges.

2 Upstairs, downstairs

Whether to go up to catch a ball or stay on the floor depends on how deep and how contestable the kick is. Communication is vital and your back three should work in harness and in a pendulum.

The beauty of practices like this is that kickers practise their kicks and chasers work on their catching skills on the run. Each kick should be claimed by the catcher. His backfield players communicate to stay down or go up. The catcher can focus on the ball’s trajectory, hang time and fixing eyes on the ball.

3 Making gains

Anticipating where a kicker will put the ball requires the study of body language. I played a game called ‘Gaining Ground’ with Dan Biggar and James Hook – 1 v 1 across half a pitch.

The aim was to kick the ball so it bounced in-field and gained you ground, trying to catch the opponent out of position. If the ball crossed the far touchline, a point was scored. If the ball was caught on the full, you lost a point. The aim is to find grass with distance and accuracy.