Fitness Training for Club Rugby

In a previous article on this web site I outlined a basic strength training program for the club rugby player. In this article I would like to suggest some methods to optimize your fitness for rugby. Since most club rugby players have limited time to commit to physical preparation it is important for any program to maximize the gains from the time available. The best method for achieving this goal is the use of modified anaerobic games. Modified games not only train the metabolic systems, both aerobic and anaerobic, but also speed and acceleration, all the time whilst developing vision, spatial awareness and decision making with the ball in hand. Two or three sessions per week of around 45 - 60 minutes would be an ideal way to maximize your fitness for rugby. My Top 5 modified games for rugby fitness are:

Goal Line "D"

Attackers have 2 extra players than defenders.

Attack starts 5 metres away from goal line place another cone 2 metres out from goal line the defenders can not move out past this cone, attackers just have to run across the line to score they do not have to ground the ball, if an attacker is tagged (2 handed) the ball is passed back to the 5 metre line to start the next attack, attackers have 2 minutes to score as many points as possible, any time the ball is dropped, knocked on, passed forward that attacking raid is finished and the ball has to go back to the 5 metre line to go again.

Offside Touch

First pass must always go back then attack to furthest try line, attacking team gets 2 touches, after 2nd touch turnover, ball can be passed after the restart pass in any direction, to ensure everyone is working all the time all the attacking team must be inside the 22m area before the try can be scored, the team that scores retains possession and defending team must push inside the attacking half way line otherwise the try is worth 2 points, another version is
man on man where you can only tag your partner and vice versa, plus you can add a sweeper that can tag anyone as well, can be played as a kicking game grubber kicks only and no running with the ball post reception of the grubber kick.
 
Speed Ball

Played with a soccer ball, normal soccer rules apply but if you can catch the ball on the full you then play on for three touches with normal touch football rules applying after the 3rd touch the ball is dropped and neither the defender or attacker involved in that last play are allowed to touch the ball. The same rule applies for forward pass or knocked on ball. Play on full field.

One Touch

Best played across the field 50m line to try line being sidelines, both teams start on the sidelines (now try lines) one in possession the other being defenders, normal touch rules apply attackers only get one play when touched they all have to sprint back to their respective try line before they can push up in D, the new attacking team must pass once from the breakdown and then play continues in same fashion. Upon a try being scored the scoring team stays in possession and both teams swap side and restart from the try lines.

Drop Off Touch

Normal touch rules apply, other than when a person makes a touch he has to sprint around his own goal posts before being eligible to be on D again, attacking team gets 6 touches, no kicking is allowed.

If you can not get enough mates together to play the games listed above then I would recommend field intervals, if you can find a rugby field that is correctly marked then you will not need cones as the lines on the field will give you over 25 different length running options from 5 metres to 500 metres. When developing your plan just apply a few simple rules:

1. The shorter the distance the harder you run and the longer you rest (3 - 5 times the length of the run time)
2. The longer you run the less hard you run and the shorter you rest (equal to or half the length of run time)
3. Always warm up and stretch dynamically and cool down and stretch statically.

My Top 5 field intervals would be:

200m/100m Drill

Start on the try line and run to the far try line turn around and sprint back in 40 seconds, rest 20 seconds, then sprint to the far try line in 20 seconds and rest 40 seconds, this is 1 repetition. The toughest version of this is to add another interval of 300m first, so it looks like this 300m in 45 seconds/rest 15 seconds, 200m in 30 seconds/30 seconds and finally 100m in 15 seconds/rest 45 seconds, to date I have only ever had one player who could handle that.

Coat Hangers

Begin at junction of ½ way line and side line, sprint to goal post around then straight down field to goal post around and back to starting position, can be competitive with another player running the same from the other side of the field or in the opposite direction on the same side, the distance is 222 metres.

Malcolm Drill (named after former Great Britain and Newcastle Knights rugby league coach Mal Reilly)

Start on middle of ½ way line on chest, get up and back pedal to 10 m line down on chest, get up and sprint to far 10 m line down on chest, get up back pedal to ½ way line get on chest this is 1 repetition repeat for a total of 6 reps. Standard for NRL players is less than 80 seconds for a complete set of 6 reps.

Jog/Sprints

Start on try line jog to far 22m line then sprint to try line, turn around and jog to half way line then sprint to try line, turn around and jog to 22m line then sprint to far try line turn around and brisk walk to far try line, this is one repetition.

½ Gassers (A favourite in the NFL)

Start on one side line down on your chest with chin on the sideline get up and sprint to far side line go down on the ground get up and sprint back to start, this is one repetition.

When developing your plan start out conservatively so you can complete the session and use the 10% rule to increase your distances, the total volume (distance) of a session should not be increased by more than 10% to allow for adaptation and minimize the risk of injuries due to a too rapid increase in volume. I would start at around 1500 to 2400 metres initially for the total volume of the session and limit the volume over time to no more than 4000 metres.

Train hard and enjoy the results of a fitter start to next season.

Ash

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