defending

Question
hi im a winger in the u15's league in thw NE England. when attacking my OC is very fast so we are almost unstoppable. but when defending he trys to tackle the opposing IC therefore i am left with the opposing OC and winger to myself, is it possible to know if their OC will pass or step inside?

Answer
Hi Mikey,

While I am not a backs expert it seems that your real problem is why you are left marking 2 players. As a wing on defence you should be guarding the side line. The half back, # 8 and Open side flanker should be defending the inside backs and your OC should be able to easily drift out to mark his opposite player. Basically it sounds like your back line and some other players are bunching around the ball and not fanning out your defence.

You should get with your coach and address this issue if it is common. The team should be doing drills to practice defensive field positions from the break down and out. The player next to the maul/ruck is the key defender number "1" and each subsiquent team member should be staggard out from him. Each player needs to loudly call out and point to the player they are marking. When an opposition player has a run with the ball someone on your team needs to call that he owns the tackle and the rest of you need to adjust the defensive line around that break down. This kind of communication makes your defence as a team very efficient and also intimidates the opposition.

If you get to see a lot of pro rugby - Super 14, Tri-Nations, 7 Nations etc study the defensive lines.

If your defensive line is working properly you will not have to worry so much about if the opposition passes or steps. You can commit to the tackle either way and take the player out of play. Your team mates will be there defending against the rest of the oppositon.

Let me know if you have any more questions.