Kick to win the field — a punt that finds touch, a box and an up-and-under that hang for the chase, and grubbers that punish a flat defence.
The Kicking Game
- Rugby union
- Adult
- 75 min
- 16–30 players
- 2 coaches
- Effort 3/5
- Full pitch
- kicking
- box kick
- up-and-under
- tactics
- back three
Kit: 14 balls, 24 cones, a few kicking tees for restarts, bibs in two colours
Drop and Catch
Setup: Pairs 15–20m apart along the pitch, a ball each pair, spread out for safety. Add a few players under high balls in a clear area.
How it works: Warm the kicking and catching muscles together. Partners exchange drop punts, focusing on a clean ball drop and a solid contact rather than distance to begin. Stretch the distance as they warm. Then feed some gentle high balls for players to catch, calling loudly, watching it into the hands, and turning side-on to protect the ball on the way down. Warm the shoulders and hips well, since kicking asks a lot of both. Clean strikes and safe, confident catches are the foundation the whole night builds on.
What to say
- “Tell them: 'lay the ball onto the boot — a good kick starts with a good drop.'”
- “Tell them: 'watch the high ball all the way into your hands and call it early and loud.'”
- “Tell them: 'catch side-on and protect it as you land — never reach flat-footed and exposed.'”
Easier
Shorter kicks and softer, lower feeds so the timing of the strike and the catch is grooved first.
Harder
Longer kicks and higher feeds with a token chaser, so the catch happens under a little pressure.
Find Touch
Setup: Kickers along one line, a touchline or a line of cones as the target, several balls each. Work in waves so nobody is kicking into a busy area.
How it works: The clearing punt buys your team fifty metres and a breather, so make it reliable. A steady ball drop with the point angled slightly in, a full leg swing striking through the lower half of the ball, and a long follow-through pointing down the line of the kick. Coach distance first, then accuracy towards touch, aiming to bounce it into touch or find grass near the line. Both a right and a left option matters at this level; a one-footed kicker is a defended kicker. Build a repeatable, unhurried action before you ever ask for it under a chase.
What to say
- “Tell them: 'clean drop, full swing, strike through the bottom half — do not jab at it.'”
- “Tell them: 'follow through down the line you want the ball to travel.'”
- “Tell them: 'aim to find touch or grass by the line — field position is the prize.'”
- “Groove distance and rhythm first; accuracy comes off a repeatable swing, not a harder hit.”
Easier
Kick for distance only into open space with no touch target, building a clean, confident strike.
Harder
Set a five-metre touch zone as the target and add a light chase, so the kick must be accurate and quick.
Box and Bomb
Setup: Scrum-halves with a ruck pad or a marker as the base, plus a group of chasers and catchers. A clear landing area and cones marking a chase target.
How it works: Two contestable kicks that win the ball back. The box kick from the base of the ruck: the scrum-half steps back, kicks straight up the touchline with real height, aiming for four-plus seconds of hang so the chase can compete. The up-and-under, or bomb: a high, hanging kick put up in the field for the chasers to contest. Both live or die on hang time, not distance, and both are worthless without a chase, so drill the chasers sprinting to arrive as the ball lands. Remember the law and the safety of it — you cannot take a player out in the air, both jumpers have a right to the ball, so contest fair and time the jump.
What to say
- “Tell them: 'height over distance — the chase needs hang time to compete.'”
- “Tell them: 'chasers, leave on the kick and arrive as it lands — a late chase wastes a good kick.'”
- “Tell them: 'contest fair in the air — never take a man out, time your jump for the ball.'”
- “Match the kick to the chase — a bomb no one chases is just handing back possession.”
Easier
Kick for height to a stationary catcher with no contest, grooving the hang time before adding the chase.
Harder
Full contest with a jumper and a chaser competing fairly for a well-timed catch under pressure.
Grubber and Chip
Setup: A defensive line of cones or passive players with space behind, attackers with balls in waves. A clear regather area.
How it works: Two kicks to punish a flat, up-fast defence. The grubber: a stab through the ball so it rolls and skids along the ground into the space behind the defence for a chaser to run onto. The chip: a soft, short kick lofted just over the defensive line to drop into the same space. Both are weapons of timing and disguise — shape as if to pass or run, then kick late into the gap behind. Drill the kick and the regathering chase together, because a kick behind is only as good as the runner who wins it back. Keep them low-risk: the right time to use them is when the defence is flat and there is grass in behind.
What to say
- “Tell them: 'grubber — stab down through the ball so it stays low and rolls into the space.'”
- “Tell them: 'chip just over the front defender into the grass behind, soft not big.'”
- “Tell them: 'disguise it — look like a runner or a passer, then kick late.'”
Easier
Kick into an open space behind a static line with a walking chaser, grooving the weight of the kick.
Harder
Add a live defender and a full-pace chase, so the attacker must disguise and weight the kick under pressure.
Kick, Chase, Contest — Game
Setup: Two-thirds of the pitch, teams of eight or nine in bibs, controlled contact, a back three of catchers for each side. Scrum-half restarts.
How it works: A tactical game about winning the field. Teams play, but a kick is a real option: clear for territory, box kick to contest, or attack with a grubber behind. Reward good decisions — a kick that pins the opposition deep or wins the ball back off a chase scores field-position points, while a loose kick that hands over easy possession loses them. The back three must communicate, catch safely, and counter or clear in turn. This is where the night comes together: kicking is not the absence of a plan, it is the plan, when the picture is right.
What to say
- “Tell them: 'kick with a reason — territory, contest, or space in behind, never just to get rid of it.'”
- “Tell them: 'back three, talk and organise — one catches, two support and cover.'”
- “Tell them: 'a good kick pins them deep; a lazy one gifts them a counter — choose well.'”
Easier
Allow a kick only from inside your own half for territory, keeping the decision simple while the skills bed in.
Harder
Reward only kicks that are recontested or regathered, so aimless kicking is punished and the chase is everything.
Boots Off, Heads On
Setup: Easy walk, a stretch of hips, hamstrings and shoulders after the kicking and catching, and a gather-in.
How it works: Cool down with attention to the hips and hamstrings that did the kicking. Talk tactics as much as technique: when did a kick help tonight, and when did it just give the ball away? Ask the back three how their communication held up under the high ball. Finish by reframing kicking for the doubters in the group — a smart kick is an attacking act, a way to move the whole contest fifty metres in a second.
What to say
- “Tell them: 'when is a kick the right call?' — draw out territory, contest, and space behind.”
- “Stretch the hips and hamstrings well after a kicking night.”
- “Praise the smart clearing kick and the safe catch as much as the spectacular bomb.”
Ask the players: Ask: did our kicks win us the field tonight, or give it away — and what separated the good ones? Be honest.
Next week builds on this: Next week we build the platform those kicks come from — attacking moves off the set-piece.
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