game. This would start the following week.

*

When the next week came; starting from August 17; Reede was encouraging the team to perform several special skills. The first skill would be not to leave the ball carrier running alone at any time; so therefore he/she would always need to be supported by fellow teammates to retain possession of the ball at the breakdown.

“At every breakdown,” Reede was saying to his players. “The opposition will be looking to counter ruck by driving us backwards and getting the ball onto their side. This often happens when there is not enough strength from multiple players or they are too limited at the breakdown to push the opposition back. That is why you need to ensure that you support your fellow player at all times for two reasons: So there are sufficient numbers and therefore strength to hold them and keep the ball in our hands for possession and in turn produce more phases of play; and be ready to receive the ball from an offload pass as the carrier is about to hit the ground, or he/she does hit the ground but immediately pops it up to a fellow teammate before the referee says that the ruck is formed. Quick and unexpected offload passes can often catch the opposition off guard and can give us a chance to break the advantage line and score a potential try.”

The second skill would see the forwards carrying the ball and running a few extra metres for 2 to 3 phases before passing to the backs and performing set plays:

“It is not a great idea to rush our backs too much with constant running and setting into position again for set plays.” Reede was saying again. “If our backs fatigue too quickly, they will not be able to perform plays properly and could therefore make errors; including missing tackles on defense. We have more forward reserves than backs, so I would like to leave the ‘hard yards’ for the forwards and keep our backs fairly fresh to give them every opportunity to run, kick, and defend where possible. Our aim for offense is to play a ‘fast running’ game to get a chance to gain metres up the field and push for that try, but by allowing forwards to carry the ball for several phases, that will give the backs sufficient time to build their stamina back up and set into their positions to be ready for the forthcoming set plays.”

The third skill would be to pass the ball simple without risking ‘flick’ passes, or quick passes behind the back, to a fellow player; or throwing a long pass:

“In every game there is always going to be handling errors, forward passes or cheap turnovers from both teams because of poor execution of fundamental handling skills. I know in some situations there will be times where you might want to try all the fancy tricks possible to try and get past the advantage line and score; such as when there is valuable time ticking over and you really need to get points quickly before possible defeat. Believe me; this will come very often for most teams. But you need to understand that attempting those high-risk passes can be the difference between victory and defeat. They may come off and you will get to the line; but otherwise the ball will be intercepted from a misguided long pass and therefore we turn the ball over cheaply to the opposition. The ball may also be misguided from the flick pass and the player may not be in the right position to take the ball and therefore it will be fumbled and knocked on or the ball will miss the player altogether, hit the ground and be ready for the opposition player or players to pick it up and steal. So I want us to make sure that we pass the ball to our teammate and teammates next to or close to us to ensure that we keep the ball in our possession and eliminate any potential for an opposition interception. Plus the offload is the only other pass that I want you to worry about because as long as there is a player to support his fellow dog and prepare to take the ball, there is usually a lesser chance of a cheap error. And in times that we might need to break the advantage line fast to score, get those passes going fast and wide from player to player for a chance to open up space out on the wing and score in the corner. Alternatively, when desperate times call for desperate measures, you can attempt a high kick or grubber kick in order to charge at the ball and then grab it to score. These, I find, are the less riskiest attempts to charge the line without silly mistakes; so stick with them and our error count will certainly remain low.”

The next skill would involve moving up early in defense to hold the opposition back from breaking the advantage line and advancing up the field:

“To play any form of competitive rugby and to be one of the best teams starts with defence. To have a strong offense in gaining territory and distance up the field along with a strong breakdown force is essential to have any chance at scoring points, but being able to hold back the opposition from advancing on your try line takes the pressure off you to get near or over your opponents score and puts it on them. In a situation where you may be down by a lot on the scoreboard and you need to catch up by scoring fast, it is a very hard task when the opposition is dominating and your desperate offensive charge at the line can only last for so long before either a single forced or unforced error can result in defeat. That is where pressure comes from. It is always tough to play well under pressure and you will find that it will come in every single game you play in just about any situation in the game itself. This is where solid defence comes in: By holding them back from breaking the advantage line, they will often find it harder and harder to reach the ‘end zone’ and therefore be put under immense pressure and start making mistakes; and that is where we find the opportunity to capitalise on those mistakes and then score. So all in all our defence has to be excellent if we are to get high on the table and in turn have a chance at making the finals later in the season. Therefore the defensive line will be moving forwards once the ball is recycled from the ruck, maul or scrum to push them back and stop them from gaining big metres up the field. And remember to assist in the tackle to, firstly, doubly ensure that you get the player to the ground, and secondly, to stop the offload. You need to attempt to hit both the waist or legs and chest to get the ball runner to the ground and keep him or her holding the ball in their possession without letting a short pass go to his/her support players. If you just let one teammate tackle the carrier low, that carrier will have space up high to get the ball out of their grasp and into supporting hands. But then in that possible circumstance, you need to watch for every possible fresh ball carrier who might receive the ball from an unexpected pass; because if they succeed and break the line, they will gain those metres and usually our full back will take the responsibility of the last line of defense to stop that player or players from scoring. There is always a chance of outsmarting the full back and getting past him to score, so that is where the pressure falls back on him or her and, in turn, us. Therefore you need to restrict the opposition from catching you off guard and keep building that pressure with solid defense.”

The final skill would focus on (in the same category as the last skill) playing a defensive style of scrummaging, rucking and mauling:

“When you have possession of the ball, you will always be looking to drive and push hard when rucking to ensure that you keep that possession. Plus when you have the ball in the maul, you will be looking to push to gain several metres and build offensive momentum; and in turn forcing the opposition to push their defensive limits and attempt every cheap trick in the book to stop that momentum, which will only end up getting them penalised and giving you more leverage. The same could be said when scrummaging; in that your driving power is essential to keep the ball on your side and safely hook it to the back to get the plays going without the opposition attempting to win the scrum against the feed. In that situation they may also try to commit any form of unseen foul play to win you over; so hopefully that will not fool the referee. So offensive momentum is important. But it is also vital to keep that in mind when you are defending in all three forms of the ‘huddle’. You will be working hard to gain defensive momentum by counter-rucking and driving the opponents backwards in the scrum in hopes of regaining possession of the ball, but there will be times when you might go too hard and the referee will penalise you for collapsing, letting go of the bind, being offside at the breakdown or illegal wheeling of the scrum; and the more penalties we give away from exaggerated defensive efforts, the higher the chance it will be of leading to defeat. Therefore you will be learning to ruck, maul and scrummage in a defensive style."

He then began this method with rucking:

"At the ruck, only attempt to counter-ruck if the support players for the ball carrier arrive too late. If you can jointly drive over the tacklee that has gone to ground before his or her support arrives in time, there will be that chance to force a turnover and reclaim possession. But if support get there quickly, they will have sufficient numbers to stop you from any such counter ruck attempt; and if you try, it will be called illegal by the referee. So focus more on getting the carrier to the ground and setting your defensive line up for the next phase of play before it begins and the opposition catches you off-guard. That way you can