This week was our first week back to training after the festive break and we were greeted by frosty pitches in our usual spot and so we had to go seeking softer ground on the far side of the main pitch. We soon settled in around the halfway line and marked out two coned areas to work in. We got started by warming up with a walk through the jungle to collect fruit from the highest tree tops, pick nuts from the forest floor and fight off a flock of flying insects. We crept through the undergrowth, ran from lions, and raced liked cheetahs until we were all ready and warm for a good rugby session.

We were very aware of the low temperatures and it was important to carry out drills that kept everyone moving as much as possible. As such, we commenced the main training session by splitting the players into their age groups to get going with a couple of games of King of the Ring. This is a game that we introduced recently into our sessions and is a great way of getting every player involved from the outset as they try to take tags and protect their own. After this good physical encounter, we brought all the players back together for a few games of stuck in the mud in a small pitch. This challenges everyone to keep moving in tight areas and really helps with understanding where to run and find space when being tracked by an opponent.

After this game we moved on to pass the parcel where the players stand in a circle and pass a couple of balls around to their team mates. On the whistle, any player with the ball must race around the circle and return back through the space they vacated to score a try in the centre of the circle. This is an excellent challenge because the players must stay alert for receiving a pass and be ready to spring into action on the whistle in order to stand a chance of scoring the first try. This game also helped blow off some of the cobwebs from the holiday as the players remembered how to pass (aim for tummies, stand side on, swing the arms and finish with the hands pointing to the player that they are passing to).

We moved on to a few quick matches and enjoyed some free running rugby with lots of tries before finishing with a great game of Bulldog. Thank you all for another superb session this week and given the temperatures, I was really impressed by the players’ commitment and tenacity especially when it was only our first training day back after a decent break. Congratulations go to the award winners this week:

Player of the Week: Beth
Best Effort: Ruben

I look forward to seeing you all next week away at Stevenage.

Johnny