Set Piece
How to control the opposition exit strategy, and play the game in the right areas of the field
Fine-tuning your own exit strategy, and pressurizing the exit strategy of the opposition is the most reliable way of ...
Insight & analysis
Articles
Deep dives on the modern game from The Rugby Site's contributors and coaches.
Set Piece
Skrum, skrum, skrum: what is the future of the scrum after RGR 3? – part one
Refereeing culture and background clearly make a huge difference to the officiating of the scrum As Nick Bishop expertly illustrates a sp...
Analysis
Will All Black smarts outperform Springbok brawn in the RGR series?
There is more at work in this series than just a contest between the two best teams in the world, it is a battle for the future of the ga...
Latest posts
Set Piece
The short-hand for winning the restart
Rugby fashions, like fashions in other areas of life, often work in cycles without obvious rhyme or reason. Nick Bish...
Breakdown
How to get on the right side of the referee at the breakdown
For defensive players in and around the tackle area, the challenge is to spoil and disrupt effectively while showing ...
Set Piece
The Source and a Solution to Wayne Smith's Frustration
The solution to the problem Wayne Smith needs to begin at source. Nick Bishop identifies a primary cause and solution.
Breakdown
How to make a second effort when all seems lost at ruck-time
Sports coaches are always on the lookout for ways in which a player can make a ‘double action’ or second effort, rein...
Position specific
What are the benefits of a big scrum-half in the ‘boot’?
Nick Bishop looks at some of the reasons which make a bigger unit at number 9 more desirable under the current laws o...
Kicking
Why ‘pocket protection’ is so important under the box-kick
The cross-fertilization of ideas between collision sports is on the increase. American Football Pass Protection desig...
Set Piece
Why teams are feeling the need – ‘the need for speed’ - at the scrum-base
Nick Bishop explains why he fully expects the SRP law-trial at the scrum to be implemented world-wide in due course. ...
Breakdown
How to get some ‘bounce’ into the kick-pass!
Attacking methods to get the ball quickly to the edge need constant refinement for the attacking side to be able to e...
Defence
How to recognize opportunities to attack wide versus a ‘jockey’ defence
Using some recent examples from Super Rugby Pacific 2023 Nick Bishop explains just why the more passive forms of defe...
Breakdown
Why the wide ruck can be a big Achilles heel for the attack
A ‘sweet spot’ exists where the defence can move over to the attack at the breakdown as Nick Bishop outlines in this ...
Attack
How the new law trial at the scrum is creating new possibilities for the attack
Nick Bishop highlights some new ideas to create clean attacking ball from scrums encouraged by the latest law-trials,...
