KIckoff - Restarts

Restarts: receiving.

Four at the front – three at the back:

 


The amount of space covered depends on the kicking range of the opposition (age, ability, level). The traditional positioning for a receiving team is four at the front and three at the back in two separate lines. 

• It is essential that all players come forward onto the ball. In the traditional front line the wider players should position themselves close to touch, five metres deeper than the ten-metre line so that they are covering a short hanging restart.

These players should be good jumpers to compete for the ball in the air. 

• The middle two players in the line should also be deeper than the ten-metre line and should cover the middle space from a short restart down the middle. 

• The players in the line at the back should be positioned to cover the two 15 metre channels on left and right (probably 20m  of width from touch) with one in the middle between the posts. 

Much thought has gone into restarts and the follow-up chase in recent years, so there is a requirement for receiving teams to be able to adapt their structure to what the opponents do. This will include:

• Decision making over where restart is going; what is the positioning of the

opposition chasing players?

• Communication between players on receiving teams. 

• Support from central players to wider players.

In Sevens, teams will not wish to commit too many players to contesting the kick- off as this will leave space that may be easily exploited by opponents should the kick-off be lost. As a rule one player should follow the jumper while being sufficiently far enough away to enable a deflection to be reacted to and yet close enough to support should the ball be caught.

Another player may be placed in a similar position on the opposition’s side to take advantage of deflections made by them.

Once possession has been gained it should be passed from the congested area to space. This space will give those committed to the kick-off time to regroup.

The playmaker should be in mid-field so that the left and right options are available once play gets underway. This kick creates space because in contesting the ball it enables the opposing players to be held in space.

Once it is won the ball can be passed to take advantage of the players bunching in this area.

Chasing:

• Work needs to be done with kickers on the height and accuracy of their kick as

the quality short restart is the one most likely to be recovered.

• How should teams chase the ball will vary but there is some common ground.

Most teams play one player fifteen metres in from touch, one ten in and one on

the touchline. The configuration will depend on the quality of the kick and the

roles of your chasers; i.e. does one contest, one go past the catcher and one go

short looking for a tap down? Questions of age and ability should be considered

here. 

• Who contests the catch? Your most agile, quick jumper would be first choice and this player needs to able to travel 10 – 15 metres at speed whilst being able to jump to compete with similar attributes to a high jumper. 

Dropouts

Because drop outs can be taken quickly anywhere along the 22 metre line and need only cross the line for the ball to be in play they offer a number of options. All are dependent on getting the ball quickly to the kicker standing close to the 22 metre line. Team mates touching down must quickly pass or kick the ball to this player to gain time to make the kick.

Amongst the kicking options are:

•   Kick the ball just over the 22 metre line, recover it and immediately pass it to a team mate in a better position with more time and space to begin an attacking move.

•   Kick long into space and use a well organised chasing pattern to either contest the ball or reduce the opposing ball carriers attacking options. 
The chasing pattern for all long kicks should be based on the following:

•                     The player who is most likely to make the first tackle should position inside the ball carrier so the player can only run to the narrower side of the field. By positioning to one side it is easier to make a tackle as the ball carrier can only run to one side.

•                     Players should move up in an arrowhead formation with the tackler at the point and the remaining players on a slight angle. This enables them to easily see what happens. It also puts them in a position to recover the ball should it be kicked behind the first defender.

Dropout Defense

One of the simpler defensive patterns for the dropout is to align in a banana shape. One defensive player must set on the ball carrier about to take the kick to stop him from taking a quick small tap of the ball over the line. This will enable the tap-kick to be contested and cause a delay should any other option be used. This delay will enable team-mates to hurry into place. This always requires flexibility. If it is too rigid, players may not be able to be in position. The players must fill the gaps, enabling late arriving team-mates to complement the balance achieved by those already in position.

This formation has players between ten and 15 metres of the 22-metre line on the left and right flanks, and players considerably deeper in the centre of the field.

This position allows both the shallow contestable kick and the deep kick and chase to be covered.

Of course, knowing the formation and playing to it in a match can be quite different. This is because there is little time between the touchdown and the kick to be in position. In these circumstances, it is easiest to contest the tap kick by being on the 22-metre line, marking the kicker.