by Kimball Kjar

The onset of professionalism in rugby has progressed the game far beyond what I believe most people imagined it could a little less than two decades ago.

With professionalism came a player’s and a team’s chance for increased skills specialization.

Over the years I’ve been impressed with coaches and their ability to develop specialized skills from their players that will increase positive outcomes in the game of rugby.

One such skill I believe was what I called the “Sonny Bill Williams” pass - The ‘SBW’ & Skill Development.

Another specialized skill that has increased a player’s ability to make such a pass is an oft overlooked skill that we call the fend or here in America, the stiff-arm.

Last summer I had the chance to interact with Springboks 7’s head coach Paul Treu.

Treu was and continues to be an innovator with regards to the 7’s game and his program was one of the first to contract their 7’s players on a full-time and professional basis.

In watching the “Blitzbokke” train I was to see how consistently Treu has his players train the fend and other specialized skills in order to increase their odds at being able to break down opposition’s defenses.

The purpose of the fend is simple: create space between you and the defender.

But the outcome is varied and can be separated into three outcomes:

1. The defender misses the tackle and a clean break is made by the attacker
2. The defender makes an arm tackle attempt but the attacker keeps his or her arm(s) free in order to allow an off load opportunity
3. The defender makes an arm tackle attempt but the attacker is able to control the contact and gain meters beyond the gain line

All three outcomes of the fend allow the attacking team and player to break down the defense in some form or another.

So what makes a good fend possible? As I see it, the fend comes down to leverage.

Here’s how I coach the fend in way that I believe gives the attacker the greatest success at leverage or control in contact using 5 easy to remember and specialized steps:

1. Square & low hips—more power and less exposure of weak points that can be taken advantage of. Note: Ball should stay in two hands—doing so allows a player to be a greater threat. American football teaches, “low man wins” and such is the case in rugby as well. This first step is dubbed POSITION.
2. Ball in opposite hand away from defender—goes without saying, but the point to remember is that the ball should be in two hands right up until contact. I refer to this step as POSSESSION since we’re trying to maintain control of the ball by keeping it as far away from the defender.
3. Step to space—depending on the opposition’s defensive line (drift or straight) the attacker should step into space using quick and powerful footwork. The metaphor of running at branches as opposed to tree trunks is often used here. This gets the defender off his or her center of gravity decreasing their defensive posture. This step is aptly called EVASION.
4. Attack the defender—all of the above steps (or key factors) give the ball carrier the greatest opportunity to attain leverage over the defender. At this stage the defender should look to physically “hit” the defender’s main weapon of choice in the tackle: the lead shoulder. By hitting the defender’s lead shoulder the opposition’s point of tackling power has been deflected and the attacker is able to gain leverage or control over his or her opposition. I call this step SEPARATION.
5. Last but not least is the leg drive. When any form of contact in rugby occurs the legs have to come “alive” as I like to say. The ball carrier will be able to either accelerate past the defender or at the very least get past the gain line. This step is called ACCELERATION.

You can continue to discuss body position and ball presentation assuming a player ends up getting tackled and going to ground, but the above steps offer the attacker the greatest likelihood of one of the formerly mentioned three outcomes that come by using the fend.

Professionalism in rugby led to greater specialization within the sport. But just because you’re not a professional doesn’t mean you can’t train with similar specialization. Specialization in skill development is key if we’re to move the game forward in America or anywhere else in the world at every level.

The Fend Specialization: Position. Possession. Evasion. Separation. Acceleration.