Wales trains with the Rhino Collision King

Within the ever evolving game of Rugby Union, the game is constantly being developed to create a faster more dynamic form by law-makers, coaches and players.

The key is to have a game with less prolonged stoppages thus becoming more exciting for both the player and the spectator.

The future game will continue to become faster both in player decision making and action, players will have to become more technically proficient in all skills relating to the game and must be specifically conditioned to play in this ever changing, challenging and demanding contact sport environment.

And make sure you check out some of the recommended coaching points and drills that the Rhino Collision King will help your team master and then visit the World Rugby Shop to get a Rhino Collision King for your rugby training pitch.  The Rhino Collision King is an investment in better rugby.

An area of the game which has become a major focal point within the evolving game is the “collision”, with the introduction of new laws relating to the collision area there are now 1/3 more rucks and phases resulting in players having to be more dynamic and accurate within this area of play as well as physically cope with the demands of this type of game.

Statistics from the 2010 Tri – Nations competition showed that there was 43% more rucks and mauls approximately 180 rucks per game.

Defences have become more organised and the individual tackling techniques and conditioning of the players within the defensive system have made a major improvement within this area of the game which is now far more structured, although the challenge for coaches and players is now to break these systems down with fluid perpetual attacking play.

The collision area is still one where most penalties occur - poor technique (players off their feet especially when fatigued, physically over developed players that are not in control of their body type) still prevails and if the game is to move forward this area must become technically more accurate and dynamic.

Although major emphasis is placed on the collision area being a direct result of quality defences, tackler etc it also falls into an important attacking priority for the team (rucks, phaseplay) if you want to play a fast dynamic game your players must be able to clear the collision area quickly and effectively with minimum playing numbers and be able to free up ball either by hand to hand or clearance thus allowing the game to continue at a tempo that can quickly change the area of attack for your team.

In the perfect game the aim would be to never take contact as an attacking player, but as long as defences exist and rugby is a contact game there will always be collisions within the 80 mins of play.

Coaching the collision area has taken many different forms over the past years from “live play” to the use of shields, tackle bags and suits - all have merit but what has been missing is a training aid that can bring about the desired technical training effects of the collision looking specifically at areas that are a weakness within the game: The future game of rugby. Where is it going?

• Consistent body height (80 mins)
• Leg drive & leg speed
• Staying on your feet
• Working to stay-strong and in shape within collision
• Strong hand-grip placement around, under and within the collision area
• Head movement within collision (Arrowhead)
• Individual contact technique
• Two player contact technique
• Collision and clearance technique

The Collision King - Technical Information

• The Collision King has been engineered in an arrowhead design so if the player does not make contact with the “hit pad” in the correct technical position the impact will be lessened through the machine, encouraging players to make contact from hindmost foot and hit square on is a key coaching point. If the player makes contact with the hit pad from the side the machine will slide away from the player and in this way player will not get a direct impact on “Contact- pad”.
• The Collision King “Contact- pad” sits at a 50 degree angle on the front of the machine in this way it forces the player up and over their initial hit, the player must work on staying in the contact point and not “slipping up” requiring strong core and technique, and also using head movement and grips to stay strong through collision.
• Players must work on leg drive and leg speed within the collision, the contact pad sits at a 50 degree angle to allow for clear knee lift and leg drive, players can vary their collision to an impact through the machine or an impact resulting in a strong unmovable finishing position.
• Once the player has made initial contact they can make a choice on different types of hand placement around The Collision King “Grip bar” under grip, over grip, lift and twist, straight punch grip or mix and match.
• All pads on “Grip bar” are designed to rotate so player must work on strong hand placement while keeping correct body position throughout the exercise.
• The Collision King “Grip bar” can be positioned so that it sits at differing angles from the Hit pad in this way it allows individual players to work on different lengths of grip and also allows the grip bar to be moved back allowing a double hit (two player contact) to take place
• The Senior Collision King weighs 198 lb s an d th e Junior Collision King weighs 132 ibs, Olympic weight plates can be added to increase weight at “Contact- pad” end of machine in this way replicating average weight of opposition, plates fit onto specific weight plate fitting
• The base plate on The Collision King is contoured so it resists against grass in this way controlling pace of machine along with weight added, this base plate can also be designed in smooth finish so that machine can be used on synthetic pitches (3G and Astro)