You may have noticed that the site of late has been sponsored by Rhino. A perk of this arrangement was that yours truly was invited to the launch of Rhino Australia at the SFS (Allianz stadium) last week.
As well as rugby heavy hitters like myself (!) other attendees included Wallaby coach Andrew Blades, Jim Williams and Garry Ella – not to mention Moose Skeggs who even behaved himself.
What we saw was an interesting break down clinic hosted by kiwi skills coach Rob Taylor, who put Knox Grammar’s finest through their paces. The interesting bit was that Rhino have challenged the orthodoxy of simple crash pads and tackle bags – which let’s face it are pretty useless for detailed breakdown work. Instead they’ve invented a range of hybrid devices that focus in on the micro skills involved with the breakdown – jackal stance, surface area contact in the rip, driving in ones or twos – and more.
One of my favourite pieces of kit and drill to go with it was the one in the photo above – the low weighted bag. As you can see, by simply attaching velcro’d in balls, it allows the coach to easily simulate the breakdown jackal situation – low body height, defended ball to rip. Rob then stressed the situation by forcing the tackler to make decisions/react on their feet through a variety of in exercise variations – calling ‘hands-off’, ‘loose-ball’, ‘rip’ etc, all the while pressuring with the tackle pad as you’ll see in the video below.
Considering the breakdown is the area all three of the Super Rugby head coaches we recently interviewed on the podcast said they would be focusing on this year, you’d reckon this sort of kit could well be in demand.
You can find out more about Rhino’s gear and even request a demo on their website http://rhinoaustralia.com/
