The
Rugby Coaching
Manual

Reviews

How refreshing to discover something packed with sound advice yet as easy to digest as a forkful of rice.
The book .... contains illustrations to show correct technique, useful drills and tips on how to manage a training session - one of which is remember to practise passing both ways, a trap many coaches fall into.
Richardson writes as if he were talking to the Gloucester forwards he famously coached.
Rugby World
October 2010 issue
I have always thought that rugby is a simple game and the best teams are the best teams because they do the simple things very well. I have found that, in the last 10 -15 years, people have spent most of their time making the game more complicated with more complicated game plans and drills. At last we have a book that redresses the balance. This no-nonsense, pragmatic read is just what most coaches need. It won't matter the level you are coaching, this book is a must.
Julian Brammer
Master in Charge Rugby
Haileybury College
I'm impressed. If it's a truism that you never stop learning then you must read Keith Richardson's book. His high-level coaching and playing experience come shining through in a refreshingly user- friendly language. I was especially impressed with his chapter on scrums and lineouts, because, as we all know, ' forwards win matches'. Keith tells you how.
Don Rutherford, O.B.E.
Director of Rugby
R.F.U. 1969-1999
One of the dangers in writing a coaching manual is that there is such a wide range of reader knowledge, experience and expertise of the game involved; for some it is too simple and yet for others it is too complex . I think Keith got the mix just right - it is a book that will reinforce your own views and assist you in your preparations by reminding you of the basic message for coaches…….the K.I.S.S. method of Keep It Simple Stupid! or Keep It Seriously Simple!
I recommend the book to you.
Ian Kennedy
Australian U/21 coach 1993 to 1999
NSW Waratahs Coach 2000
It has always struck me how rugby coaching books tend to obscure the message with pure jargon and complex rugby-speak – then end up with too many drills. The beauty of this book is that it is easy to read and understand and it simplifies the basic concepts of the game. It really is a must-have for rugby coaches.
Don Caskie
Moseley Coach & RFU Level 4 coach

Stephen Jones, Sunday Times rugby correspondent, in his 'Rolling Maul' column ...

The art of coaching? Sometimes I think that it lies in preventing coaches desperately trying to persuade everyone how much they think they know, in stopping them surrounding everything with so much extra rubbish which just confuses. Certainly, most coaching books you read pander to the idea that everything must be pompous, complicated and generally bewildering. So do many coaching courses.

Keith Richardson’s stance on all this can be gleaned from the chief staging points of his career -Newcastle, Loughborough, Gloucester - arenas when fancy theory and general rubbish tend to be put out with the cat. When Richardson, former coach of Gloucester and England A, first mooted this book he brought up a key thought for any club coach. Make sure you know where the clubhouse keys are, or else you may be standing outside with your team with nowhere to change and no training gear. Those of us who have spent hours wandering around looking for a bloke with the keys therefore were immediately onside.

Richardson’s book is something that aspiring coaches at all levels from mini upwards, have been waiting for. It will be invaluable for anyone starting out on a coaching career with a adult side, and perfect as a refresher for everyone. If you think it is beneath you, then you need grounding. It strips away so much of the rubbish and re-established the core principles and practices. Perfect. It is no surprise to learn that national unions have already ordered the book so that it effectively becomes their coaching text book.

How do you, as a coach new to the team, kick off the season? Well, the committee wants to know who the captain is. Don’t tell them, says Richardson. It is too important to plump before you get to know the team and in any case, they just want a name to bung on the fixture card. He goes on to explain how you build a group of leaders, and why. And how you find the wavelength with your men (or women).

What do you do about back moves in your pre-season? Nothing. Why not? Well, how many teams have you seen desperately trying to bring off complicated back moves when they have neither the skills to do so, or the understanding of why they are doing the move? In my case, zillions. Do you order you team to ruck, or maul? Richardson says this is the wrong question as usually, you don’t get the choice.

There is a book full of stuff in similar vein, with diagrams at every stage. But at the end of the season, if you use the book, it will not be so much a bunch of coaching sessions that you will have taken on board, but a whole new, non-scientific philosophy. Last thing I heard, the book was up for a rugby book of the season award. As I haven’t written one this year, it deserves to win.

At this stage I should declare an interest as my name appears on the book as “editor” a preposterous over-ranking of my role, which extended to two e-mails and one sandwich in a Newbury service station; and as for feathering my own nest the author has refused to increase my fee from one pint to two no matter the sales.

Another interest I should declare lies in establishing clarity for coaches amongst oceans and oceans of coaching bilge, and this is where The Rugby Coaching Manual really is worth a fortune.
Stephen Jones
Sunday Times rugby correspondent, in his 'Rolling Maul' column

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