... Courses

RugbySmart Injury Prevention Course

RugbySmart is an injury management programme developed jointly by the New Zealand Rugby Union and ACC (Accident Compensation Corporation) to improve the safety of the game and prevent injuries.

Each rugby season, it is compulsory for all coaches of players aged 13 and over to attend a RugbySmart Injury Prevention presentation facilitated by their local Provincial Rugby Union.

Since the RugbySmart programme started in 2001, ACC has seen significant drops in rugby-related injury claims. Rugby playing numbers have grown 7% in 2005 and claims dropped by a further 3.5%.

More details on this course are available in the Coaching Toolbox, or contact your local Provincial Rugby Union.

SmallBlacks Coaching Courses

The New Zealand Rugby Union have developed compulsory junior coaching courses designed to up-skill junior coaches on the approved safe technique for coaching children in a specific age grade. The junior rugby coaching programme is part of the SmallBlacks development model developed by the New Zealand Rugby Union.

It is compulsory for all coaches of players aged 12 and under to have a SmallBlacks Coaching accreditation applicable to the grade level they are coaching.

The SmallBlacks accreditation is valid for three rugby seasons and can be obtained by attending one of the following SmallBlacks Coaching courses:

Small Blacks Beginning Rugby (Under 6–Under 7)
Small Blacks Learning Rugby (Under 8–Under 10)
Small Blacks Playing Rugby (Under 11–Under 13)

More details on this course are available on the Coaching Toolbox, or contact your local Provincial Rugby Union.

This course provides coaches with a comprehensive range of coaching skills and content that will assist in coaching players performing at the performance and professional levels of the game.

It uses the Principles of the Identities of the Game. These are the unit and mini-unit skills of the game that give rugby its unique character and make it a distinctive sport. Secondly it explains, demonstrates and uses course participants to apply the functional roles that players perform both at re-starts and in dynamic play so that the principles are achieved.

The Game Knowledge Modules are supported by modules in Planning, Management and
Technical aspects of the game. This will give course participants the knowledge and skills they need to coach the game to talented players.

Course attendance will be recognised by the award of a Certificate of Attendance. Assessment of competence for Accreditation takes place separately.

Course Structure

The Principles of Rugby Coaching Course began analysing the whole game by applying the Principles of Attack and Defence. This was followed by applying Key Factor Analysis to the skills of the game. Both provided coaches with a method of identifying and solving problems in order to develop the skills of players.

In this course more advanced methods are explained, demonstrated and practiced. These
methods are the Principles of Identities of the Game and Functional Roles Analysis which are applied to the mini-unit and unit skills of the game.

The Identities of the Game are those unit and mini-unit aspects of play that give rugby its
identity, that are unique to the game of rugby. These build on the Principles of Attack and
Defence that were used in the Principles of Rugby Coaching course. They give greater detail explaining what has to be achieved in each of the Identities to achieve the Outcome Goal of each.

The Identities of Rugby are:

1. Scrums
2. Lineouts
3. Attack
4. Defence
5. Phase Play
6. Support play
7. Counter Attack
8. Kick Starts and Re-Starts

This course is delivered by each New Zealand Rugby Franchise bi-annually. Places are strictly limited and pre-requisite entry requirements are in place. Each course requires full attendance over two separate weekends and the accreditation process is separate to the course attendance.

Details of each course can be obtained from the Coach Development Manager in each Franchise area. The franchise Coach Development Manager contact details can be obtained from your local Provincial Rugby Union.

This course has been developed as a comprehensive course focusing on Key Factor Analysis of the skills of Rugby Union and the application of Key Factor Analysis in relation to the Principles of Attack and Defence – the Principles of Play.

In addition the course provides information on sport-generic areas such as the Role of the Coach, Sport Psychology, Communication, Physical Preparation, Individual Growth and development, Skills Analysis and How to Teach Skills.

The aim of the course is to provide coaches with the basic skills and knowledge required:

To plan, implement and evaluate a safe and effective coaching session;
To analyse and teach a skill;
To identify the individual skills of rugby;
To provide coaches with up-to-date information on the coaching of the units and mini-units of rugby eg. scrum, lineout, attack, defence, counterattack, continuity etc.

The course is run within most of the provincial unions an a regular basis and requires full attendance over approximately 20 hours. The accreditation process requires that coaches are currently coaching a team and is a separate part of the course. Some unions run the course on a modular basis over a number of weeks whilst many run the whole course over two weekends. Details should be obtained from the Coach Development Manager in each union.

Coaches who attain accreditation at this level will also receive accreditation as an iRB level 2 coach.

Contact your local Provincial Rugby Union for more details on this course in your area.

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Other Local Coaching Courses

Provincial Rugby Unions facilitate a variety of coaching courses to assist club and school coaches in their province.

Contact your local Provincial Rugby Union for more details on coaching courses in your area.

NZRU / Massey University Certificate In Coaching (Rugby) – Coaching Practicum

This paper is part of the overall tertiary Certificate and is run by the NZRU. It runs throughout the whole year as it comprises a number of assessments during your coaching season. Coaches who complete the Practicum course will also gain accreditation for the IRB Level 4 Game Planning qualification.

This game planning course applies the technical/tactical knowledge gained at the two previous NZRU courses (Principles of Rugby Coaching and Advancing Coaching and their IRB equivalents) to the game as a whole. It is a planning course that is best delivered to coaches who have a substantial technical and tactical knowledge so that the method applies an understanding of rugby that the coaches already have and the focus can be on the planning process. As a result, coaches completing this course must have a knowledge equivalent to that contained in the Principles of Rugby Coaching and the Advanced Coaching courses and it would be preferred that the applicant has accreditation at these two levels.

More details on this course, including dates and locations, are available in the Coaching Toolbox.

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High Performance Coach Upskilling

For coaches who have completed the NZRU Advanced Coaching course and/or the Coaching Practicum course.

More details on this course, including dates and locations, are available in the Coaching Toolbox.

Principles Of Rugby Coaching (PORC) For Professional Players

For professional players who have not completed the PORC course and who wish to do so to enable them to go onto a coaching career.

More details on this course, including dates and locations, are available in the Coaching Toolbox.

Leadership / Captaincy

Nominations of at least one actual or potentially outstanding team leader will be sought from Unions and Academies (Academies may nominate 2 leaders). Facilitators will include former All Blacks captains and captains of other sporting codes, as well as specialists in the areas of communication and the media.

More details on this course, including dates and locations, are available in the Coaching Toolbox.