Rugby Skills: The Core Skills Every Player Needs

Strip rugby back and there are six skills underneath everything: catch-pass, tackling, evasion, breakdown work, kicking, and the decision-making that decides when to use each. Positions weight them differently, but nobody escapes any of them. This guide covers what good looks like in each skill, how to train it, and the beginner mistakes that slow development the most.

1. Catch and pass

The foundation skill. Good looks like: hands up early as a target, catching out in front, moving the ball across the body in one motion, and a pass weighted so the receiver never breaks stride. Train it little and often, both hands every time. Twelve session-ready drills with coaching points are in our passing drills guide.

2. Tackling

The skill that decides whether you can be picked. Good looks like: tracking on the inside hip, feet in close, low body height with a flat back, shoulder contact with the head safe, wrap and leg drive. It is built on a strict progression ladder, not bravery. The full step-by-step is in how to tackle in rugby.

3. Evasion and carrying

Beating a defender is timing, not raw pace: a late change of direction, one sharp step off either foot, then immediate re-acceleration. Carry with the ball in two hands so the defence must honour the pass, and learn the fight-for-the-far-arm habit that turns tackles into offloads. Train it in shrinking-grid 1v1s and footwork gates (see rugby drills).

4. The breakdown

The least glamorous skill and the one coaches select on. As a carrier: win the floor, long placement back to your side. As first support: clear the threat within two seconds. As a defender: make the poach-or-fold decision instantly. Five minutes of placement and clean-out work every session beats an occasional breakdown night.

5. Kicking

Not just for tens. Every back needs a grubber and a chip; halves and back three need spirals, box kicks and high-ball catching; and catching the high ball is a skill in itself, judged early, attacked at the top of the jump. Ten minutes after training, twice a week, with a purpose for every kick. Technique and drills are in our rugby kicking guide, and the free goal-kick tracker measures the progress.

6. Decision-making, the skill that multiplies the rest

A perfect pass thrown at the wrong moment is a turnover. Decision speed is trained by playing: small-sided games with constraints, 2v1s repeated until fixing the defender is automatic, and watching rugby deliberately, asking “why did that work?” This is rugby IQ, and it is exactly what the Rugby IQ modules in the app teach: international players explaining the one-percenters behind each decision.

Beginner tips that actually accelerate development

• Both hands, from day one. The single biggest long-term differentiator.
• Ten minutes daily beats two hours weekly. Skills are frequency businesses.
• Learn the tackle properly before you need it. Technique first, contact second.
• Play touch relentlessly. More decisions per minute than any drill.
• Get fit enough to practise well. Skills decay with fatigue; an engine protects them (see rugby fitness drills).

Train them like the pros do

Inside Elite Rugby App, each of these skills is taught by the people who do them best, the drill shed, position masterclasses and the training structures of international players, organised into a plan that fits your week. Meet the players and coaches behind it on our team page.