Colchester RFC is a vibrant and ever expanding club and we like to make sure that it still feels like the family, community club it's always been.

This week, as part of our #AllOneClub initiative, we had six 1st XV players running a coaching masterclass for our U15s and U14s. Fresh from their game the previous day, Shelford Meads, Brett Cutbush, Lee Soper, Rob Pickard and Simon Gray all took part in the session, each running their own skills station. Dave Higgins, who is currently resting with a hamstring injury, also helped run the sessions.

Rob Pickard, a jackling expert, ran a session on the breakdown, sharing his expertise on how best to compete for the ball and technique on how to counter-ruck most effectively.

Lee Soper and Simon Gray lead scrum sessions, aiding the players on body position and how to exert their maximum power when engaging in the scrum. Each player's body position considerably improved and we're sure their core strength took a battering as Sopes had them planking to improve their stability. Simon helped the props maintain their straight backs and strong body position whilst moving, and therefore improving the players strength in a mobile scrummage situation.

Higgy, Brett and Shelford ran sessions with the backs. First things first Brett worked on the basics with the boys, employing micro-skills drills to engage the triceps and forearms to improve the accuracy and speed of passing. The players were then encouraged to utilise these newly honed skills in a game of pop touch, where the key was forbidding the breakdown and only allowing "pop" passes instead. This meant the players had to work hard to secure an accurate offload and also required a support player to be available at all times to keep the ball alive. This session was a great success and with two kiwis known for their offload skills running the shop, it's no surprise why!

Higgy and Brett then took one section of the group to practise evasion running and fluid switches to provide the players with options to confuse the opposition defence and create space for attacking. Meanwhile Shelford worked on similar skills with quick fire attack and defensive plays. This encouraged the players to think quickly on how to exploit a 2-on-1 or 3-on-2 scenario.

All these sessions combined left our U14s and U15s with key skills that will benefit them for their upcoming fixtures. Better still it was a great opportunity for senior and youth sections to come together and both sides benefited equally.

The success of these sessions will hopefully lead to the occurring more often, with both senior players and youth coaches praising the morning's set up. Jon Smith, our Senior Chairman, and Ross Cowie, the Youth Chairman, will be collaborating more often to ensure that similar sessions can take place in the future.

You can see all the photos from the morning session here.

#ALLONECLUB