What is a rugby practice planner?

A tool for laying out the order, length and intensity of drills inside one training session, and stacking those sessions into a weekly plan. SetPiece is built specifically for rugby: each drill carries minutes, intensity, a rugby-specific focus tag (handling, contact, set-piece, defence, kick, fitness) and an optional playbook diagram.

How long does it take to plan a session?

About 90 seconds for a 90-minute session if you reuse drills from your library, and 5–10 minutes if you're building drills from scratch. The running total at the top of the screen means you never overshoot the slot.

Does it work on a phone?

Yes — phone-first. The planner is tuned for one-thumb use in a kit bag, on the sideline, or in the parking lot before training. Nothing requires a keyboard.

Can I run the session live during training?

Yes. Run mode turns the planned session into a touchline timer: big current-drill display, queued upcoming drills, screen wake-lock, and one-tap advance. Share it with your assistant coaches and they can run the planner from their phones too — no need to crowd around a single screen or hand out printed copies.

Does SetPiece support 15s, 10s and 7s rugby?

Yes. Squad and drill tags handle format. Match-day lineups support rolling subs for 7s; the planner itself is the same workflow regardless.

Rugby practice planner

Plan a rugby session in 90 seconds. Run it from your pocket.

SetPiece is a rugby practice planner built around how training actually works: drag drills into order, watch the minutes auto-sum, tag intensity and focus, then hit Run mode when the whistle goes. No spreadsheets. No tabs. One phone.

Free to start. No card needed.

SetPiece session planner shown on a laptop and an iPhone side by side

How it works

Built around how rugby coaches actually plan.

Every general-purpose planner forces you to fit rugby into a shape it doesn't fit. SetPiece starts from the rugby shape and lets the tool follow.

Drill stack with auto-summed minutes

Drag drills into the order you'll run them. Stack drill stations into a single block. The header pill shows total minutes vs the slot you have — No math, no surprises when you're already on the pitch.

Stack drill stations into one timed block — groups rotate, the clock doesn't.
Per-drill intensity (low / med / high) and focus tags (handling, contact, set-piece, defence, kick, fitness).
Notes field per drill — coaching points, equipment, group split.

Close-up of the drill drawer in the SetPiece session planner on an iPhone. A drill called 'Tackle tech + live contact' — 'Drill 3 of 4' — is open. Visible fields: a name input set to Tackle tech + live contact; a minutes selector with 20 highlighted in pitch-green from 5/10/12/15/18/20; an intensity selector showing Low / Medium / High with High selected in pitch-green; a group selector with Full squad selected between Custom and Forwards. Below sit Order 3 of 4 with Move up and Move down buttons, a short helper paragraph for Who, the start of an Animation section, and a primary pitch-green 'Done' button.

Run mode for the touchline

When training starts, tap Start. The phone flips into Run mode: a single huge timer for the current drill, the next two drills queued underneath, and the screen stays on (wake-lock) so you're not unlocking with muddy gloves every minute. Finish early? One tap advances. Running long? The clock keeps going — overrun is recorded, not punished.

Big numerals readable from 3 meters on a sideline phone or a coach's tablet.
Attached drill animations play inline — show the move, then run it.
Works offline once the session has loaded — clubhouse Wi-Fi doesn't matter.

Run mode on an iPhone: 'DRILL 2 OF 4' over the Phase-play patterns drill and its running clock, the coaching points in large type, the attached play animating on a pitch, and Play, Replay and speed controls under it.

Sessions live inside a weekly view

One session is a unit. The week is the point. SetPiece shows your training week and the weeks ahead at a glance — duplicate last week's session, tweak two drills, save. Session planning gets easier as your season gets busier.

Duplicate any session into next week with one tap.
All coaches in the account can view and edit sessions.

The sessions week view on a tablet: a season strip across the top — This week tagged Attack with a match badge, 13 Jul Set-piece, 20 Jul Defence, then 27 Jul, 3 Aug and 10 Aug — with a Templates button and a Schedule-for row of day chips plus Repeat and No date options. The This-week panel shows Tuesday and Thursday session cards at 18:30, both marked Ready, and Saturday holding the 14:00 match with an empty Schedule slot; a 'Show past sessions (12 weeks)' link sits below.

Why a rugby practice planner, not a general one

The spreadsheet survived because nothing better existed.

Google Doc / Notes app

Re-typing minute counts and managing cells every week.
Hard to read without a print-out.
Can't run a timer on the touchline.
Sharing is painful.

Whiteboard before training

Vanishes the moment training ends.
No history, no reuse, no patterns.
Doesn't move with you to the pitch.

Generic practice-planner app

Built for soccer / basketball / hockey / football.
No rugby focus tags, no set-piece slot, no position bands.
No place to attach a lineout or backline play.

SetPiece

Rugby focus tags, intensity, drill stations.
Sideline Run Mode with wake-lock and animations.
One screen from Tuesday to Saturday.
Sessions can run offline.

Common questions

Rugby practice planner FAQ

What is a rugby practice planner?: A tool for laying out the order, length and intensity of drills inside one training session, and stacking those sessions into a weekly plan. SetPiece is built specifically for rugby: each drill carries minutes, intensity, a rugby-specific focus tag (handling, contact, set-piece, defence, kick, fitness) and an optional playbook diagram.
How long does it take to plan a session?: About 90 seconds for a 90-minute session if you reuse drills from your library, and 5–10 minutes if you're building drills from scratch. The running total at the top of the screen means you never overshoot the slot.
Does it work on a phone?: Yes — phone-first. The planner is tuned for one-thumb use in a kit bag, on the sideline, or in the parking lot before training. Nothing requires a keyboard.
Can I run the session live during training?: Yes. Run mode turns the planned session into a touchline timer: big current-drill display, queued upcoming drills, screen wake-lock, and one-tap advance. Share it with your assistant coaches and they can run the planner from their phones too — no need to crowd around a single screen or hand out printed copies.
Does SetPiece support 15s, 10s and 7s rugby?: Yes. Squad and drill tags handle format. Match-day lineups support rolling subs for 7s; the planner itself is the same workflow regardless.

Plan next Tuesday's session in a minute.

Squad management, recruiting and your first three plays are free, forever. The season kit starts with a 30-day free trial — no card needed.