Over time my defensive strategy will become second nature and your players will feel confident in defence.

The tactics in my Iron Curtain Defence rely on a relatively high standard of tackling ability from your team, so is best used with team aged 15+ or those with excellent technique and tactical understanding at lower age grades.

Once they master it though, you will have a strategy that few teams will be able to deal with.

A few kind words of praise for my defensive strategy:

"Phil was the best defensive coach I have ever worked with and his work and passion was the key to England not only winning the World Cup in 2003, but becoming the number one ranked team in world rugby. We worked together with England for seven years and his work on our defence enabled us all to realise our dreams and changed the way defence was coached across the world…

Phil Larder was simply the best."

Sir Clive Woodward, World Cup winning head coach of England

"A strong defence was what we built our successful world cup campaign around and Phil was the mastermind behind it."

Martin Johnson CBE, World Cup winning captain of England
and current England rugby head coach

And here's praise from fellow coaches around the world who have bought the DVD:

	We have used the "Iron Curtain" defense for the past 2 years at our High School Girls rugby program. Last year in Division 2 we scored 237 points and gave up only 5, so no surprise we were moved to Division 1. Today we are playing for the Division 1 Championship. Jeff Gatter Defense Coach, Unionville Ladies Rugby Program, Pennsylvania

I have found the DVD very useful and the exercises have undoubtedly helped my squad to tighten up on defence. As U14s we conceded 62 tries over the season but since using Phil Larder's tactics as U15s they reduced that number to 44, nearly 30% fewer! Whilst commitment to the tackle must be taken as read, the improved defensive organisation has produced a team which is much harder to score against and you don't need to be a rocket scientist to understand that if you concede fewer points you win more games.
 
Cheers
Dai Bugler
Level 2 coach, Alton RFC

"I had watched the All Black's defence in 2005 and wanted a tangible way to replicate the mechanics of what I saw on TV. My prayer was answered when I bought Phil's DVD from his expertise working with WC winners England. I used the DVD to systematically reconstruct the organization and body-mechanics of my team. In 2009 we won the league undefeated 14-14 games and were promoted. That was after using the DVD two games into the season. This is an excellent DVD."

Jack Rees, Head Coach Greenwich University Rugby 2006-2010

My team has put the iron curtain defense to good use.  Our overall commitment and organization on defense has improved markedly.  It has given us the foundation skills to develop a team defensive program that works for our style of play, skill/experience level and fitness.  I would recommend this to any coach who wants a credible defense.  Phil Larder is the Man!

Semper Fi,

Bill Bell, Citadel Men's Rugby Head Coach, President, Palmetto Rugby Union

As Program Director for Westside Youth Rugby and Coach for the SWARM Girls High School Rugby team, I am always looking for a way to improve our rugby programs. Phil Larder's Iron Curtain Defense made our defensive scheme more organized and efficient. By allowing each player to cover the area that they are capable of defending, the players were able to spread out and cover more of the pitch. In our first year using this system, the SWARM Girls Rugby team was able to win the Division 2 State Championships.  I attribute a great deal of our success to Phil Larder's Iron Curtain Defense.

Thanks

Gary Hobbs SWARM Girls Rugby, Coach

Phil Larder's "Iron Curtain" DVD  has helped Llandaff Under 13's tremendously this season. The ideas and drills have come at just the right time for us. We were always quite committed in defence but now we are much more organised and so our efforts are far better rewarded. Phil's explanations are crystal clear and seeing the drills put into practice by the Loughborough players was tremendous help to me and has enabled me to explain things much more clearly to my players.

The DVD is easy to use and I am sure we will revisit the principles explained on numerous occasions in the years to come.

Best wishes

Geoff Jones - Llandaff RFC

Phil Larder describes and explains his Iron Curtain Defence so well that I have been able to use it with my French players! The principles are simply explained, well demonstrated in practise and also graphically depicted in an easy to understand manner. Absolutely invaluable. Merci Phil. Gary Shanahan – Carmaux rugby club (near Toulouse).

I highly recommend Phil Larder's Iron Curtain Defence video I have employed in with coaches and teachers across a wide age range and found it to be an effective tool to unlock defensive principles and provide both excellent foundational understanding and practical  examples of how to set defensive patterns.  It empowers both player and coach to recognise potential attacking threats and how to make decisions and provides defensive solutions and options.

Dr Tom Browne, Associate Professor Nanyang University, IRB Coach Educator and Director Barbarians Centre of Excellence

It has given my players greater confidence, organisation and helped in their understanding of their respective roles on defence.  Whilst not winning more games this year, we have closed the gap between us and the bigger teams at such a rate that everyone is talking about us.  We even made the local newspapers a few times.  Instead of losing by 50 every second week – like last season, we're losing by less than 7 with the same players. All this by simply implementing some of the principles from the dvd. André Hendriks Group Leader: General Affairs TOYOTA BOSHOKU South Africa

The "Iron Curtain Defence" DVD is an excellent coaching resource for me at School. We have used it regularly in 1st XV analysis sessions and the DVD is clear, well presented and a valuable tool for understanding the principles of team defence. It is used by a number of my Coaches at School.

Cheers,

Steve Adams - Wellingborough School

The video is excellent, Phil sets out his defensive structure in a way which is easy to follow and simple to implement. 
 
The improvement in our teams defence was almost immediate, in the next match the teams defence was far better organised and our opponents ended up continually trying to kick over the top of the defence and usually handed us possession.  We won that game and the victory was almost entirely due to a well organised and committed defence which was inspired by Phil's video.
 
Best regards
 
Stuart
 
Coach Milton Keynes RUFC

	Phil Larder has proved himself with his record in both codes of rugby at the highest level. His DVD explains his philosophies, principles and methods, in a very understanding and simple manner... a tool that all ambitious coaches should possess, highly recommended. Carter Croft, Swiss National, Swiss U 20, Swiss 7s, former skills coach in France Pro 2.

The Iron Curtain Defence is a good tool to have.It helped to put in place a defence structure and brought about a better understanding of how the team should work together in defence.We are continuously working with our players to be able to make effective tackles and on quick reaction to match the pace of the passes to the outside.One is in a position to develop the approach to defend play beyond 2 nd and 3 rd phase based on the guidelines provided.

Defence wins games, this is a good weapon  for every serious coach to have.

Mahlubi Puzi, LANGA RUGBY CLUB COACH- SOUTH AFRICA