Bulldog with a ball
An evasion and footwork drill for U7 and up, with where the cones go, how it runs and what to say when it is not working.
Free to read with no account. It works at a pitch with no signal too.
- Age grades
- U7, U8, U9, U10, U11, U12
- Time
- 9 minutes
- Players
- 8 to 24
- Space
- 25 x 20 m
- Kit
- 6 cones, 2 tags per player, 4 balls
- Pitch
- Fine on hard ground
Setting it up
Everyone at one end, four with balls. Two catchers in the middle.
How it runs
Get to the far end without losing a tag. If you have a ball you must still be carrying it in two hands when you get there. Lose a tag and you become a catcher. Play until three are left. Everyone knows this game already, which means no explaining and straight into running.
What to watch for
- Pick a gap early and go hard at it
- Ball stays in two hands even when you are stepping
- Catchers spread out, do not bunch together
Make it easier
- Wider pitch
- One catcher to start
Make it harder
- Everyone carries a ball
- Narrow the pitch
What it looks like when it is going wrong
What you can see from the touchline, then the one thing to say about it.
- Waiting at the line for a gap that never comes
- Pick one early and go. Hesitating is how you get caught
- The ball tucked under one arm as soon as they start stepping
- Two hands the whole way, even when you are dodging
More like this
The grades that can do it
What U7 rugby allows is the rule this sits under. Regulation 15 is reissued every summer, so the RFU's own rules of play are the ones to read for this season rather than a copy on somebody else's website. Ours included. Read against the RFU's 2026/27 appendices in August 2026.