Carry into space
A ruck and maul drill for U12 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
- U12
- Time
- 10 minutes
- Players
- 10 to 21
- Space
- 30 x 25 m
- Kit
- 8 cones, 1 ball
- Pitch
- Wants a forgiving surface
Setting it up
Live contact, four attackers against three defenders. Two channels marked either side of the ruck.
How it runs
The next carrier has to take the ball into a marked channel rather than straight back into the defenders. Six goes. Children carry into the biggest body they can find because it feels brave. This makes the point that a carry is meant to gain ground.
What to watch for
- Pick your channel before you get the ball
- Run at a gap or a shoulder, never at a chest
- If there is nothing there, pass instead of carrying
Make it easier
- Wider channels
- Touch instead of contact
Make it harder
- Narrower channels
- Four defenders
What it looks like when it is going wrong
What you can see from the touchline, then the one thing to say about it.
- Running at the biggest defender because it feels brave
- Find the gap first. Look before it gets to you
- Deciding where to go after the ball has arrived
- Pick your channel while the ball is still coming
Safety. Age grade contact rules. Everybody on their feet at the ruck. Watch for anybody dropping their head as they pick a gap late.
The RFU's Headcase is where to go for what to do after a bang on the head. It is theirs rather than ours.
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The grades that can do it
What U12 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.