Hold them up
A tackle 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
- 8 to 18
- Space
- 15 x 15 m
- Kit
- 1 ball
- Pitch
- Wants a forgiving surface
- Indoors
- Fits a small space
Setting it up
A carrier walking in. Two defenders whose job is to keep them standing.
How it runs
Instead of taking the carrier down, hold them up on their feet and stop the ball getting away. Wrap the ball and the body, keep them upright, count to five. Six goes then rotate. At U12 the maul is in the game and this is how a maul actually starts.
What to watch for
- Get the ball wrapped before you worry about the body
- Stay on your feet and keep them on theirs
- Both defenders bind onto each other, not just the carrier
Make it easier
- One defender wrapping the ball only
- Carrier stands still
Make it harder
- Carrier has a support player trying to free the ball
What it looks like when it is going wrong
What you can see from the touchline, then the one thing to say about it.
- Dragging the carrier to the floor out of habit
- Keep them up. On the floor it does not count
- Two defenders wrestling separately so the carrier turns out
- Grab each other, not just them
Safety. Nobody goes to ground, so if the carrier starts falling, let them go rather than twisting them. No more than three players involved, per the age grade rules. Nothing above the chest and nothing near the neck.
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.