Counter from the catch
A kicking and catching 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
- 11 minutes
- Players
- 8 to 20
- Space
- 30 x 20 m
- Kit
- 5 cones, 2 balls
- Pitch
- Fine on hard ground
Setting it up
Three at the back spread across the width, two chasers halfway, one kicker at the far end. A cone marks where the catcher stands.
How it runs
The kick goes up, somebody at the back takes it, then the three of them have to get past the two chasers and back over halfway. The catch is only the start of it. What most sides do here is catch it and boot it straight back, which hands the ball over for nothing, so the rule is that the ball has to be passed at least once before it can be kicked again. Six goes, rotate everybody through the back three.
What to watch for
- Call it, take it, then get moving before they arrive
- The other two run to either side of the catcher, not behind them
- Go away from the chasers. Wide grass beats a hole up the middle
Make it easier
- One chaser
- Serve it by hand so the catch is easy
Make it harder
- Three chasers
- The catch has to be taken above head height
What it looks like when it is going wrong
What you can see from the touchline, then the one thing to say about it.
- The two who did not catch it standing still watching
- Get either side of them. They need somebody to pass to
- The catcher stopping dead on the spot with the ball held in
- Catch it moving. Take a step before you look up
More like this
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.