Guard the edge
A ruck and maul drill for U11 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
- U11, U12
- Time
- 10 minutes
- Players
- 10 to 21
- Space
- 25 x 20 m
- Kit
- 6 cones, 1 ball
- Pitch
- Wants a forgiving surface
Setting it up
A ruck already formed. Two defenders either side of it as guards, three more spread wide.
How it runs
The attack comes off the ruck either side. The two guards have to hold the space right next to it while the others cover the width. Six goes each side. The metre next to the ruck is where minis leak most of their tries and it is nobody's job until you make it somebody's.
What to watch for
- Guards stay square and close. Do not drift off the ruck
- One guard each side and say which side you have got
- Everybody else works out from the guards, not in from the touchline
Make it easier
- Three guards
- Attack must go wide only
Make it harder
- One guard each side instead of two
What it looks like when it is going wrong
What you can see from the touchline, then the one thing to say about it.
- Guards drifting out with the ball and opening the gap next to the ruck
- Stay by the ruck until the ball has gone past you
- Nobody saying which side they have got, so both go the same way
- Point and shout. Left or right, before the ball comes out
Safety. Age grade contact rules. Guards are defending a space, not launching at anybody. Below the chest, heads to the side.
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 U11 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.