Defend your channel
A tackle drill for U10 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
- U10, U11, U12
- Time
- 11 minutes
- Players
- 8 to 20
- Space
- 20 x 20 m
- Kit
- 8 cones, 1 ball
- Pitch
- Wants a forgiving surface
Setting it up
Four narrow channels side by side. One attacker and one defender in each.
How it runs
Everybody goes at once, one on one in their own channel, jogging pace. Four goes then swap. Narrow channels mean the tackle happens rather than being run around, so every child gets four proper contacts in eleven minutes instead of one.
What to watch for
- Get square in front of them before you commit
- Short steps as they get close. Do not lunge
- Head to the side, arms wrap, legs drive
Make it easier
- Walking pace
- Narrower channels still
Make it harder
- Wider channels so there is some footwork to deal with
What it looks like when it is going wrong
What you can see from the touchline, then the one thing to say about it.
- Lunging from two metres and grabbing a shirt
- Shorten your last three steps. Get close, then go
- Drifting sideways with the carrier so the tackle never happens
- Meet them. Do not follow them
Safety. Match every pair by size before you start and keep the same pairs. Jogging pace only. Watch all four channels and if you cannot see all four, run two at a time instead.
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 U10 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.