Front on tackle
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
- 12 minutes
- Players
- 6 to 20
- Space
- 10 x 10 m
- Kit
- 1 ball per pair, 1 tackle shield per pair
- Pitch
- Wants a forgiving surface
- Indoors
- Fits a small space
Setting it up
Pairs of similar size, three metres apart. Shield first, then a walking carrier.
How it runs
Ten into the shield from a crouch, walking pace. Then ten against a walking carrier. Only progress to a jog when the head is going to the side every time without you saying it. This is the tackle that gets done badly most often, so it gets the slowest build.
What to watch for
- Head slips to the side of the hips at the last moment
- Get your shoulder in below their waist
- Drive with your legs after contact, do not stop on impact
Make it easier
- Shield only
- From the knees
Make it harder
- Carrier jogs
- Carrier is allowed one side step
What it looks like when it is going wrong
What you can see from the touchline, then the one thing to say about it.
- Head coming up and the eyes shutting at contact
- Eyes open. Pick the pocket you are aiming for and watch it in
- Stopping dead on impact so the pair of them bounce apart
- Keep your legs going for three steps after you hit
Safety. The single most important note in the catalogue. Any head going in front of the carrier stops the drill immediately. Contact below the waist, nowhere near the chest or the head. Match by size, never by age. No jogging until every rep is technically right at walking pace.
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.