Keep ball
A game sense drill for U7 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
- U7, U8, U9, U10, U11, U12
- Time
- 8 minutes
- Players
- 8 to 20
- Space
- 20 x 20 m
- Kit
- 4 cones, 1 ball
- Pitch
- Fine on hard ground
Setting it up
Two teams in a square, no try lines at all.
How it runs
Six passes in a row is a point. Touch rules, a touch turns the ball over. First to three points. There is nowhere to run to so the only thing they can do is keep it, which is the skill that makes everything else possible.
What to watch for
- Somebody has to be free before the pass is needed
- Count out loud together so everybody knows where you are
- Short pass to a free player beats a long one to a marked one
Make it easier
- Four passes
- One extra attacker
Make it harder
- Eight passes
- Smaller square
What it looks like when it is going wrong
What you can see from the touchline, then the one thing to say about it.
- Passing to whoever is closest, marker and all
- Pass to somebody free. Look before you throw it
- Waiting until the carrier is in trouble before moving
- Get free before they need you, not after
More like this
The grades that can do it
What U7 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.