Last play
A game sense 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
- 12 to 24
- Space
- 40 x 30 m
- Kit
- 6 cones, 1 ball
- Pitch
- Fine on hard ground
Setting it up
Two teams. One team starts thirty metres out, needing a try.
How it runs
One play, one score needed, everything on it. Then reset and the other team goes. Ten goes each. Pressure is a skill like any other and a child who has practised the last play of a game is a lot calmer when it actually is the last play of a game.
What to watch for
- Agree the plan before you start. There is no time to work it out
- Nobody panics and kicks it. Keep hold of it
- Defending team, do not give away a penalty. Just hold your line
Make it easier
- Two plays instead of one
- Even numbers
Make it harder
- Twenty metres out with two defenders extra
What it looks like when it is going wrong
What you can see from the touchline, then the one thing to say about it.
- Making the plan up on the pitch while the clock runs
- Huddle first. Nobody moves until everybody knows it
- Somebody hoofing it downfield in a panic
- Keep hold of it. A kick gives it away
More like this
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.