Numbers up
A game sense drill for U8 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
- U8, U9, U10, U11, U12
- Time
- 12 minutes
- Players
- 9 to 21
- Space
- 25 x 20 m
- Kit
- 6 cones, 1 ball
- Pitch
- Fine on hard ground
Setting it up
Three attackers against two defenders across a channel. Everyone else waits behind the line and rotates in.
How it runs
One go to score. Score and they go again with the same numbers. Get stopped and the defence gets an extra player next go. Keep going until the defence is winning then reset to three against two. The attackers have to see the spare player and use them before the space shuts.
What to watch for
- Count the defence out loud before you start. Say the number
- Run at the inside shoulder to commit your defender
- Pass early enough that they still have space to run into
Make it easier
- Three against one
- Defenders may only move sideways
Make it harder
- Four against three in a wider channel
- Defence starts a metre closer
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 straight away without looking at the defence
- Count them out loud first. How many are there?
- Running sideways looking for space instead of at a defender
- Run at their inside shoulder. Make them pick you
More like this
The grades that can do it
What U8 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.