Scoring zones
A game sense drill for U9 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
- U9, U10, U11, U12
- Time
- 11 minutes
- Players
- 10 to 24
- Space
- 35 x 30 m
- Kit
- 10 cones, 1 ball
- Pitch
- Fine on hard ground
Setting it up
A try line split into three zones. The two outside zones are worth three, the middle worth one.
How it runs
Normal touch rules, but where you score matters. Five minute games. Nobody needs telling to use the width once there are points in it, which is a lot easier than shouting spread out for twenty minutes.
What to watch for
- Set off towards the middle then move it wide
- The wide player stays wide. Do not drift in to be involved
- One point is still a point if the wide zone is covered
Make it easier
- Two in the wide zones
- Wider pitch
Make it harder
- Five in the wide zones and one in the middle
- Narrower middle zone
What it looks like when it is going wrong
What you can see from the touchline, then the one thing to say about it.
- Going straight for the wide zone from the first pass
- Start in the middle. Make them come in first
- The wide player drifting in to get involved
- Stay out there. Your job is to be alone
More like this
The grades that can do it
What U9 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.