Side on tackle
A tackle 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
- 6 to 20
- Space
- 10 x 10 m
- Kit
- 4 cones, 1 ball per pair
- Pitch
- Wants a forgiving surface
- Indoors
- Fits a small space
Setting it up
A five metre channel. Carrier walks across it. Tackler starts kneeling to the side, not in front.
How it runs
The carrier walks across, the tackler comes in from the side and takes them round the legs. Six each side then swap. Coming in from the side is safer and easier than head on, so it is the one worth learning first even though children always want to go front on.
What to watch for
- Track them. Move to where they will be, not where they are
- Head behind them, cheek to the backside
- Squeeze the legs together and let their own momentum do the rest
Make it easier
- Carrier walks slowly and in a straight line
- Tackler stays kneeling
Make it harder
- Carrier jogs instead of walking
- Tackler starts from a crouch
What it looks like when it is going wrong
What you can see from the touchline, then the one thing to say about it.
- Aiming at where the carrier is instead of where they are going
- Run at the space in front of them
- Arms reaching out while the feet stop moving
- Feet all the way to them first. Arms last
Safety. Side on only, never from directly in front in this one. Match by size. Below the waist. Stop instantly for a head going in front of the carrier.
The RFU's Headcase is where to go for what to do after a bang on the head. It is theirs rather than ours.
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.