Tackle and get up
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
- 10 minutes
- Players
- 6 to 18
- Space
- 10 x 10 m
- Kit
- 1 ball per pair, 1 tackle shield per pair
- Pitch
- Wants a forgiving surface
- Indoors
- Fits a small space
Setting it up
Pairs. One with a shield, one tackler starting on their knees.
How it runs
Tackle the shield, go to the floor with it, then get straight back to your feet facing up the pitch. Eight each. Half the value of a tackle is being back on your feet afterwards and children who have only practised the tackle itself lie on the floor admiring it.
What to watch for
- Head to the side, both arms wrapped
- Roll to your side then straight up. Do not push up off your front
- Get up facing the way the game is going
Make it easier
- Wrap and hold without going to ground
Make it harder
- Start from a crouch instead of the knees
- Two shields, two tackles in a row
What it looks like when it is going wrong
What you can see from the touchline, then the one thing to say about it.
- Pushing up off their front, which takes about three seconds
- Roll onto your side first, then stand
- Standing up facing the way they came from
- Pick a cone up the pitch. Stand up looking at it
Safety. Shield holders absorb only. Contact stays below the chest. Stop for any head going in front. Soft grass, checked first.
The RFU's Headcase is where to go for what to do after a bang on the head. It is theirs rather than ours.
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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.