Stop the offload
A tackle 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
- 8 to 18
- Space
- 15 x 15 m
- Kit
- 1 ball, 1 tackle shield
- Pitch
- Wants a forgiving surface
- Indoors
- Fits a small space
Setting it up
A carrier with a support runner. Two defenders.
How it runs
One defender takes the legs, the other takes the ball and the arms so it cannot be popped away. Carrier is trying to offload. Six goes then rotate. It gives the tacklers a reason to wrap properly instead of just knocking somebody over.
What to watch for
- Low tackler stops the legs, that is all
- Second defender wraps the ball arm and squeezes it in
- Arrive together. A gap between you is a gap for the pass
Make it easier
- Walking pace
- Carrier holds the ball in one hand to make it obvious
Make it harder
- Two support runners so there are two options to shut down
What it looks like when it is going wrong
What you can see from the touchline, then the one thing to say about it.
- Both defenders going for the ball, so the carrier stays up
- One takes legs, one takes ball. Decide before you move
- Arriving one after the other so the pass goes between them
- Go together. Count each other in
Safety. Both defenders stay below the chest. No grabbing round the neck to stop an arm. Walking pace until the two of them arrive together reliably.
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 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.