Tackle when tired

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: 20 x 15 m
Kit: 6 cones, 2 tackle shields
Pitch: Wants a forgiving surface
Indoors: Fits a small space

Setting it up

A twenty metre run out and back, then two shields waiting.

How it runs

Run twenty metres out and back then make one tackle. Three goes each with a good rest between. The whole point is that they feel what a tired tackle is like in a session where you are watching, rather than in the last five minutes of a match where you are not close enough to stop it.

What to watch for

Same head position tired as fresh. No exceptions
If your legs have gone, drop into a lower stance rather than reaching
Tell your coach when you are done. That is not weakness

Make it easier

Shorter run
Wrap and hold with no takedown

Make it harder

Thirty metre run out

What it looks like when it is going wrong

What you can see from the touchline, then the one thing to say about it.

The head dropping in front once they are blowing: Stop the moment it moves. Being tired is not a reason
Reaching from upright because bending down hurts: Get lower, not longer. Knees bend before the arms go

Safety. This drill deliberately creates the conditions where technique fails, so it needs the closest watching of any of them. One tackle per go, three goes only, real rest between. Any drop in head position ends it for that child. Do not run this at the end of a session.

The RFU's Headcase is where to go for what to do after a bang on the head. It is theirs rather than ours.

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.