Ten metres to decide
A game sense drill for U8 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
- U8, U9, U10, U11, U12
- Time
- 9 minutes
- Players
- 8 to 20
- Space
- 20 x 20 m
- Kit
- 8 cones, 1 ball
- Pitch
- Fine on hard ground
Setting it up
Threes attacking, two defenders, only ten metres of pitch to work in.
How it runs
Score in ten metres. There is no time to think about it so they have to have looked before the ball arrives. Six goes then rotate. Short and sharp. Much more like a real match than a long open drill where everybody has ages.
What to watch for
- Look at the defence before you get the ball, not after
- First decision is usually the right one at this distance
- Do not step sideways. There is no room for it
Make it easier
- Fifteen metres
- One defender
Make it harder
- Eight metres
- Three defenders
What it looks like when it is going wrong
What you can see from the touchline, then the one thing to say about it.
- Taking the ball then looking up to see what is on
- Look before it comes. You have no time after
- Stepping sideways looking for room that is not there
- Straight. Ten metres is not enough to go round anybody
More like this
The grades that can do it
What U8 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.