Track them down
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 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
Pairs of similar size in a ten metre square, one with the ball, the tackler four metres across from them.
How it runs
The carrier jogs for the far corner. The tackler has to get across and make the tackle before the line rather than arriving behind them. Small steps as they close, then the tackle from the side. Six each way. Most missed tackles at this age are not technique at all, they are a child running at where somebody used to be, so the footwork before the contact is the whole drill.
What to watch for
- Run at the space in front of them, not at where they are now
- Short steps in the last two metres so you can change direction
- Head behind them, arms round the legs, squeeze
Make it easier
- Carrier walks
- Touch instead of tackle until the footwork is right
Make it harder
- Carrier allowed one sidestep
- Start the tackler a metre further back
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 tackler running at the carrier's back and arriving behind them
- Aim in front of them. Cut them off, do not chase them
- Long strides right up to the contact so they cannot turn
- Little steps at the end. Chop your feet
Safety. Match by size, never by age alone. Head behind the carrier every time and stop the drill the instant one goes in front. Nothing above the waist. Grass only. Anybody tired enough to be getting sloppy sits the next one out.
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.