Rugby drills by age group

RFU Regulation 15 decides what a minis grade plays, so it was never a coaching decision in the first place. U7 and U8 are tag. Tackling comes in at U9, then rucks and scrums a year after that. There's no lineout at any minis grade. This page is the whole picture, with the drills that suit each one.

Open Equal Play

Free to browse. Pick your age group and that's the setup done.

What arrives when

Pick your grade

By what you want to work on

A theme page is the same list cut down to one thing, so a squad that keeps losing the ball on the floor can go straight to the part that fixes it. Each one starts at the grade the RFU allows that work at. There's no page below it.

• Handling and passing. U7 U8 U9 U10 U11 U12
• Evasion and footwork. U7 U8 U9 U10 U11 U12
• Tackle. U9 U10 U11 U12
• Ruck and maul. U10 U11 U12
• Scrum and restarts. U10 U11 U12
• Kicking and catching. U11 U12
• Game sense. U7 U8 U9 U10 U11 U12

Why the list comes ready for your grade

A filter is something you set because you fancy it. This is a safety job. Putting a ruck drill in front of an U8 grade goes wrong before it goes wrong as coaching, so Equal Play builds the list around the grade instead of leaving you to sort one out. Choose U8 and everything in front of you is U8 rugby, however you search it or sort it.

It's worth saying that none of the big drill libraries do this. They'll happily hand an U8 coach a rucking session, because their catalogue is organised by skill rather than by what the grade actually plays. That gap is most of the reason this exists.

Getting the whole hour planned

Finding a drill is the easy half. Fitting five of them into the hour you've booked, with water breaks in, then remembering what kit to throw in the boot, is the part that goes wrong at training. Equal Play adds the minutes up as you build, warns you when the session has quietly become 75 minutes long, then gives you a kit list at the end.

There are ready-made sessions for every grade from U7 to U12 as well, so you can start from one somebody has already thought about and swap out the bits you don't fancy.

Open Equal Play

Common questions

What age can children start tackling in rugby?

U9, which is school year 4. RFU Regulation 15 makes U9 the first grade where tackling is allowed in matches or at training. U7 and U8 play tag rugby with no contact.

What age do rucks start in rugby?

U10. Rucks and mauls arrive alongside the uncontested scrum, a season after the tackle. A U9 tackle drill that carries on into a contest on the floor has become a ruck drill, which is why the distinction is worth holding on to.

What age does the lineout start?

U14, so no minis grade has one. Regulation 15 has touch restarting with a free pass all the way through U13 and holds lifting back until U15. That's why restarts and free kicks are worth more of your season than most coaches give them credit for.

How do you know a drill is safe for your age group?

Check it against the rules of play for your grade, which the RFU publishes as an appendix per age. The catalogue here does that check for you: pick your age group and every drill you see is one your squad is ready for.

Which age group is a child in?

Whichever grade they fit at midnight on 31 August. A child's age grade holds for the whole season whenever their birthday falls, so a squad stays together from September to April.