Kicking, the questions that come up
What the boot is allowed to do from U11, plus the U11 rule that looks wrong.
Free to read with no account. They work at a pitch with no signal too.
The answers
When are children allowed to start kicking?
U11. There's no kicking of any kind at U7 through U10, which catches out every parent who has watched a game on television. It's why U11 coaches spend all of September on catching a high ball that nobody in the squad has ever had to deal with.
U11 and up
What kicks are allowed at U11 and U12?
Tactical kicking from hand, anywhere on the pitch, plus drop kick restarts. Conversions, penalty kicks at goal, box kicks and drop goals are all out. Fly hacking a loose ball along the ground stays out at every minis grade.
U11 and up
Why did the referee give the scrum to the team that knocked it forward?
If a player was trying to catch a kick in open play and knocked it on, that isn't treated as a knock on at U11 and the catching team gets the scrum. It applies at U11 only. It's there because this is their first season of kicking and the RFU would rather they had a go at catching it than stood back and let it bounce. Tell your touchline in week one, because it'll come up in week two.
U11 only
What is a mark and can we call one?
Yes, anywhere on the pitch, from a kick in open play. Not from a restart or a free kick. The catcher's team then gets a free kick. It's one of the few bits of adult law that arrives in minis exactly as the grown ups have it.
U11 and up
We kicked straight into touch and lost the ball. Why?
Kick from outside your 15 metre zone straight into touch and the other side gets the free pass in line with where you kicked it, 5 metres in, so you've handed them ground as well as possession. Inside your own 15 metre area it's taken where the ball crossed the line.
U11 and up
Who is offside when we kick?
Anybody in front of the kicker. They stay still, or retire if they're within 7 metres of where the ball lands. A kick that nobody is allowed to chase is a kick you've given away, which is worth a session of its own before it costs you a match.
U11 and up
Equal Play is not affiliated with the RFU. Regulation 15 is theirs. These answers put it in our own words, so they are a summary rather than the thing itself. It is reissued every summer as well, so read this season's there rather than trusting a copy on somebody else's website. Ours included. If a referee on match day says something different to this page, they are right.
Read against the RFU's 2026/27 appendices in August 2026.
What your grade is allowed to do
The answers above say what the rule is. The rules guides say what a whole grade may do, which is the thing to read in August rather than in a car park.
- What U7 rugby looks like
- What U8 rugby looks like
- What U9 rugby looks like
- What U10 rugby looks like
- What U11 rugby looks like
- What U12 rugby looks like
The other questions
- Tag rugby. Tags, the three second count plus the six tag turnover. U7 and U8 only.
- The tackle. How high, what counts as held plus what the tackler has to do next.
- Ruck and maul. Who may join, what "Use it" means plus where the offside line sits.
- The scrum. Three players at U10, five at U12, nobody pushing at either.
- Restarts and touch. Free passes, free kicks plus why there is no lineout anywhere in minis.
- Match day. The Half Game Rule, rolling subs plus what to do about uneven squads.
- The referee. Who referees, what they can give plus why there is no sin bin.
- Safety and welfare. Head knocks, mouthguards, hard ground plus mixed rugby.
- Running a session. How long, how many helpers plus what to do if you never played.
Every topic in one place is the way in. The app searches the answers themselves, which is what you want when you know what you saw rather than what it is called.