Ruck and maul, the questions that come up
Who may join, what "Use it" means plus where the offside line sits.
U10 and up
Free to read with no account. They work at a pitch with no signal too.
The answers
How many players can be in a ruck?
Two a side at U10, three a side at U11, with no cap at all from U12. The count includes the ball carrier and the opponent, so at U10 a third body piling in gives away a free pass. The RFU describes U10 as a contest of one player against one.
What does the referee mean by "Use it"?
The ball has been won and you've five seconds to play it. Miss that and it's a free pass to the other side at U10, or a scrum to them from U11. A squad that has never heard the call will freeze the first time, so it's worth putting into your training games in September.
When can a supporting player pick the ball up and run?
Only if no ruck has formed. Once one has, the choices are to rip it and pass immediately, pick it up and pass it away from the contact, or join from your own side and drive over the ball. If somebody has already driven over it, the next player to arrive has to pass it.
Where is the offside line at a ruck?
The hindmost foot or hindmost point of the players involved. Defenders stay between that line and their own goal line until the pass is made. At U9 offside really only happened at the tackle, so this is new ground for a squad coming up.
When can the tackler play the ball?
After they've released the carrier and got back to their feet. Not before. A tackler who reaches out from the floor is the single most penalised thing at U10. It's worth coaching as a habit rather than as a rule.
What is a maul at this age?
The carrier is held up by one or two opponents and one of their own team binds onto them, so it's three players minimum, all on their feet, all moving towards a goal line. The same cap applies as at the ruck. Once it's formed there are five seconds to play the ball.
My player was held up but still standing. Why the free pass?
When the carrier is held, upright and no longer going forward, the ball has to be played away from the contact. There's no three second count here and no shout to wait for. Leave it in there and it's a free pass against you. Half a squad's first month at U10 goes on moving it before anyone tells them to.
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.
- 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.
- Kicking. What the boot is allowed to do from U11, plus the U11 rule that looks wrong.
- 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.