Rugby rules by age group
RFU Regulation 15 decides what a minis grade may do rather than a coach's judgement. One page per grade from U7 to U12, saying what arrives, what goes and what to get in before the season starts.
Free to read with no account. They work at a pitch with no signal too.
When each part of the game arrives
| Grade | Players | What arrives |
|---|---|---|
| U7 | 4 | Tag. No contact at all |
| U8 | 6 | A bigger pitch and the six tag turnover |
| U9 | 7 | The tackle. Still no contest for the ball |
| U10 | 8 | Ruck, maul and a 3 player uncontested scrum. Contest is 1 against 1 |
| U11 | 9 | Contest goes to 2 against 2. Both hookers may strike, kicking from hand |
| U12 | 12 | A 5 player scrum, no cap on the ruck, the hand off below the armpits |
There is no lineout at any minis grade. It turns up at U14, with lifting held back until U15, so nothing between here and then needs a throw practised at training.
Boys and girls play together all the way through U11. At U12 the game splits into separate bands and the girls in your squad move into girls' rugby. Training is a different matter: a non-contact session with nothing competitive in it can be mixed at any age, once you have judged it safe.
Pick a grade
- U7. What U7 rugby actually is Four a side tag on a pitch 20 metres by 12. No contact beyond taking a tag off a belt.
- U8. What changes at U8 Six a side on a pitch four times the size, plus the six tag turnover.
- U9. What changes at U9 The tackle arrives. Still nobody competing for the ball once it's down.
- U10. What changes at U10 Ruck, maul and a three player uncontested scrum. The contest is one against one.
- U11. What changes at U11 Kicking from hand. The breakdown contest doubles to two against two.
- U12. What changes at U12 Twelve a side and a five player scrum, with no cap left on the ruck.
The same at every grade
- The Half Game Rule. Every player in the squad gets at least half of the playing time. Across a festival that is half of the morning rather than half of each game. It is the one clubs get wrong most often, so Match day checks it for you.
- Rolling substitutions, unlimited. Only when the ball is dead, always with the referee's permission. A player who comes off can go back on.
- No sin bin anywhere in minis. The referee sorts it out with the coaches on the touchline and the sides stay even.
- Coaches stay off the pitch while the ball is in play. The referee is expected to talk the players through it instead.
- Pitch sizes are maximums. A referee and both coaches can agree something smaller whenever they think it is safer.
- Squeezeball is banned and no coach may teach it, at any grade.
Equal Play is not affiliated with the RFU. Regulation 15 is theirs. This page puts it in our own words, so it is 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.
Everything the RFU publishes for age grade coaches, including their concussion education.
How to teach the hard parts
The pages above say what a grade may do. These say how to teach it, which is the harder question if you never played. Each one is a progression from the first session to a live one against one.
- How to teach tackling from scratch From wrestling games to a live one against one, in the order a nine year old can take it.
- How to teach rucking and mauling from scratch The floor first, then the arriving player, then a contest that's one against one at U10.
- How to teach the scrum from scratch Kneeling one against one, then three, then the calls the referee will make on match day.
- How to teach kicking from scratch The drop, then the strike, then the harder question of when it's worth kicking at all.
The questions that come up on the day
A grade's page is what to read in August. Rugby questions answered is the other half of it: 71 short answers to the things that happen in front of you on match day, grouped by what was going on at the time rather than by grade.
What each grade trains
Rugby drills by age group is the same split applied to training. Every drill is matched to the grade, so a ruck drill cannot reach an U8 session.