What changes at U11

The boot arrives. After four seasons of no kicking whatsoever, U11 hands them tactical kicking from hand plus drop kick restarts, on a wider pitch with longer halves. The contest at the breakdown doubles too. Here is the lot in plain English.

Read it in the app

Free to read with no account. It works at a pitch with no signal too.

The short version

U10 was the year the game got physical. U11 is the year it gets long. Everything stretches: the pitch, the halves, the distance the ball can travel in one go.

• Kicking from hand. Tactical kicking is in, restarts are drop kicks. No conversions, no box kicks, no drop goals.
• The ruck and maul go to three a side from two, so the contest is two against two.
• Both hookers may strike at the scrum. It is still three players and still nobody pushing.
• Nine a side on 60 by 43, which is half a full pitch, with 20 minute halves.
• Free kicks replace free passes for the serious offences. Missing the five second call is now a scrum rather than a free pass.

U10 against U11, side by side

Kicking

This is the change that defines the grade. It is also the one that will take up your September.

• Tactical kicking from hand is allowed anywhere
• Restarts are drop kicks. They have to travel 7 metres or the other side chooses between a re-kick or a scrum on halfway
• After a score the non-scoring side chooses whether to kick or receive
• No conversions, no box kicks, no drop goals
• Fly hacking a loose ball along the ground is still out
• A mark can be called anywhere on the pitch from an open play kick, though not from a restart or a free kick. The catcher's team gets a free kick
• Kick from outside the 15 metre zone straight into touch and the other side gets a free pass in line with where you kicked it, 5 metres in

The one that looks wrong to every parent

If a player is trying to catch a kick in open play and knocks it forward, that is not treated as a knock on. The team trying to catch it gets the scrum. Same if they get a hand to it and it goes backwards with nobody gaining an advantage.

This applies at U11 only. It exists because this is the first season of kicking and the RFU would rather they had a go at catching than stood back and let it bounce. Worth explaining to your touchline in week one, because it will come up in week two.

The breakdown

The cap goes from two players a side to three, counting the ball carrier and the opponent. The RFU's own summary calls it a contest of two players against two.

When the tackle is made and the carrier is on the ground, two supporting players from each team, on their feet, may rip and pass immediately, pick up and pass away from the contact, pick up and run if no ruck has formed, or join to form a ruck from their own side and drive over the ball. Up to two may join. If somebody has driven over it, the next player to arrive has to pass it.

A maul is the same cap of three a side. Once the ball is won the referee calls "Use it" and there are five seconds to play it. Miss that and it is a scrum to the other team now rather than a free pass, which is a meaningful upgrade in what it costs you.

Everything else about the tackle is as it was at U10: below the base of the sternum, no shoulders below the hips, no dipping late and low, no head into an opponent's head space. An opponent may still grab the ball when the carrier has not been taken to ground. Ripped ball still has to be passed.

The scrum

Still three players, still the nearest three to the stoppage, still nobody pushing. One thing changes and it changes the whole feel of it: both hookers may contest and strike for the ball.

• Crouch, bind, set, as before
• The scrum half puts it in straight, from the middle of the gap
• The scrum half must pass it away. No running with it, no kicking it
• The defending scrum half stays behind their own scrum
• Both back lines stay 5 metres back

So the scrum stops being purely a restart and becomes a small contest. It is worth a session of its own, because a hooker who has never struck for a ball will not learn it on a Sunday.

Free kicks

Free passes give way to free kicks for the serious stuff: a fend or hand off, foul play, offside, squeeze ball, diving off your feet, pushing in the scrum, a high tackle. Opponents go back 7 metres.

A free kick can be put into touch, but the free pass that follows always goes to the other team. Where it is taken depends on where you kicked from: at the point the ball crossed the line if it bounced out or if you kicked from inside your own 15 metre area, in line with where you kicked it if it went straight out from outside that area.

What has not changed

• No lineout. Touch restarts with a free pass 5 metres in, or a quick throw if the same ball has not been touched by anyone off the pitch
• No hand off, no fend
• The high tackle line is where it was, at the base of the sternum
• No sin bin. The referee has a word with you on the touchline and the sides stay even
• Rolling subs, unlimited, whenever the ball is dead
• Boys and girls still play together. U11 is the last grade where they do
• The Half Game Rule applies, so every player gets at least half of the playing time. Across a festival that means half of the morning rather than half of each game

That last one is the one clubs get wrong most often. Match day works the rotations out for you on the touchline, so nobody has to count it on the back of a team sheet.

What to get in before the season starts

• Catching a high ball. Nobody in your squad has ever had to. Start it in the first session and keep it in all year
• Kicking to space rather than to nobody. They will all want to boot it as far as they can. That is how you give the ball away
• Chasing your own kick. A kick nobody chases is a gift
• The second man at the ruck. The cap went up, so there is a job that did not exist last season
• Hooker striking for the ball. Give more than one of them a go. Yours will be off with a cold in November
• Playing what is in front of you. A wider pitch with a kicking option is the first grade where a decision is worth more than a run

Common questions

What changes from U10 to U11?

Kicking from hand arrives, which is the big one. Nine a side on a wider pitch with 20 minute halves. Both hookers may strike at the scrum. The ruck and maul go from two players a side to three.

Can U11s kick the ball?

Yes. Tactical kicking from hand is in and restarts are drop kicks that have to travel 7 metres. There are no conversions, no box kicks and no drop goals. Fly hacking a loose ball along the ground is still out.

How many players can be in a U11 ruck?

Three from each team, counting the ball carrier and the opponent, so it goes from the one against one contest at U10 to two against two. Miss the five second call after "Use it" and it is a scrum to the other side rather than a free pass.

Why did the referee give a scrum when my player knocked the ball on?

If they were trying to catch a kick in open play, that is not treated as a knock on at U11 and the catching team gets the scrum. It applies at U11 only, because it is the first season of kicking and the RFU would rather they had a go at catching than let it bounce.

Can U11s have a lineout?

No. Touch restarts with a free pass 5 metres in, or a quick throw if the same ball has not been touched by anyone off the pitch. The lineout arrives at U14.

The other age grades

• What U7 rugby looks like
• What U8 rugby looks like
• What U9 rugby looks like
• What U10 rugby looks like
• What U12 rugby looks like

Every grade side by side is the whole progression on one page. U11 rugby drills are the ones written for an U11 grade.