What changes at U8

Still tag, still no contact. What changes is the size of everything: six a side on a pitch more than four times the U7 one, with a turnover rule that makes them pass before they are made to. 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

The tag works exactly as it did last year, so nothing your squad learned goes to waste. Everything around it grows.

• Six a side rather than four, on 45 metres by 22 rather than 20 by 12.
• The six tag turnover. Seven tags and the ball goes to the other team.
• They may go to ground to score now. A dive over the line was disallowed at U7.
• A knock on is an offence. At U7 an accidental knock forward was simply played on.
• Free passes push the opposition 7 metres back rather than 3.

U7 against U8, side by side

The six tag turnover

This is the rule that makes U8 a different game to coach. A team in possession may be tagged six times. On the seventh the referee stops play and gives a free pass to the other side, at the spot the tag happened. If that seventh tag comes a step from the line and they ground it anyway, the try is disallowed and the defending team gets a free pass 7 metres out.

Both coaches can agree a lower number before kick off if they want to stretch a strong squad. If you cannot agree, it is seven.

The point of it is to stop one quick child running the ball up six times on their own. It rewards a side that passes before it has to, which is the whole of U8 coaching in one sentence.

The bigger pitch

45 metres by 22, plus 5 metres of in-goal at each end. That is more than four times the playing area they had at U7 with only two more players on it, so the change your squad will feel is space. Support runners have to work harder to be anywhere useful. A defence that all chases the ball gets picked apart on the outside.

Adjacent pitches should be no closer than 5 metres apart.

The tag, unchanged

Belt outside the shirt, two tags on the hips, spare belt tucked away. Only the carrier can be tagged. They may run and dodge but cannot fend off with a hand or the ball, nor guard their tags. Nobody may pull the ball from their hands.

• Tagged means pass within three seconds, stopping within about three strides
• The carrier collects their tag from the tagger and puts it back on before rejoining
• One step only to score after being tagged
• The tagger stops, holds the tag up and shouts "Tag". The referee calls "Tag, pass"
• The tagger retires a metre if the carrier stopped that close, then hands the tag back before rejoining

Scoring, plus the corner nobody knows

They are allowed to go to ground to score now, which is new. They still may not dive on a loose ball anywhere else on the pitch.

Then there is the set of rules about a ball on the ground over a goal line, which comes up twice a season and stops everyone dead when it does:

• Drop it over your own line and the opposition ground it, that is a try to them
• Drop it over your own line and ground it yourself, free pass to the attacking side 7 metres out
• Knock it forward over the line with no advantage to the other team, free pass to the defending side 7 metres out
• Take it back over the line yourself and ground it, that is a try

Nobody expects you to have that memorised. It is here so you can look it up on the Sunday it happens.

What is not allowed

• Tackling or any contact beyond taking a tag. Shirt pulling, barging, running in front of the carrier or shepherding them into touch are all a free pass
• Kicking of any kind
• A hand off or a fend
• Pulling the ball out of the carrier's hands
• Handing the ball to a teammate. It goes through the air
• Diving on a loose ball

Offside still only happens at the tag, on a line through the middle of the ball, or a metre further back if you are the tagger.

Two things that reach past this grade

• The Half Game Rule. Every player in the squad gets at least half of the playing time. Across a festival that means half of the morning rather than half of each game. It is the one clubs get wrong most often
• Boys and girls play together. Mixed rugby runs all the way through U11. The game splits into separate bands at U12

What to get in before the season starts

• Passing before the tag rather than after it. The six tag rule punishes a side that waits to be told
• Support on both sides of the carrier. Two more players and four times the grass means a lone runner has nobody
• Width in defence. Six chasing one ball is how sides concede all season at U8
• Catching under a bit of pressure. They can catch standing still by now. Moving is the next thing
• Counting the tags out loud. Do it in training games and they start looking up on four

Common questions

What is different about U8 rugby compared to U7?

Six a side rather than four, on a pitch more than four times the size. The six tag turnover comes in, a knock on becomes an offence and they are allowed to go to ground to score. The tag itself works exactly as it did.

How many tags can a U8 team take before losing the ball?

Six. On the seventh the referee stops play and gives a free pass to the other team where the tag happened. Both coaches can agree a lower number before kick off if they want to make it harder for a strong squad.

How big is a U8 rugby pitch?

45 metres by 22, plus 5 metres of in-goal at each end. That is roughly four times the U7 pitch, which is the change your squad will feel most on the first Sunday.

Can U8s tackle?

No. U8 is the second year of tag and the tackle does not arrive until U9. The only contact allowed between the teams is taking a tag off a belt.

Can a U8 player dive to score?

Yes. Going to ground to score is one of the few things U8 allows that U7 does not. They still may not dive on a loose ball anywhere else on the pitch.

The other age grades

• What U7 rugby looks like
• What U9 rugby looks like
• What U10 rugby looks like
• What U11 rugby looks like
• What U12 rugby looks like

Every grade side by side is the whole progression on one page. U8 rugby drills are the ones written for an U8 grade.