Rugby drills for youth teams, with video, setup and coaching points. Tag and touch games with safe-contact technique progressions. For 6U to 14U.
5 drills · 31 minutes if you ran them all
Mark a 20 by 20 grid and pick one chaser. Everyone else runs free inside the grid. When the chaser tags someone, the two join hands and chase together, and the caterpillar keeps growing until the last runner is caught.
Runners, keep your head up and find the open space. Caterpillar, stay linked and talk about who you are going after.
Watch: Rugby ToolboxGroups of five. One player is the dog and the other four link hands in a circle, with one of the four named the bone. On go the dog tries to tag the bone while the circle shuffles round to block. Swap the dog and the bone every 30 seconds.
Circle, move your feet together and keep your body between the dog and the bone. Dog, fake one way and go the other.
Watch: Rugby ToolboxEach player stands behind a single cone with the coach facing the group. The coach points left, right, forward or back and players react with quick feet around the cone, returning to the start every time. Keep each burst to about ten seconds.
Stay on the balls of your feet and keep your eyes on the coach. Quick small steps, then reset fast.
Watch: Rugby ToolboxSet out a large square and split the team into two groups on opposite corners. One player from each group runs round the grid in opposite directions until they meet, then they play rock paper scissors. The winner keeps running while the losing team sends a new runner out to meet them. A team scores when a runner makes it all the way round.
Sprint between meetings, do not jog. Next runner, be ready on the line before your teammate loses.
Watch: Rugby ToolboxPlayers spread across a 20 by 20 grid with two chasers wearing bibs. When a chaser tags a runner they hand over the bib and the tagged player becomes the new chaser straight away. Run for two minutes, then add a third bib.
Change direction with short steps, not long strides. New chaser, look up and pick a target before you run.
Watch: Rugby Toolbox6 drills · 46 minutes if you ran them all
Two teams in a 15 by 15 grid, one ball. The team in possession tries to string together ten passes while the other team tries to intercept. Any pass can go in any direction, but the ball cannot be ripped. Swap the ball over after an interception or a drop.
Move into space before you call for the ball. Short, quick passes beat long ones under pressure.
Watch: Rugby ToolboxSplit the squad into lines of four or five standing a few metres apart. The ball is passed backwards down the line and back again as fast as the players can manage. Race the lines against each other and count the completed trips.
Fingers spread, catch early and pass with a snap of the wrists. Look at the receiver, not the ball.
Watch: Rugby ToolboxTwo teams in a grid, one ball. The passing team moves the ball by hand and tries to tag opposition players with the ball in two hands. Anyone tagged leaves the grid, but they can rejoin if the passing team drops the ball. Swap roles every two minutes.
Keep the ball in two hands and pass to the player closest to the target. Runners, keep moving and keep your eyes on the ball.
Watch: Rugby ToolboxLines of players race to pass the ball down the line and back. Round two, the first pass comes off the ground. Round three, the player who passes off the ground runs to a cone to take the last pass. Keep score across the rounds.
Bend the knees to pick up, do not bend the back. Pass and move, then call for the ball early.
Watch: Rugby ToolboxGroups of three or four line up across a 15 by 25 metre space with one ball. The group walks forward passing along the line to the end, then turns and comes back the other way. Progress from a walk to a jog to a run as the passes get cleaner.
Hands up ready and watch the ball all the way in. Keep the ball above your waist and pass across your chest to the target.
Watch: Rugby ToolboxTwo lines of four start side by side with a ball each and a cone 20 metres away. On go both lines run and pass along the line out to the cone, turn around the cone and pass back the other way to the start. First line home with no dropped ball wins.
Pass early and run onto the ball. If you drop it, pick it up and keep going, do not stop the line.
Watch: Rugby Toolbox6 drills · 50 minutes if you ran them all
Groups of five start in a single file with the front player holding the ball. On the coach's call the group fans out into a line and the ball moves from player one to player five while they run forward. The last player runs a wider arc so the line has depth and width.
Fan out fast and get in position before the ball arrives. Accurate passes first, then speed.
Watch: Rugby ToolboxEven-sided two-hand touch on a half pitch. When the coach blows the whistle one defender drops out of the game, giving the attack an extra player. If the attack still does not score, another whistle drops another defender. Reset once a try is scored.
Count the defenders and find where the space is. Move the ball to the gap quickly before they reset.
Watch: Rugby ToolboxFour attackers face two defenders in a 15 metre wide channel. Attackers score points for a clean try and bonus points for a try with no more than two passes. Defenders use two-hand touch. Rotate every three attacks and keep a running score.
Look up before you get the ball and find the free player. Pass when the defender commits, keep running when they do not.
Watch: Rugby ToolboxIn tag rugby a player has three steps after being ripped before they must pass. Set pairs facing each other five metres apart. The ball carrier runs at a partner, who rips the tag, then counts three steps and passes to a support runner. Rotate carrier, ripper and support.
Count your steps out loud, one two three, then pass. Support runner, be on the shoulder before the rip.
Watch: Rugby ToolboxGroups of three with tags on. The ball carrier jogs forward and a coach or defender rips a tag. The carrier turns and passes to a support player who has arrived on the shoulder, and the group keeps moving down the channel. Run it from both sides.
After the rip, stop, turn and look for your support. Support player, call for the ball loud and early.
Watch: Rugby ToolboxSet a 5 by 15 metre channel. Two attackers start against one defender who uses two-hand touch. The ball carrier runs straight at the defender, draws them in, then passes to the support runner into the space. Rotate roles every rep and run from both sides.
Run straight and fix the defender before you pass. Support runner, stay deep and accelerate onto the ball.
Watch: Rugby Toolbox7 drills · 50 minutes if you ran them all
Fun contact game for young players before any tackling. Pairs stand chest to chest, wrap their arms around each other in a bear hug and try to walk their partner backwards across a line. Swap partners every minute and keep it playful.
Low hips, flat back and little steps. Hold on tight and keep driving with the legs.
Watch: Rugby ToolboxPairs about a metre apart with no ball. One player is the attacker and steps sideways and backwards, the other is the defender and shadows them with quick feet, keeping their eyes on the attacker's belly button. Thirty seconds each, then swap.
Watch the hips, not the feet or the ball. Small quick steps and stay square to the attacker.
Watch: Rugby ToolboxPairs with one hit shield. The shield holder walks forward slowly and the tackler gets low, makes shoulder contact on the shield, wraps the arms and drives with the legs for three steps. Five reps each, then swap.
Get your foot close to the shield before contact. Shoulder in, arms wrap, legs drive.
Watch: Rugby ToolboxTacklers kneel in a line across a narrow channel. Ball carriers walk across the channel one at a time and the kneeling tacklers make a safe wrap tackle from their knees. Anyone tackled joins the tacklers. Keep carriers at walking pace.
Eyes open and chin off the chest. Wrap the legs and roll, do not drop the carrier.
Watch: Rugby ToolboxPairs on the grass. The tackler kneels and the ball carrier walks to the tackler's left or right. The tackler puts their head behind the carrier, wraps the arms around the legs and brings them gently to the ground. Ten tackles each, then swap roles.
Head to the side and behind, cheek on the thigh. Wrap tight and squeeze, do not hit.
Watch: Rugby ToolboxPlayers wear tag belts. In pairs one player jogs past the other, who reaches out and rips a tag cleanly, holds it up and shouts rip. Hand it back and swap. Progress to the carrier jogging through a gate of two defenders.
Reach for the tag with both eyes on it and hold it up high. Get back onside straight after the rip.
Watch: Rugby ToolboxWalk through how to land safely when tackled. Players start kneeling, hold the ball in two hands, and roll to the side so the shoulder and hip take the ground, not the elbow or the ball. Progress to standing and falling from a walk, then placing the ball back towards their own team.
Tuck the chin and land on the side, never on the elbow. Keep two hands on the ball and place it back long.
Watch: Rugby Toolbox2 drills · 16 minutes if you ran them all
Two teams in passing lines at one end of the grid. Each team completes a set of shuttle runs to a cone and back, then lines up and passes the ball along the line without a mistake to finish. The first team to finish clean wins the round. Three rounds.
Run hard, then settle your feet before you pass. Tired hands still catch the ball early.
Watch: Rugby ToolboxTwo lines of players race each other, passing along the line out to a far cone and back. The losing team steps off and a fresh team steps in to challenge the winner. See how many rounds the winning team can hold.
Keep the line flat and the passes short when you are tired. Communicate so the ball never stops.
Watch: Rugby Toolbox4 drills · 51 minutes if you ran them all
Two-hand touch where a defender who makes a touch must link arms with the next defender who makes one, so the defence slowly joins up and leaves space for the attack to find. Reset after each try.
Linked defenders move together as one unit. Attack, keep moving the ball to the unlinked side.
Watch: Rugby ToolboxNormal two-hand touch in a 30 by 20 grid. When the coach calls potato both teams break off to a passing drill, such as lines of passes down and back, then return to the game right where they left off. Keep the passing breaks short.
Pass before the touch, not after. In the breaks, make every pass count.
Watch: Rugby ToolboxFull tag rugby game on half a pitch with up to seven a side. Six rips is a turnover, no kicking, pass within three steps after a rip, and the defence retreats after each rip. Stop the game briefly to coach one point at a time.
Run straight and pass before you are ripped. Defenders, move up together and get back onside.
Watch: Rugby ToolboxTwo-hand touch on a half pitch. When a defender makes a touch they take a knee and are out of the game until someone scores, which gives the attack more and more space. Six touches is a turnover.
Attack, find where the defender dropped out and go there. Defence, talk and fill the gaps.
Watch: Rugby ToolboxVideos are linked, not hosted, and belong to Rugby Toolbox. Drill write-ups are by Cheat Code Coaching. Durations are what we run them at with a youth team; adjust for your group.
Every drill here is already in the Cheat Code Teams Practice Builder for Youth Rugby. Drag them into a plan, tap Start practice, and the clock, the whistle and the next drill are on your phone and your lock screen.