U10's rugby and picking a ball up after the tackle

Ian StewartCoach, Ireland

Hi Gareth,

As long as a ruck or maul hasn`t formed (1 player from one team and 2 players from the other, all on their feet and loosely bound together) the tackler may pick up the ball from any position, including in front of the tackled player, PROVIDED they have shown a clear release of the tackled player. We have had our kids making a "swan" shape for the last couple of years- spreading the arms out wide to show the referee the gap between them and the tackled player. In mini`s rugby - in Ireland at least - the player may then run with the ball. In some cases we`ve modified the rules "on the fly" to make sure kids look for support and have "required" that they pass.

Beware of course that referees won`t always understand the point at which "offside" occurs - i.e. ONLY when a ruck or maul exists and NOT in general play - e.g. when a tackle occurs. It`s this lack of exact knowlege that the Richie McCaws of the rugby world thrive on, and it looks wrong, but in rugby law is totally right.

The trick part is that every subsequent player to the tackle area must enter it "through the gate", i.e. from their side of the tackle and over the tackled player. We generally try and get tackled players to extend themselves parallel to the sideline to make the "gate" as narrow as they can, and place the ball as far away from support defenders as possible.

Hope that`s of help.

Ian.

Rugby CoachCoach

Excellent answer.thanks.