Rugby: junior games

Simon My son's PE teacher has told him that Bridging is lieegal for the U13 to U19 group. His Club coach has been encouraging its use in games for two seasons. I can see some of the dangers but also the advantages Who is right is it banned or can it be used? Paul submitted by email

During a recent U17's league game, the opposing side took two consecutive quick tap penalties. During a break in play shortly after, as the coach attending an injured player, I questioned the referee on the legality of this passage of play, as my understanding was that two consecutive quick taps, used to catch the opposition in an offside position and therefore gain terratorial advantage, was not allowed under current law. The referee responded that this law is at his discretion and when we discussed after the game, he stated there is no such aw and that it is a "gentlemens agreement". I have since reviewed the laws on penalties and there is no specific law preventing a side taking two quick tap penalties. Has anyone else come across this interpretation and how can this be managed consistantly if when watching elite games, such a move is not allowed yet can be allowed at junior level ?

what to do?when on the field players struggle to make tackles, but when we use the junior bag they go in hard and tackle like animals.any drills to help us please?my group is under 9s

Hi I’m a proud dad who wants to help his 12 year old son develop as an aspiring number 12/13. No experience at all coaching but willing to give it a go. He already trains with his team of course but only once a week. I’d like to supplement that with a plan that he and I can follow 2 to 3 times a week but limited realisticallly to he and I. Passing and tackling and speed and agility I’m guessing are key? Anything on decision making would also be good. Any advice gratefully received!

I have started an under 10s team up, and I would say about 8 from the 13 children I have , did not play rugby until about 6 months ago. Of these players, there seems to be a lot of potential, as we are scoring tries against teams, that very rarely concede tries.the problem I got with them, is that we are very poor at organising our selves in defense when the opposition has the ball, which does result in us conceding quite a few tries. We have some very good tacklers in the team. Can anyone offer some ideas on how I can get them to organise themselves? Thanks . Chris.

I need ideas for fun team building activities and any fun games to help towards team building. Has anyone got any ideas on what to do? Anything to spice up rugby training sessions in the dark, cold winter nights.

I have just started helping our head coach with under12's team. He wants to retire and has put me forward to be head coach next season. I am a little worried on how i should aproach training with the boys, going to a full 15 a side team on a full pitch. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Getting quite frustrated that my u10's are not using the space on the pitch and tend to bunch up. Despite various drills and game scenarios to force them to spread out and pass to someone in space they revert in any game to bunching up around the ball and taking it back into the thick of the opposition rather than looking left or right! Any ideas how to change their ways?

I'm coaching and reffing U11 rugby and one of my players is the definitive 'big lad'. His 'strength' is his size and his power, but last weekend he didn't seem to get reffed fairly. The opposition couldn't tackle him down, one on one and when another two joined in to make a mini maul, that didn't slow him down much either. The ref then let other people join in the (one sided) struggle to tackle him down, which seemed very unfair as A) it's outside the laws of U11 rugby,, B) it makes it nigh on impossible for him to offload, C) when he is brought to ground, he has 4-5 players all over him and he got pinged for 'holding on'. He is a recent arrival to rugby and it was our first game for a couple of months, so the situation hadn't reared his head before. We are keen that he learns all of the core skills of rugby and doesn't get used as a battering ram, but after seeing a pack of hyenas trying to pull down the big fella, something just didn't seem right to me.I'd be grateful for any thoughts and opinions.

Hi. I am in charge of the Mini Rugby (age 8) warm-up and am interested in more ideas. I try and keep them fun, sports specific and interesting for the boys and they seem to like what I do. Can anyone please help? Thanks!

Positional rotation at U9 level... I originally posted this as answer to a question about squad rotation, but thought I might get a better response if I posted it as a question in its own right... I have an 8 year old at the age level you are talking about - he isn't the best player at the club by any means, but has his good moments. He loves watching the game, he has a good understanding of the way it is played (to the extent that he has often shouted at the telly over recent weeks at some of our illustrious stars when they're out of position) and he has good handling skills - to be honest he's just not brave enough in the tackle yet, but I know it'll come so I'm not making a big thing of it. However, he and a couple of others are constantly stuck on the wing, and are getting fed up with the fact that they don't get the opportunity to get involved much. The coaches seem to have their "big names" and as you say seem more interested in the short term aims of winning each game rather than trying to keep the lads interested and challenged each week. I know my son's aware that I think they should move them all around, although I have made a point of not criticising the coaches at all - I think he heard me talking about it to someone else. The coaches have talked about moving players to different positions, but haven't done it, and aren't really receptive when they are asked about it. There are two coaches, and the one that seems to have the "casting vote" is pretty autocratic and doesn't seem to accept criticism or suggestions. My son has mentioned about moving to another club, where he may or may not get more of a chance to shine, but I am not sure this is the right move as it may teach him to give up rather than sticking with something. Any thoughts please?

Simon My son's PE teacher has told him that Bridging is lieegal for the U13 to U19 group. His Club coach has been encouraging its use in games for two seasons. I can see some of the dangers but also the advantages Who is right is it banned or can it be used? Paul submitted by email

How can I overcome my son's fear of tackling. He's 10 and shaping up to be a useful player in other areas but is very reluctant to engage other players in contact. What drills might help overcome this?

I coach under 9`s rugby and a lot of the kids have a bad fear of tackling, they lack the confidence to get stuck in. What is the best thing to help them overcome this?

Anyone have a good template example of a season plan for a junior side?

As well as coaching U10 rugby, I also get to referee U10 games, under the New Rules Of Play. I feel that my refereeing of the ruck isn't as good as it could/should be. Has anyone got an easy to follow system to help them referee U10 rucks ?

Hi, at the moment having trouble with our junior team getting to tackle correctly.....we've trained well and brought various drills to tackle prperly but come game day the kids are going too high and grabbing jerseys.....only one of two have a great technique!! So any idea for teaching better tackle technique for 10 & 11 year olds? Thanks and look forward to you're response. Asked using Sportplan Mobile App

what are the rules of tag rugby?

During a recent U17's league game, the opposing side took two consecutive quick tap penalties. During a break in play shortly after, as the coach attending an injured player, I questioned the referee on the legality of this passage of play, as my understanding was that two consecutive quick taps, used to catch the opposition in an offside position and therefore gain terratorial advantage, was not allowed under current law. The referee responded that this law is at his discretion and when we discussed after the game, he stated there is no such aw and that it is a "gentlemens agreement". I have since reviewed the laws on penalties and there is no specific law preventing a side taking two quick tap penalties. Has anyone else come across this interpretation and how can this be managed consistantly if when watching elite games, such a move is not allowed yet can be allowed at junior level ?

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