Sportplan rugby has played a large role in my team's love for the game!
How to begin coaching when the sport is not popular and many of player candidates are not familiar with rugby ? What is key of initiation ? How to start from white paper ?
RFU - proposed Mini's rule changes%3A All - just a quick straw poll%3A Have any CLUBS that you are aware of officially come out in SUPPORT of these changes? If not, have they come out officially rejecting the proposed changes, or are they adopting a "wait and see" attitude? Regards Stephe
Hi im looking for some drills and mainly games to play with kids aged 10 to 14 that have never played rugby before. They also have never seen it before as they come from mainly a soccer dominated background. Im mainly looking for touch and tag games to play any info or links would be much appricated
hi i am coaching younger players and they don't have much experience playing rugby, the ages are from 10 to 14 years old they don't have a lot of skill but thats ok , but the problem i have is how to get them not to all go for the ball and full into one big heap. is there drills to manage them to more toward a rugby shape and to get them to hold thier width. thank you
Hi there, just advice, I currently play for a local team, only social rugby, I love the sport, but so does my little boy who's 4... I was interested in finding out what qualifications processes you would need to go through to setup a little rugby class in my local area. Im not looking to teach the Kids the Rules of Rugby or have games, but more touch and chase the tag, fitness, co-ordinations skills etc... but how qualified do I need to be, and where would be a good start to getting a programme together... Hope you can help....
Why is it important to get players to score the try when completing a handling/running drill?
I'm 19 years old in Canada and have started a new team. All the students that have signed up are new to the game and are about 14/15.. Any tips on how to introduce rugby to them?
Hi folks, I have been coaching children from 7 to 16 years for along time. I now have a new challenge. We are opening rugby up for children from 2 years to 7 years. We will also be holding classes for children with special needs and would appreciate any tips or dialogue with coaches who have any experience. I look forward to exchanging views and results with any coaches willing to share. We will hold a few test sessions in the near future and will stay in touch. Many thanks. Kieron .Hong Kong. ( rugby for all)
What drills would anybody reccomend to encourage forward running in an u8s side,whilst keeping it fun?Some players tend to crab along the pitch.
How can I stop the kids bunching in tag rugby games ?
an RFU directive states that coaches should not hold pads/shields for juniors to run into during sessions, or even juniors holding pads for each other!!! I notice a lot of drills utilise pads as this was something we always used when I trained years ago! I personally think they are a good thing (especially since some of the juniors I coach are 'not small'!) BUT wondered what the general thoughts were out there in SportPlan world....
Hi folks, I have been coaching children from 7 to 16 years for along time. I now have a new challenge. We are opening rugby up for children from 2 years to 7 years. We will also be holding classes for children with special needs and would appreciate any tips or dialogue with coaches who have any experience. I look forward to exchanging views and results with any coaches willing to share. We will hold a few test sessions in the near future and will stay in touch. Many thanks. Kieron .Hong Kong. ( rugby for all)
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.
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 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?
I coach under 8's and next season they will start contact. When am I allowed to start teaching them tackling skills? I sit january during their under 8 season or at the start of the under 9 season ?
im coaching the under 6's how do i keep them interested in the game
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.
Does anyone have a definitive answer to this question%3A can I coach basic tackling skills to U8s now, in preparation for next season, without falling foul of any RFU rules or regulations? Hugo
Some of my U9s players, who are experiencing contact for their first season, are showing reticence in tackling - how do you coach or get through the fear factor/element?
in more ways than one
From France's collision dominance to England's folding defence - what grassroots coaches can learn from the 2026 Six Nations.
The removal of "not-straight" on uncontested lineouts transforms your set-piece options. Here's how to exploit the new rule.
2026 brings revolutionary changes to international rugby: a brand new global tournament, historic tours, and law changes that will reshape the game. Here's everything coaches need to know.
Coaches from around the world look to Sportplan for coaching confidence.