Rugby: u13

How do I motivate my U13's to be more determined as they are generally to nice?

At a recent u12's match, the home ref, who is also a L2 coach penalized the hooker for foul play. At the end of the match at the debrief, the ref said to the hooker in front of his peers that he would have sent him off if there had been any subs. Is this against the guidelines of the child protection and did he dip out of his duties as a ref. What are your thoughts? Gary SWales

Number 8 pick ups from scrum at U13?

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.

At u13 age group is it good to be playing a game every weekend or should it be staggered with training?

I am looking for the under 7 to under 13 primary school rugby rules. Ball size and everything that is involved. Where can I find it.

Just started coaching u13, are the 2nd row allowed to bind through the props legs or do they have to bind onto the side? Asked using Sportplan Mobile App

Tackling nerves - I coach 10 year old boys. Some are very nervous about being hurt when tackling opponents although the same guys are like lions with the ball in hand. As a result our defence suffers. We have tried hammering home the correct technique to give confidence but to no avail. Can anyone suggest any psychology or drills I might try?

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

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 help with defensive sets and communication. I coach U13 and I am having trouble devising a dril which gets them communicating but mostly helps get them more aware of their own defensive line. I still have boys who are very ball focussed and I need them to start looking up and down their line and the other teams to make sure they are numbered up and there are no holes. Any ideas?

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....

Looking for coaching tips on introducing U9 kids to the tackle area

Any examples of lineout calls suitable for u14s

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.

My under 13 school rugby team played against a school team that were much bigger than my boys. This was their first experience playing against players that were much bigger than them. What do we do for future matches?

A 'straight arm tackle' is dangerous play according to the laws of the game... does that mean that a 'hand off / fend' must be made with a bent elbow?

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?

Ask a question and have it answered by Coaches from around the world and Sportplan's team of Experts.

My under 18 team tried to take a quick lineout with one attacker in the lineout and 2 defenders in the lineout. When he threw the ball to another attacker who was about 10metres behind the lineout he was told by the referee that the lineout had formed and could not take a quick penalty. What is the clarification of this as I always thought you had to have at least 2 players from each team in the lineout to say that the lineout had formed?