U11 rugby drills and games

Under 11s is a year of consolidation for most players. Some unions will introduce some form of kicking (Kick to target) and there may be a contested strike in the scrums. However the majority of the game will be unchanged in terms of new skills.

Your approach should be to keep working on the core skills of handling, tackling and contact, which all include footwork skills. Though you might employ some tactics, the underlying themes should be:

• Running onto the ball. Try: Passing under pressure

• Moving the ball before contact. Try Keep the ball alive in contact or Communication into contact

• Excellent ball presentation skills to allow quick ball from the rucks. Try Ruck placement

• All the players playing a part in defence. Try Defend as units or Bounce and reload from the tackle

In defence, it is better to play games to work on line organisation. Ideally you will have a good line at every opportunity. Defence drills rarely work at this age though. It’s better to make the situations game-like. Also, avoid allocating positions. You will find players will naturally graduate to some positions, which is fine. Instead, concentrate on all the players being able to pass, ruck and tackle. Finally, as emphasised in the Under 10s, practise good body positions going into contact.

Don’t spend any time on “mauling” if your union rules allows mauling. Once a player is caught in a maul, there’s not much chance of either quick ball or even getting the ball back in some cases. Leave mauling to when there’s lineout lifting.