U14 rugby drills and games

Your approach

Under 14s rugby is where many players start to assert themselves aggressively. Your challenge is to manage that physicality and retain the other players who haven't yet matured in the same way.

The contact area will need:

• Accurate skill execution
• Better decisions on when to take contact
• Options to play away from contact

You should have a defined programme of contact skills and game sense which is ongoing rather than reactive.

You also need to have a similar programme for tackling. Defence and defensive structures will start to become a feature this season too.

Therefore, in a 90-minute session, where 15 minutes is dedicated to full contact, you should spend five minutes on the contact area (passing out of contact, rucks and mauls) and five minutes on tackling.

However, you could spend that time on slow-motion exercises to better understand those skills, and then use your contact time for more game-like scenarios.

Set pieces

You need to start developing a lineout, though, in reality, the key focus should be finding at least two players who can throw in and working with them.

Scrums are a contest. How many players can you develop to play in the front row, even if they don't always play there in the games?

Don't forget

Passing under pressure will be at a premium because collisions are heavier. Touch rugby games will help, but the more realistic you can make scenarios, the better.