Under-16 6 Week Pre-Season Plan

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Our Season from A → Z

Pre-season	First friendly	First match	Half term	Pre-Christmas	Christmas	Post-Christmas	To Easter	End
A	B	C to D	E–H	I–M	Break	N–Q	R–U	W–Z

The Approach

Pre-season is not the finish line; it is the start of the season-long journey. Plan it around a few clear intentions, build robustness, and use the rare gift of time without games.

Start with the end in mind

Point A is your planning and reflection. Point Z is the final game of the season.
Design the journey backwards from Point Z, like a curriculum.
The first friendly is only Point B. It will be messy and so will the opposition. Everyone is in the same boat.

Chase robustness, not just fitness

Robustness is repeatability: the ability to do it again next week without breaking down or getting injured.
It is a robustness of body and of mindset – up, down, change direction, wrestle, and back it up.
The base you build now is hard to chase back later; miss it and players spend the season on the physio bench.

Pick a couple of objectives, not twenty

Chase too many rabbits and you catch none. Pick a small number of things to go after and get real clarity on them.
Roughly one or two in attack, one or two in defence – not a long install list you hope will stick.
The friendly is where you test the targets, not where they must already be polished.

Objectives & Examples

Pick one or two in attack and one or two in defence. Add a set-piece start point if you have the time, and write your choices in the objectives box.

attack

Play off a simple shape (9–10 with named runners)
Quick, clean ball from the breakdown
Use width and the overlap
Decision at the line: carry, pass or kick
Counter-attack from kicks

defence

Connected line speed (move up together)
Dominant, safe front-foot tackle
Compete at the breakdown (jackal)
Defend the edge / push wide

set piece (start points)

Lineout basics – safe lifting and jumping; CSS (Clarity, Scanning, Speed)
Scrum body position and safety

individual

Explore a new role (e.g. learn to jump, become a decision-maker)
Build contact confidence

Our Objectives for Pre-SeasonWrite the few things this group is going after this pre-season. Keep the list short and specific.

Attack objective 1

Attack objective 2 (optional)

Defence objective 1

Defence objective 2 (optional)

Set piece objective (optional)

Squad objective (optional)

What success looks like at the first friendly

Individual Development Plan (IDP)

Players fill this in and revisit it through pre-season. Keep it short enough to actually use.

My IDPPlayers fill this in and revisit it through pre-season. Keep it short enough to actually use.

Name / position

My super strength

My biggest work-on

What support do I need?

What challenge do I need?

A new role I could grow into

My contact confidence (1–10)

What keeps me coming back

Use Pre-Season to Open Up New Roles

Players who were always ’the big kid who crashes it up’ may need to learn to jump, pass or make decisions in new channels. Pre-season is the time to let them try, with high support around them.

The Intensity Dial

Exploring vs common language

A small-sided game like a 5v4 can be run two ways. Both have a place – move the dial to suit the objective.

The intensity dial showing three zones: A (slow/open exploration), B (fast/common language), C (game fastest)

A – Open Exploration: Slower

Set up the numbers and let them solve it however they can. No shared shape. Best early on, when the objective is problem-solving and reading the picture.

B – Common Language: Faster

Same 5v4, but now off a simple shape (e.g. 9 to 10 with named runners). Use it as you build clarity toward the first games. Fewer decisions, faster execution. Use it as you build clarity toward the first games.

U16 players still need to be able to do A to be functional. Add B once the basics of reading the picture are there – it lets them solve the same problem in more depth.

Create Density — Match the Dial to the Objective

Decide the intention first, then design for it.

If the objective is robustness and ball-in-play, dial coach intervention down and let the work happen. Stopping every 30 seconds for a two-minute chat kills the density.

Use clear timing blocks – e.g. a 10-minute block with 8 minutes ball-in-play and a 2-minute reset. Coach on the fly, in short bursts.

If instead the objective is clarity or skill, dial intervention up and take the stress down. The dials move to suit the objective.

Weeks at a Glance

Wk	Theme	Main intention	Dial
1	Reconnect	Touches, density, who they are	Mostly A
2	Explore problems	Read overloads, find space	A
3	Collision & contact	Evade-first hierarchy, safe tackle	A → B
4	Common language	Shared shape, quicker decisions	B
5	Set piece & clarity	Safe lifting, CSS at lineout	B
6	Test it	Game-like; prep the friendly	Game

WEEK 1

ReconnectGet the group moving and playing. Let’s remember who we are and what each player needs.

Block	What we do	Why (intention)
Games	Big-pitch games, high ball-in-play	Robustness & density
Carousel	Catch-pass, evasion, footwork	Sharpen the basics
Finish	Short huddle, big-ups, a question each	Support & buy-in

WEEK 2

Explore ProblemsLots of open problems. Dial coaching down so they read pictures and find solutions for themselves.

Block	What we do	Why (intention)
Small-sided	2v1, 3v2, 5v4 run as A (open exploration)	Problem-solving = the key basic
Conditioning game	Line-break = team follows; turn and burn	Game running replaces Broncos
Skill on the fly	Quick corrections inside the game	Keep density high

WEEK 3

Collision & ContactBring contact in carefully. Coach the collision as a hierarchy and build confidence before any heavy work.

Block	What we do	Why (intention)
Footwork	Approach and body height (upright → hinge)	Safe collisions, hard ground OK
Hierarchy	Evade → fend → keep the ball	Manage the collision
Game	Contact constraint inside a small game	Test under a real picture

WEEK 4

Common LanguageIntroduce a simple shared shape so decisions speed up. Move the dial toward B – same problems, more clarity.

Block	What we do	Why (intention)
Install	One simple shape off 9/10 with named runners	Shared mental model
5v4 as B	Run the overload off the shape	Quicker, clearer execution
Game	Game that rewards using the shape	Does it transfer?

WEEK 5

Set Piece & ClaritySet piece is a start point. Do the technical, safe work first; then let it start a game.

Block	What we do	Why (intention)
Technical (~10 min)	Safe lifting / jumping basics, low scrum count	Confidence + safety
Lineout CSS	Clarity, Scanning, Speed as the measure	A shared success picture
Game start	Begin games with a 3-man lineout / mini-contest	Set piece feeds the game

WEEK 6

Test ItClosest week to Saturday. Light coaching, name the objectives, treat the friendly as the test – not the finished article.

Block	What we do	Why (intention)
Refresh	Quick recap of shape, CSS and hierarchy	Sharpen, do not overload
Full game	Game nearest to match conditions	The game is the assessment
Friendly brief	What success looks like (the rabbits/objectives)	Clarity over polish

Collision Management

A hierarchy – start at the top. Most coaches jump straight to the bottom.

1

EvadeCan I beat the defender and get into positive space before contact happens at all?

2

Fend / ManipulateIf contact comes, turn a square shot into a side shot; keep free hands to offload.

3

Keep the BallBody position after the tackle so my team gets quick, clean ball (or an offload off the floor).

Defence mirrors it: footwork and approach, then the collision point and body height (upright to hinge), then completion. None of this needs the ground to be soft.

Session Design Checklist

Tick each box before every session:

Does the session have a single clear objective?Is the intention decided – robustness, clarity, skill, or test?Is the dial position set – open exploration (A) or common language (B)?Is ball-in-play time high enough for the objective?Is there a clear problem for players to solve?Are there rugby balls in it and does it look like rugby?

Five to Do · Five to Avoid

Five Things to Do

1

Plan with the end in mind. Every session is part of the box set – it should link to where you want to be at Point Z.

2

Get to know your individuals, new and old. Pre-season gives you the time and space to actually do it.

3

Set problems. The best players are the best problem-solvers; problem-solving is the real basic of rugby.

4

Involve your players. They help build it, and they come back because they have a say in it.

5

Geek out on practice design. Take time to build clever practices that help players find their own solutions.

Five Things to Avoid

1

Chasing too many objectives. Go after too much and you catch none.

2

Stressing that it is not polished. The first game is Point B, not the finished article – manage expectations.

3

Copy-and-paste coaching. Be inspired by the elite game, but make it specific to your players, not a YouTube tick-box.

4

Random sessions. No throwaway sessions – if it does not fit the bigger picture, leave it out.

5

No rugby balls. Players came for rugby; do not leave them sledgehammering tyres for 90 minutes. Get balls in.

Dan Cottrell

Dan is a practising RFU Level 3 coach and coach educator. He is head coach of Bristol Schools U18s, assistant coach with City of Bristol Schools U16s and the Rugby Performance coach for Bristol Grammar School. Dan is also a coaching and development consultant for World Rugby Development Programmes, and club performance adviser for St Mary's Old Boys.

He was a lead coach with the Bristol Bears DPP programme, head coach of Swansea Schools U15, Young Ospreys Academy, assistant coach ...

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