Organising your U10 season (2026)

What Changes for U10s

The framework for your first season with the U10s. If going up to tackling felt big, this throws in another part of the contact journey – scrums for the first time, plus the joys of rucks and mauls. The bigger pitch is a bit of a red herring; the extra player and the new phases of play are the real story.

• ›Do not treat these players as fully-formed rugby players with years of technical knowledge – they are 9 going on 10, so keep technical demands within real limits rather than pushing them like adults.

What Does Not Change

Core skills still matter, even though "core skills" means nothing to a U10 player. Underneath, getting better at catch, pass, tackle and the contact area is what helps them become the player they want to be.

• ›It is still their game, at their pace – do not compare it to the adult rugby you watched at the weekend. Keep asking them "if you see this, what do you do next?" so they are solving the problems, not just following instructions.
• ›Win parts of the game: not every player will be equally good at everything, so find the part each one can win and build from there.

From Me to Team Mindset

Players are moving from selfish to a team mindset, but they are rarely playing "for the team" yet – they are playing for their teammates. Show them the positive consequences of doing things well for the people around them, without making a big speech of it.

• ›Every player, strongest to weakest, gets the same skill exposure. The best players will pick things up faster, and the weakest may not choose to use a skill yet, but everyone gets the same diet.
• ›The big scorers get their praise automatically through tries. Your job is to find rugby praise points for everyone else, so every player has something specific to repeat, not just "good effort."

Ruck Refereeing

A ruck at this level is simple: one player from each team in contact over the ball after a tackle – they do not need to be bound on, just in contact with an opposition player. The tackler on the floor should roll away.

• ›Stand, as a referee, in the "chariot position" – behind the ruck, in line with the ball, on the attacking side – so you can see the ball and manage the defenders around it. Do not stand next to the ruck or on the defensive side.
• ›Sequence: shout "ruck formed, hands away", then as soon as it is clear who has won it, shout the team’s name ("Red ball!") – the clearing passer then has about 5 seconds to get the ball away.
• ›If the attack clearly wins the ball and it comes out the back, the defence cannot run round and play it – reward the team that won the contest fairly rather than letting defenders cheat around the side.
• ›Players must arrive on their feet, not dive in. If they arrive on their feet but end up falling to the side, that is fine; if they fall directly onto the ball, blow the whistle immediately.
• ›Jackals are rare at this age, but can happen: if a defender legally arrives and lifts the ball before the ruck properly forms, no ruck is formed and it is managed as a potential maul instead.
• ›Once a ruck has formed, the ball still has to be passed away – no one can pick and go, even if they win it.

The Four Roots

An ABCD framework underpins the ruck. The number one priority is not the clearing – it is ball carry and presentation.

Scrum, Rucks and Maul

• ›Scrum technique is not a big technical ask yet – you are starting players on the journey. Every player learns a strong body position, the "Tower of Power": flat back, f It is a good discipline that also helps their contact work later.
• ›Treat rucking as a layered, spiral progression – keep coming back to the basics and adding a small amount more pressure each time, rather than teaching it once and moving on.
• ›A "Ruck Club", splitting players into ability groups working the same skill at different paces, same idea as Tackle Club, works well here too.
• ›Do not coach the maul as its own skill – it is part of the game, not a priority.

Structuring the Season

Block the season out rather than trying to fix everything at once: where are we at the first game, where are we by half-term, where are we by Christmas, where are we by February half-term. Chase one or two skills and one play to the first game, then layer on a new skill and a new play at each block.

• ›You are not dropping the other skills – you keep working them – but pick one absolute focus for each block and let everything else layer on underneath it.
• ›Introduce a play only when players are ready for it, and invite them to use it rather than shouting it on – hope to see it bedded in by Christmas, not forced in week one.
• ›Do not chase too many layers at once. A season with one clean skill and one clean play per block beats one with five half-finished ideas.
• ›I would not bother with plays off the scrum yet, since players are still moving around positions – a free-pass play is a safer place to start, introduced only once you are happy with the first-game basics.

Session Structure

Ordered, predictable session structures make it much easier to keep control of a group at this age, especially for players who need extra clarity. Naive rugby warm-ups are not making players more skilful rugby players – they just get players ready mentally and physically.

• ›Unit work – a small section on scrum, a small section on what you are doing from a free pass – is capped at 10 minutes max.
• ›Cycle through the ABCD core skills for around 16 minutes, then set a skill game where players have to recognise which of A, B, C or D actually solves the problem in front of them (if-then thinking).
• ›Finish with a game. If you do not have a full 8 v 8 (the minimum for a U10 team is 8 players), slice the game up – 5v3, 6v2, whatever the numbers allow – and place players in different zones of the pitch with a specific question: "you are on the halfway line, what do you do here?"

Worked 6-Week Example

• ›Because the ruck is so central this year, nail chin-and-hips-over-the-ball first: show what success looks like one week, test it the next.
• ›Give the scrum 5–10 minutes a week – how quickly can the first three players in confirm they are set? – then a simple scrum play, not a complex move, just a clear "what do we do from here".
• ›Cycle the game problems through A, B, C, D so every core skill gets revisited, not just the block’s headline focus.

Example 6-Week Plan

A simple way to sequence the skill and play focuses through the season.

Keeping Them Competent, Connected, Challenged

Success is not just the scoreline – it is winning the parts of the game you defined, individual players developing, and coach and players enjoying the progress together.

• ›Know where each player is now, what "good" looks like for them, and what "better" looks like – individual development matters as much as team results.
• ›Read enjoyment beyond smiles – a puffed-out chest, being a bit more chatty, or a quiet nod can all be signs a player is enjoying their progress.
• ›Build and develop together – you want players to feel you are enjoying their progress with them, not standing above them saying "follow me."
• ›Split contact-based training by size or strength so less confident players get fairer contests and can find real success – let players move up or down between groups as their confidence changes through the season.
• ›Occasionally match a less confident player against a slightly bigger one with an achievable target ("you are not going to knock them down, but let us get a genuine tight grip") rather than avoiding the mismatch altogether.

Coaching Toolkit

• ›Build contact in layers rather than jumping straight to full intensity.
• ›Use first-receiver games to build fast-ball habits.
• ›Keep the chat positive – it is what can we do better, or what we did better, never empty praise.
• ›Rotate players in-game so everyone experiences different roles, and make sure every player gets at least half a game.
• ›Know when to step back and let players solve the problem themselves – you have given them the tools, now let them become their tools.
• ›Use democratic passing – everyone gets the ball, not just the strongest player.