Down the tubes

A simple game that makes your players think about who they are going to pass to – and where – after getting into position and attacking with a four-man overload.

SET UP

A coned 40 x 20m channel with four players touching each of the tackle tubes A, B, C and D. A ball is placed on both sides of the channel.

THE RULES

To start, players walk around their tube with one hand always touching it (picture 1). When you call a letter, (in our example “A”) those players sit on that tube (picture 2).

Then the 8 players on one side of the channel attack the four on the other after picking up the nearest ball. Give them five seconds to score a try (picture 3). Use touch-tackling or full tackling. The defenders can run to their own try line before defending if you want to give the attackers more chance to score.

SCORING

• Try scored or not.
• Run the game several times giving both sides equal opportunities to attack and score. See who scores most tries.

TELL THEM

“Read the defence and give helpful information to the ball carrier.”

“Look at the defence and make a judgement on what you are going to do early.”

“Make crisp passes listening to team mates’ calls.”

COACHING TIPS

Players coming from different directions in both attack and defence is something players who transition from minis to youth rugby have to become used to. This game helps with that transition.