Rugby: junior games

Simon My son's PE teacher has told him that Bridging is lieegal for the U13 to U19 group. His Club coach has been encouraging its use in games for two seasons. I can see some of the dangers but also the advantages Who is right is it banned or can it be used? Paul submitted by email

During a recent U17's league game, the opposing side took two consecutive quick tap penalties. During a break in play shortly after, as the coach attending an injured player, I questioned the referee on the legality of this passage of play, as my understanding was that two consecutive quick taps, used to catch the opposition in an offside position and therefore gain terratorial advantage, was not allowed under current law. The referee responded that this law is at his discretion and when we discussed after the game, he stated there is no such aw and that it is a "gentlemens agreement". I have since reviewed the laws on penalties and there is no specific law preventing a side taking two quick tap penalties. Has anyone else come across this interpretation and how can this be managed consistantly if when watching elite games, such a move is not allowed yet can be allowed at junior level ?

what to do?when on the field players struggle to make tackles, but when we use the junior bag they go in hard and tackle like animals.any drills to help us please?my group is under 9s

I have started an under 10s team up, and I would say about 8 from the 13 children I have , did not play rugby until about 6 months ago. Of these players, there seems to be a lot of potential, as we are scoring tries against teams, that very rarely concede tries.the problem I got with them, is that we are very poor at organising our selves in defense when the opposition has the ball, which does result in us conceding quite a few tries. We have some very good tacklers in the team. Can anyone offer some ideas on how I can get them to organise themselves? Thanks . Chris.

Getting quite frustrated that my u10's are not using the space on the pitch and tend to bunch up. Despite various drills and game scenarios to force them to spread out and pass to someone in space they revert in any game to bunching up around the ball and taking it back into the thick of the opposition rather than looking left or right! Any ideas how to change their ways?

I coach under 9`s rugby and a lot of the kids have a bad fear of tackling, they lack the confidence to get stuck in. What is the best thing to help them overcome this?

I have just started helping our head coach with under12's team. He wants to retire and has put me forward to be head coach next season. I am a little worried on how i should aproach training with the boys, going to a full 15 a side team on a full pitch. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

How can I stop the kids bunching in tag rugby games ?

Hi I’m a proud dad who wants to help his 12 year old son develop as an aspiring number 12/13. No experience at all coaching but willing to give it a go. He already trains with his team of course but only once a week. I’d like to supplement that with a plan that he and I can follow 2 to 3 times a week but limited realisticallly to he and I. Passing and tackling and speed and agility I’m guessing are key? Anything on decision making would also be good. Any advice gratefully received!

What drills would anybody reccomend to encourage forward running in an u8s side,whilst keeping it fun?Some players tend to crab along the pitch.

I need ideas for fun team building activities and any fun games to help towards team building. Has anyone got any ideas on what to do? Anything to spice up rugby training sessions in the dark, cold winter nights.

an RFU directive states that coaches should not hold pads/shields for juniors to run into during sessions, or even juniors holding pads for each other!!! I notice a lot of drills utilise pads as this was something we always used when I trained years ago! I personally think they are a good thing (especially since some of the juniors I coach are 'not small'!) BUT wondered what the general thoughts were out there in SportPlan world....

I'm coaching and reffing U11 rugby and one of my players is the definitive 'big lad'. His 'strength' is his size and his power, but last weekend he didn't seem to get reffed fairly. The opposition couldn't tackle him down, one on one and when another two joined in to make a mini maul, that didn't slow him down much either. The ref then let other people join in the (one sided) struggle to tackle him down, which seemed very unfair as A) it's outside the laws of U11 rugby,, B) it makes it nigh on impossible for him to offload, C) when he is brought to ground, he has 4-5 players all over him and he got pinged for 'holding on'. He is a recent arrival to rugby and it was our first game for a couple of months, so the situation hadn't reared his head before. We are keen that he learns all of the core skills of rugby and doesn't get used as a battering ram, but after seeing a pack of hyenas trying to pull down the big fella, something just didn't seem right to me.I'd be grateful for any thoughts and opinions.

Improving game awareness. How can I improve players insight into "what happens next", besides by whatching (games)? Players tend to be fixed on the ball(situation) and seldom look at what is in front of them%3A how can I stimulated them to take time to quickly look around and assess the situation?

Hi. I am in charge of the Mini Rugby (age 8) warm-up and am interested in more ideas. I try and keep them fun, sports specific and interesting for the boys and they seem to like what I do. Can anyone please help? Thanks!

Hi, at the moment having trouble with our junior team getting to tackle correctly.....we've trained well and brought various drills to tackle prperly but come game day the kids are going too high and grabbing jerseys.....only one of two have a great technique!! So any idea for teaching better tackle technique for 10 & 11 year olds? Thanks and look forward to you're response. Asked using Sportplan Mobile App

As well as coaching U10 rugby, I also get to referee U10 games, under the New Rules Of Play. I feel that my refereeing of the ruck isn't as good as it could/should be. Has anyone got an easy to follow system to help them referee U10 rucks ?

In relation U9's, I've read about the two hands on the ball ruling in U7 tag, Is there a similar requirement in U9's to have both hands on the ball when running etc (this was flagged up by a learned touchline parent?). Can anyone close the loop on this one for me?

My fowards seem afraid to ruck and stand around the ruck while in the way of the scrum half trying to get the ball out to the backs. They also don't support the ball carrier while he is being tackled. Please help me with any suggestions!!!

what to do?when on the field players struggle to make tackles, but when we use the junior bag they go in hard and tackle like animals.any drills to help us please?my group is under 9s