Currently, we are running u7s, u8s, u9s, u10s & u11s age groups.

We believe the transition from tag rugby to tackling should be flexible based on their confidence and ability levels, so we aim to do this when they are 8 or 9 years old but allowing for children to move to contact rugby later if they aren’t ready. The last thing we’d want to do is lose children to the sport because we forced them into tackling too early!

When we do introduce contact, it is always a gradual, staged approach starting with very limited 1 on 1 core skill practise and only moving to tackling in games when the basic skills and confidence levels are there. Even then, the majority of our sessions will be focussed on other skills like passing, catching, communication etc so most of the time will remain non-contact.

Here is a matrix showing the way we tailor game rules to suit the primary school age groups:

And here is how we would run older age groups: