Rugby tackling drills work fastest when they climb a contact ladder: stance and head placement with no impact at all, then pads, then body contact at walking pace, then angles at speed, then a live contest. Run each stage until the technique holds up. In the English community game the tackle goes in below the base of the sternum, the belly and below, and your own union sets the line for your competition and age band.
World Rugby's Tackle Ready(opens in new tab) programme puts the average at 176 tackles per game. That is a lot of repetitions of the most dangerous thing in the sport, and contact is also where junior rugby quietly loses players. A twelve-year-old who is frightened of the tackle rarely says so out loud. They just drift sideways in the grid and make soft contact with the shoulder.
This page takes the contact half of our complete rugby drills library and goes deep on it. Fifteen drills, arranged in five stages, each carrying the fault to watch for, the fix, and a verdict on whether the next stage is safe yet. Where the tackle turns into a contest on the floor, our rugby rucking drills pick the story up.
What Drills Improve Rugby Tackling?
Good tackling drills share one quality. They put a player in front of a target that is only as fast, as heavy and as unpredictable as their technique can currently handle. Everything else follows from that. A tackle rehearsed against a still pad tells you nothing about a player who freezes when a body runs at them, and a full-contact session run too early teaches nervous players to avoid the collision rather than meet it.
The five stages on this page climb that ladder. Body position drills build the shape with no impact. Pad and shield drills add force against foam. First-contact drills bring in another body at walking pace, from ground level upward. Angle drills add speed and the three real tackle types. Live drills add a contest and a defensive line. Each stage earns the next one.
Two things stay constant no matter which stage your squad is on. The tackler's cheek finishes behind the carrier's hip every single time, and the shoulder makes contact at hip or thigh height. Get those two right and you have removed the two ways this goes badly wrong. The rest is repetition and patience.
Tackle Height, Law 14, and Your Age-Grade Rules
World Rugby Law 14(opens in new tab) defines a tackle as the ball carrier being held and brought to ground by one or more opponents, and it puts the responsibility for height on the tackler, who must tackle below the relevant sanction line. World Rugby words that line as the shoulder in elite rugby and the waist or base of the sternum in community rugby. That is a framework, and your union fills in the number.
In England the community game has run at below the base of the sternum since 1 July 2023. The RFU Council adopted that definition on 21 April 2023(opens in new tab) and worded it as the area of the tummy or belly and below. If a parent asks you on the touchline, that is your sentence. Belly and below. England's age-grade rules still run on that height.
Check Your Union's Age-Grade Regulations Before You Plan Contact
Law 14 is the adult union law. Age-grade rugby runs on top of it under your own union's regulations, written per year group, and those are the rules that bind your Thursday session.
Who you coach
Where the rule lives
What it says about height
England, adult community game
World Rugby Law 14 plus the RFU variation, in force from 1 July 2023
Below the base of the sternum, the tummy or belly and below
England, age grade (U12 shown)
RFU Regulation 15, one Rules of Play appendix per age band
Tackler grips and holds below the base of the sternum, and the carrier must not enter contact with their shoulders below their hips
Ireland, Wales, Scotland
The IRFU, WRU or Scottish Rugby equivalent for your age band
Check your own union's current document before you plan the session
England's age-band rules sit in RFU Regulation 15(opens in new tab), which carries a separate Rules of Play appendix for each year group. They set more than the tackle. Squad numbers, pitch size, and how much contact is allowed at all change with the age band.
Take no tackle height and no age-band rule second hand, adult or junior, including from this page. These documents are reissued by season, the England set effective from 1 August 2025, so pull up the current version for your own age band and competition before you plan a contact night. It takes two minutes, and it separates coaching the game your players are actually registered to play from coaching a reasonable guess at it.
Law 14 also governs what happens once everybody is down. The tackler must release the ball and the ball carrier immediately, must move away or get up, and must be on their feet before attempting to play the ball again. The tackled player has to make the ball available straight away. Every drill on this page finishes the way the law finishes, with somebody standing back up.
How to Tackle Perfectly in Rugby
There is no perfect tackle, but there is a repeatable one, and World Rugby breaks it into five stages in its Tackle Ready(opens in new tab) programme. They run in a fixed order.
Tracking. Track the carrier's hips as you close the space.
Preparation. Shorten your steps and drop your hips.
Connection. Connect through the shoulder at hip or thigh height.
Acceleration. Drive the legs through the contact.
Finish. Finish on the ground, release, and get up.
If a tackle fails, one of those five stages failed, and naming which one is usually the whole coaching intervention.
What Cheek to Cheek Actually Means
One cue does more for safety than any other, and it is worth being exact about, because it gets taught two different ways. Cheek to cheek means your nearside cheek finishes pressed against the back of the carrier's hip, so your head ends up behind them. World Rugby words the same thing as the arrowhead in the connection stage of Tackle Ready(opens in new tab), where the tackler squeezes their nearside ear to the ball carrier's body. The same page is blunt about the reason. The tackler should never make contact with the crown of their head.
Front on and side on, the approach differs and the head placement does not. Coming from the front you slide your head past one side of the carrier as you connect, and it finishes behind the near hip. Coming from the side you take it behind them as they run past. Either way your ear ends up against their body and your head is out of the path of a rising knee. If your head is in front of the carrier at contact, the tackle is wrong no matter what the rest of you did.
What Is the 6 Tackle Rule?
That one belongs to rugby league. In league, the team in possession is allowed six tackles; after the sixth, possession hands over to the opposition, which is why you see a kick on the fifth. Rugby union, which is what this page covers, has no tackle count at all. Possession continues through ruck after ruck until your side knocks on, kicks it away, breaks a law, or loses the ball at the breakdown. So a union defence is not counting down to a handover. It has to earn the ball back.
Body Position Drills Before Anyone Touches Anyone
Start where nobody can get hurt. The three below build the tackle shape without any impact at all, which means a brand-new group can meet them ten minutes into a first session. The stance comes first, then head placement, then the landing. Add a drill to your plan with the button on any card and it collects into a contact block at the foot of the page.
Tackle Stance Holds
Body PositionBeginner
Players: AnyTime: 4 minEquipment: None
Builds: The low, balanced base every tackle starts from
Spread the squad across the pitch with no ball and no partner. On your call each player drops into the tackle stance: feet about a shoulder width apart, knees bent so the hips sit low, chest over the toes, eyes up and hands ready in front of the chest. Hold five seconds, stand tall, go again. A tackler who arrives tall has already lost the contact, so this shape has to become automatic before anybody meets anybody.
Reps: Six holds of five seconds, then six dropping into the stance off two walking steps
Target: Ready for a pad when a player finds the stance without being reminded to bend the knees
Coaching cues
Knees bent, hips low · Chest over the toes · Eyes up on the target's chest
Common mistake & fix
Mistake: Bending at the waist so the back rounds and the head drops toward the ground
Fix: Bend the knees rather than the back, and lift the eyes to the target's chest.
Cheek to Cheek Shadow
Body PositionBeginner
Players: PairsTime: 5 minEquipment: None
Builds: Correct head placement with no impact involved
One player stands still as a target. The other walks in, sets the stance, and slides the head past the target's hip so the nearside cheek finishes against the back of it. That is cheek to cheek, and the head is now behind the carrier where a knee cannot reach it. The shoulder touches at hip or thigh height, the arms close around the legs, and nothing else happens. No drive, no force, nobody goes to ground.
Reps: Eight placements on each shoulder, then swap roles
Target: Ready for a pad when the cheek finishes behind the hip eight times running with no reminder
Coaching cues
Cheek behind the hip · Ear squeezed against their body · Arms close and wrap
Common mistake & fix
Mistake: Leaving the head in front of the carrier, which puts it in line with a rising knee
Fix: Slow the walk-in and get the head past the hip before the shoulder touches anything.
Fall, Roll and Rise
Body PositionBeginner
Players: AnyTime: 5 minEquipment: None
Builds: A safe landing and a fast return to the feet
Players work alone on the grass. From a low stance they roll onto one shoulder, land along the side of the body with the chin tucked in, then push straight back up onto their feet. Law 14 asks the tackler to release and to be on their feet before playing the ball again, so standing up is part of the tackle rather than something that comes after it. Time the last two reps to make the getting-up urgent.
Reps: Six rolls each side, the final two against a stopwatch
Target: Ready to add contact when a player lands on the side and is upright again inside two seconds
Coaching cues
Chin tucked to the chest · Land along your side, never flat on the back · Push up, do not sit up
Common mistake & fix
Mistake: Throwing out a straight arm to break the fall, which is how wrists and shoulders get hurt
Fix: Keep the arms tucked in and let the shoulder and hip take the landing.
Rugby Tackling Drills With Pads and Shields
Pads and shields exist so a player can meet force before they meet a person. That distinction matters more than it sounds. Foam does not flinch, does not step, and does not get hurt, so a tackler can be wrong six times in a row and learn something each time. Our own rugby preset starts its Tackle Fundamentals drill on a pad for exactly this reason, ten reps per player, before it lets a moving target in. The first card below carries the three cues in the order they belong on your session card. Everything else in tackling is detail hanging off those three.
Tackle Fundamentals on a Static Pad
Pads and ShieldsBeginner
Players: PairsTime: 6 minEquipment: 1 contact pad per pair
Builds: A safe tackle stance and technique against a held pad
A partner holds a contact pad still, low and square, roughly at hip height. The tackler sets the stance, steps in, makes contact through the shoulder, closes both arms round the pad and keeps the legs driving for three short steps. Three cues run the whole drill and nothing else gets coached: cheek behind the pad, shoulder onto the hip or thigh, arms wrap and legs drive. Ten reps each, then swap the pad over.
Reps: 10 reps per player, five off the left shoulder and five off the right
Target: Ready for a moving pad when all ten reps land at the same height with the cheek behind the pad
Coaching cues
Cheek behind the pad, every rep · Shoulder first, arms straight after · Keep the feet moving through contact
Common mistake & fix
Mistake: Leading with the arms and letting the shoulder arrive second, so the pad stops the tackler dead
Fix: Make the shoulder the first thing that touches the pad, then wrap.
Walking Pad Target
Pads and ShieldsBeginner
Players: PairsTime: 6 minEquipment: 1 contact pad per pair
Builds: Timing the contact against a target that moves
Same pad, same three cues, one change: the holder now walks forward at a steady pace. The tackler has to shorten the gap with small steps and choose the moment to commit. Walking pace is the first real test, because a player whose technique only survives when the target stands still will show it here. Watch what happens to the head as the pad closes in.
Reps: Ten reps each, the holder walking a fresh line every time
Target: Ready to jog it when eight of the ten walking reps finish cheek behind the pad with the arms joined
Coaching cues
Small steps as the gap closes · Commit late, not early · Cheek behind the pad even when the target moves
Common mistake & fix
Mistake: The head lifting upright and the arms opening the moment the pad starts moving
Fix: Drop back to the static pad for a set, then rebuild the walking speed one pace at a time.
Two-Shield Gate
Pads and ShieldsIntermediate
Players: Groups of 3Time: 6 minEquipment: 2 contact shields, 4 cones
Builds: Choosing a shoulder under a bit of time pressure
Two holders stand two metres apart with shields, making a gate. The tackler starts five metres back and jogs in. You call left or right late, so the choice of shoulder happens on the move. Rugby rarely lets a tackler pick the side in advance, and this is the cheapest way to train that decision while foam still holds the far side.
Reps: Six calls per tackler, mixing the sides so nobody can guess the pattern
Target: Ready for body contact when the tackler hits the called shield off the correct shoulder six times running
Coaching cues
Eyes on the gate, ears open for the call · Turn the feet before the shoulder · Finish through the shield
Common mistake & fix
Mistake: Guessing the side early and then twisting the body to correct it, which spins the head into the shield
Fix: Hold a square stance until the call comes, then step the near foot across first.
First Contact: Body on Body at Walking Pace
The first tackle onto a real body is the moment you find out who is genuinely comfortable in contact. Start it on the knees. Two kneeling players cannot fall far, cannot generate much force, and cannot get the angles badly wrong, so the technique carries almost all of the load. Then raise the height one rung at a time.
Resist the urge to move a whole group up together. Your least confident player sets the pace of a contact session, and a player pushed up two rungs early will spend the next month backing out of tackles. For the wider principle of building a drill so it can be made harder in small, deliberate steps, our guide to designing drill progressions sets out how to size each jump.
Knees to Knees Tackle
First ContactBeginner
Players: PairsTime: 5 minEquipment: None
Builds: The first body-on-body tackle from the lowest possible height
Both players kneel facing each other about a metre apart. The carrier shuffles forward on the knees; the tackler slides the head past the near hip, wraps the arms and eases the carrier down onto the grass, landing alongside and releasing at once. Nobody is standing, so nobody falls far. For a nervous player this is often the first tackle that feels survivable, and that matters more than the technique score.
Reps: Six each way, swapping roles after every rep
Target: Ready to stand up when the cheek finishes behind the hip and the tackler releases straight away, six of six
Coaching cues
Cheek behind the hip before the arms · Guide the carrier down, do not fling them · Let go the moment you land
Common mistake & fix
Mistake: Landing on top of the carrier with the full body weight and staying there
Fix: Land alongside on your hip and roll away, exactly as Law 14 asks of a tackler.
Sit, Kneel, Stand Ladder
First ContactBeginner
Players: PairsTime: 6 minEquipment: None
Builds: A staged climb from ground level to standing contact
Run the same tackle three times at three heights. First both players sit, then both kneel, then both stand at walking pace. The tackler only climbs a rung once the head, the shoulder and the wrap are right at the rung below. A player who wobbles at kneeling height will not be fixed by being asked to do it standing, so send them back down instead of talking them through it again.
Reps: Four reps at each height, both players working through the full ladder
Target: Ready for a channel when a player completes all three heights in one go with clean head placement
Coaching cues
Earn the next height · Same three cues at every rung · Slow is the point
Common mistake & fix
Mistake: Skipping to standing because the group is bored, which is exactly when technique slips
Fix: Keep the rungs short and busy so nobody is waiting, then the ladder never feels slow.
Walking 1v1 Channel
First ContactIntermediate
Players: Groups of 3 to 4Time: 8 minEquipment: 4 cones, 1 ball
Builds: A complete tackle at walking pace inside a marked channel
Mark a channel five metres wide and ten metres long. A carrier walks down it holding the ball while a tackler comes forward to complete the whole thing: track, set the feet, cheek behind the hip, wrap, drive and finish on the ground. Eight reps, alternating which side the tackler starts from. Walking pace keeps everyone honest, because there is no momentum to hide sloppy technique behind.
Reps: Eight reps per tackler, four from each starting side
Target: Ready to raise the pace when eight of eight finish safely and the tackler is back on their feet fast
Coaching cues
Track the hips, not the ball · Narrow the channel to narrow the choices · Finish and get up
Common mistake & fix
Mistake: Reaching from too far out, so the tackler falls into the carrier instead of driving through
Fix: Take two extra small steps before committing so the shoulder arrives on the hip, not on air.
Angles, Moving Targets, and the Three Tackle Types
Very few match tackles look like the textbook front-on picture. The carrier is running an angle, or has already beaten someone, or is going away from you toward the try line. Tackle Ready groups the one-player tackle into three types, and your training should spend time on all three: front on, side on, and from behind. The head placement rule holds for every one of them.
Speed is the new variable here, and it changes what breaks. A tackler who was clean at walking pace often starts arriving with dead feet, overrunning the carrier, or lifting the head as the closing speed rises. Watch the last three steps before contact. That is where the fault almost always lives.
Front-On Tracking Channel
Angles and MovementIntermediate
Players: Groups of 4Time: 8 minEquipment: 4 cones, 1 ball
Builds: Closing the space in front of a carrier without overrunning
Ten-metre channel, carrier jogging, tackler coming forward from the far end. The work here is the tracking: close the first few metres quickly, then shorten your stride and keep the feet alive so you can still react when the carrier steps. Tackle Ready calls tracking the first stage of the tackle for a reason. A tackler who arrives with the feet dead misses whatever happens next.
Reps: Six reps per tackler, the carrier free to step once inside the channel
Target: Ready for angles when the tackler stays square and completes six front-on tackles at jogging pace
Coaching cues
Fast for three steps, then short and busy · Stay square to the carrier · Eyes on the hips
Common mistake & fix
Mistake: Sprinting the whole way in and sailing past the carrier's first sidestep
Fix: Break the run into two speeds and get the brakes on with three metres to go.
Side-On Angle Tackle
Angles and MovementIntermediate
Players: Groups of 4Time: 8 minEquipment: 6 cones, 1 ball
Builds: The tackle that arrives from the side rather than head on
Carrier runs a straight line down a lane; the tackler starts three metres out to the side and comes in on an angle. The head goes behind the carrier, the shoulder into the near hip, the arms wrap and the legs keep driving so the carrier is turned and taken down. Most match tackles happen at some angle, so this one earns more training time than the classic front-on picture usually gets.
Reps: Five reps from each side per tackler
Target: Ready to contest when the head is behind the carrier on five of five from both sides
Coaching cues
Head behind, never in front · Shoulder into the near hip · Drive the legs through the turn
Common mistake & fix
Mistake: Letting the head slip in front of the carrier's body, the highest-risk error in the whole tackle
Fix: Squeeze your nearside ear into their body as you connect and the head lands behind on its own.
Chase and Drop
Angles and MovementAdvanced
Players: Groups of 4Time: 6 minEquipment: 4 cones, 1 ball
Builds: The tackle from behind on a carrier who has broken the line
Mark a channel about five metres wide and fifteen long with four cones, and give the carrier a ball. The carrier gets a two-metre head start and runs for the try line. The chaser closes, then drops low and rings both arms around the legs just above the knees, sliding down as the carrier goes to ground.
Reps: Four chases per player, alternating who runs
Target: Ready for live defence when four of four chases land below the hips and bring the carrier down
Coaching cues
Arms low and locked · Slide down the legs · Keep the head to one side of the body
Common mistake & fix
Mistake: Grabbing at the shirt around the shoulders, which is both ineffective and a high-tackle penalty risk
Fix: Take one more stride to get level with the hips before you commit, then go low.
Live and Contested Tackling in a Defensive Line
Live contact needs a governor, and the most useful one is a named intensity. Our preset's Contact Grid drill runs inside a ten by ten metre square at three levels, light and technical, then medium at roughly half force, then full match intensity, with five reps at each. Nobody moves up until the technique below is safe. Saying the level out loud before each set is what keeps it controlled, because then both players know what they have agreed to.
The other half of live tackling is talk. Two defenders covering three attackers have to call their targets by number and hold the call, and a squad that does this well concedes far fewer of the soft tries that come from two players drifting onto the same runner. Once the tackle is complete, the contest moves to the floor, which is where our drills for the breakdown take over: arriving through the gate, the jackal, and clearing out safely.
Contact Grid at Three Intensities
Live and ContestedIntermediate
Players: Groups of 6 to 8Time: 10 minEquipment: 8 cones, 1 ball
Builds: Contact worked at graded, named intensity under close supervision
Mark a ten by ten metre grid. One pair works at a time, the rest wait outside the cones as a queue on one side, which keeps every rep supervised and stops anyone drifting into a second collision. Carrier starts on one cone with the ball, tackler on the cone diagonally opposite, both facing in. On your call the carrier runs at the tackler, who completes the tackle and both get straight back to their feet and rejoin the queue on the far side. Then run that same rep at three named levels: light and technical, then medium at roughly half force, then full match intensity, five reps at each. Nobody moves up a level until the technique at the level below is safe, and you stop the grid the moment you see a head in the wrong place.
Reps: 5 reps per intensity level, coach calling the level before each set, pairs rotating every rep
Target: Ready for full intensity when a player holds clean technique through the whole medium-force set
Coaching cues
Name the level before the rep · Stop and correct on the spot · Technique first, effort second
Common mistake & fix
Mistake: A player quietly running every rep at full force regardless of the level that was called
Fix: Pair that player with a partner who calls the level aloud, and reset them at light intensity.
3v2 Called Targets
Live and ContestedAdvanced
Players: Groups of 5Time: 10 minEquipment: 6 cones, 1 ball, bibs
Builds: Picking and calling your target inside a short defensive line
Three attackers against two defenders in a twenty-metre channel. Before the ball moves, each defender calls their target out loud by number, then holds that call and makes the tackle. A point for the defence every time a tackle is both safe and effective.
Reps: Eight rounds, rotating every player through the defence
Target: Ready for a full line when both defenders call early and complete their tackle in six of eight rounds
Coaching cues
Call your target before the pass · Hold the call once you make it · Talk louder than you think you need to
Common mistake & fix
Mistake: Silent defenders both drifting onto the same attacker, leaving a free runner outside them
Fix: Make a missed call cost a point even when the tackle happens, so the talking becomes the habit.
Tackle to Breakdown
Live and ContestedAdvanced
Players: Groups of 6Time: 10 minEquipment: 6 cones, 1 ball, bibs
Builds: Finishing the tackle and getting back into the game
A live one-on-one tackle with a support player from each side arriving two seconds later. The tackler completes the tackle, releases the ball and the carrier, gets to their feet, and then either contests the ball or clears out. Law 14 makes the release and the get-up compulsory; what you do after that is the decision. Finish, release, rise, decide.
Reps: Eight rounds, rotating the tackler and both support players
Target: Ready for match tempo when the tackler is up and doing a job in the breakdown on six of eight rounds
Coaching cues
Release the instant you land · Up before you touch the ball · Decide on the way up
Common mistake & fix
Mistake: Staying on the ground admiring the tackle, which is a penalty the moment you touch the ball
Fix: Coach the get-up as the last rep of the tackle, so nobody counts the tackle as finished until they are standing.
Tackling Drills for U12s, Beginners, and Adults
Age changes the pace of the ladder, never the order of it. A U12 group and a group of adults arriving from touch rugby need the same first three stages; the adults simply move through them faster and hit harder at the end. Place a player by what they can do in contact, whatever their age or size.
U12 and Junior Tackling Drills
One thing first, before any of the drills. Everything below is coaching, and coaching sits underneath your union's age-grade regulations(opens in new tab), which set what your year group is allowed to do and at what height. Read the appendix for your own age band and season first, then pick drills that fit inside it.
With that settled, Under-12 sessions should spend most of their contact time below standing height. Knees to knees, the sit kneel stand ladder, and the walking channel give a junior group plenty to work on, and a pad in the session gives anyone who is having a bad day somewhere safe to go. Keep the reps short and the queues shorter. Three children waiting behind a pad is a drill; eight is a conversation.
Reading Contact Confidence in a Junior Group
Contact fear rarely announces itself. What you actually see is one of four things.
Pulling back from the pad in the last stride.
Soft contact with the shoulder.
Arms left open instead of wrapping.
Drifting sideways in a grid so the rep never quite happens.
Growth spurts are a common cause. A child whose arms and legs have changed length in three months genuinely does not trust their own body yet.
The response that works is boring and it works reliably. Drop that player back to pad work at the lightest intensity, on their own stance, for as long as it takes. A pad asks them to think about one thing instead of two. Give the plan a horizon and say it out loud to them: three sessions on pads, then we look again together. Confidence rebuilds over weeks, so expect several of those cycles before it holds.
Tackling Drills for Beginners and Adults
Adults new to contact carry two things a junior does not. More mass, and more fear of looking foolish. Run the same ladder, but do the ground-level work in pairs of similar size and keep the group small. Adults are usually ready technically well before they are ready willingly, so the thing to watch is whether they commit, not whether the shape is right. Two adjustments help more than any pep talk: pair them by size, and put more reps through the knees-to-knees work than you think a grown adult needs.
Easy Tackling Drills for 10 Year Olds
For a ten-year-old group, the easiest drills are the ones that feel like a game and stay off the ground. Cheek to cheek shadow works well as a mirror game in pairs. The two-shield gate becomes a race when you call the side late. Keep every rep under ten seconds. Praise a head in the right place as loudly as you praise a big hit, and stop the drill while they are still asking for another go.
Contact Readiness: When to Allow More
The hardest question in coaching contact is not which drill to run. It is whether this player, today, has earned the right to meet more force. Get that call wrong in one direction and you frighten someone off the sport. Get it wrong in the other and you hold back a player who was ready two months ago.
It helps to score the tackle on its own rather than folding it into one vague contact impression. In Striveon, Tackling is a tracked skill in its own right, rated on a ten-level scale whose descriptions are written for rugby, and the middle of that scale is where contact coaching lives.
The ladder below turns those levels into permissions. Print it, keep it in your session folder, and use it to answer the only question that matters on a contact night: what is this player allowed to meet next?
Rugby Contact Readiness Ladder
Player Name:
Jersey #:
Primary Position:
Age/Grade:
Date:
Evaluator:
Level
What the Player Shows
Contact You Allow
Drills to Run
Levels 1 to 2
New to the skill or just being introduced to it. Needs guidance on almost every rep.
Shadow work and pads only. No body contact of any kind yet.
Tackle stance holds, cheek to cheek shadow, fall roll and rise, tackle fundamentals on a static pad
Level 3
Gets it right in controlled conditions about half the time. Technique breaks once the tempo lifts or an opponent arrives.
Still no body contact. Moving pads and shields only, so the shape is tested without a person on the end of it.
Walking pad target, two-shield gate
Level 4
Knows the tackle and executes at calm pace, but enters contact tentatively and needs supervision.
First body contact, supervised, from ground level upward at walking pace. One pair at a time.
Knees to knees tackle, sit kneel stand ladder, walking 1v1 channel, contact grid at light intensity
Level 5
Consistent in training around seven times in ten and enters contact confidently. Match use still varies.
Medium-intensity contact, jogging pace, and angled tackles against a moving carrier.
Front-on tracking channel, side-on angle tackle, contact grid at medium intensity, 3v2 called targets
Level 6
Holds the tackle up across varied situations and copes with pressure most of the time.
Live contest, tackles from any angle, and the work after the tackle.
Chase and drop, tackle to breakdown, full defensive-line work
Level 7 and above
Handles the tackle under pressure about eight times in ten, reads the attack early and dominates contact.
Full match intensity, plus a coaching role with the players below them.
Contact grid at full intensity, live defensive systems, leading the warm-up pad work
Your ticked drills are gathered below, timed and totalled. Print the block, or send it to whoever is holding pads tonight.
Your Rugby practice plan
Add drills from the sections above to build a session you can export, print, or copy
Tackling does not sit on its own in there. It is one of six sub-skills under Contact Skills, alongside Rucking, Mauling, Ball carrying into contact, Offload, and Defensive contact. Contact Skills itself is one of the eight the rugby set-up starts you with.
Contact Skills
Ball Handling
Kicking Skills
Set Pieces
Attacking Skills
Defensive Skills
Tactical Understanding
Physical Attributes
Ignore the seven you are not working on tonight. Nothing about that list is fixed anyway. Reshape the whole structure from inside the app until it follows how your club actually coaches contact, and give the tackle its own footing if that is where your season's work sits.
The five stages on this page are not those eight areas, and they are not meant to be. They are a browse order for a contact night, sorted by how much force a player is meeting, and every drill in them feeds the same tracked sub-skills underneath. To sit the contact block inside the rest of the season, structured training sessions keeps the plan, the drills, and each player's progress together.