The aim at this level in the WISC program is to refine the basic skills and to develop their application within the sport. We strive to continue to develop the “basic skills”. The rugby basics are fairly simple and are great for teaching children about responsibility, respecting each other’s personal space and the consequences of failing to play games within the guidelines. At WISC we use the UK based - RFU’s guidelines for U7s and U8s tag rugby that can be found here
WISC Rugby Academy’s goal with this age group is to develop age-specific key elements of the Under 7s and Under 8s Rules of Play which include the following:
UNDER 7s
- Team numbers: 3 or 4-a-side
- Maximum pitch size: 20 metres x 12 metres
- Ball Size: 3
- Scoring: Players not permitted to go to ground to score tries
- Play can continue from a knock-on
- No tackling
- No kicking, scrums or lineouts
UNDER 8s
- Team numbers: 5 or 6-a-side
- Maximumpitch size: 45 metres x 22 metres
- Ball Size: 3
- Scoring: Players permitted to go to ground to score tries
- No tackling
- No kicking, scrums or lineouts
At this stage of development, children continue to learn basic skills in a fun and safe environment. The children are split into age groups – U9, U10, U11, U12 and play with modified rules to ensure their safety. We adopt the New Zealand Rugby League’s Safeplay codewith these age groups to ensure the game is safe and appropriate for the children. The New Zealand Rugby league Safeplay code can be found here.
Rules of the game:
The basic rules of rugby league are:
- A rugby league game is played with two teams of thirteen players on the field at one time, however Mini’s play with two teams of eight and Mod’s play with two teams of 11.
- The main object of the game is to score a try by grounding the ball in the opponent’s in-goal area. This is worth four points.
- A player may tackle an opponent who has possession of the ball so as to prevent them from running with the ball.
- The Safeplay code creates a safe tackle environment with:
- No lifting in the tackles
- No tackles to be above armpit height
- No hitching of legs
- No shoulder charging