UNDER 9s MINIS RUGBY

Under 9s Ealing Festival March 2010

2009/10 Season NEWS

Middlesex Festival - 14.03.10

The moment we had been training for had finally arrived......the Middlesex Festival, which is the big one in everyone's book !!

Thankfully the rain kept away, but there was a cold wind blowing across the field as we warmed up .

Our first game was against Saracen's A team who were a well drilled team and their experience showed,. This was the first tournament for a number of our players, a few only started rugby after Christmas and there was an expectation that we may struggle with the difficulties of scrums, line-outs and all the other rule changes. However, our fears were not born out, and the feeling after the match was that our players did exceptionally well, and although losing by two tries to nil, they played with total commitment and passion, and made all the parents and officials proud of them.

The next match was against Ruislip and the team definitely raised their performance, they made a number of good attacking moves and ran out eventual winners 6-0. So onto the Quarter Finals where we were drawn against London Welsh A's - a daunting task.!!!

What can I write? Tensions are high, the ground is hard and unfortunately London Welsh were two up on us by half-time. We have good  tacklers, but the entire team lack cohesiveness and London Welsh are a strong team with excellent passing skills and they build on their 2-0 lead to run out 4-0 winners,  There are no excuses – we lost this one.

The team was obviously disappointed, but as coaches we saw a lot of potential and with only three weeks to the next tournament we have a real chance to fine tune our players and get them ready for the Staines Festival.

Richmond Development Tournament 4th October

This was a great morning of rugby and a superb development session for the U9's players who are all new to contact rugby.

There was real commitment from all the players and some superb team work that showed the players and parents what can be achieved when the team play to their potential.

Tackling and rucking was weak but commitment and desire to win from every single player and a fantastic team spirit carried the U9's through to win the tournament, and made all the parents, supporters and officials proud of them.

They beat a number of good teams including Richmond and London Irish. We celebrate today, but know we have a lot of hard work to do if we are going to be successful at our home festival in 3 weeks.

Once this team get some confidence on the technical aspects of contact they will be a force to be reckoned with.

There really were some stand out performances today and those players know who they are. After the game, parents and coaches were overjoyed at the way their players (and of course children) had played.

UNDER 9s LAWS

• 9 a-side – 3 forwards, 6 backs. Match squads of 12 players.
• Mini rugby with an introduction of full contact.
• Size 3 rugby ball.
• Maximum pitch size is 60 metres x 35 metres plus 5 metres for each in-goal area.
• 15 minutes each way – no longer than 30 minutes.
• Scrum – 3 player front row, uncontested scrum (no pushing permitted and the ball be won by team putting in).
• Offside line (Scrum) – All opposing backs except for scrum half 7 metres behind scrum. Scrum half behind hindmost foot of scrum until the ball is out.
• Lineouts are uncontested. The lineout is made up of two players from each team, plus the player throwing the ball in and an immediate opponent, who must stand within the 2 metre area, and one player from either side in a position to receive the ball (ie. Scrum half). Both the thrower-in and his immediate opponent are able to take an active role in the game as soon as the ball has been touched by one of the players in the lineout.
• Free pass restart at kick off, infringement, ball in touch. At a free start, the starter cannot run with the ball and the receiving player can not run from more than 2 metres behind the passer. Opponents 7 metres away on line parallel to goal line.
• No Kicking or fly hacking (kicking a loose ball on the ground).
• No hand offs, fend offs, scrag tackles or barging.
• Maximum of 12 fixtures and not more than 3 festivals.
• Tackling is a skill that needs to be taught and must be introduced progressively as shown in the current RFU Coaching Course materials.
• For safety reasons coaches and referees must check that studs and other approved clothing are in accordance with the laws of the game.
• Mouthguards and shin pads mandatory.
• No under 7 or under 8 child may play with under 9 children or above in any circumstances.
• Under 9s and under 10s may play together, utilising the under 9 mini contact format. No under 9s may play with under 11s or above in any circumstances.

Download the official RFU rules (PDF format / 76KB)