Tournament Rules

Regulation	Under 8	Under 9 & 10	Under 11 & 12
No of players in team	8	8	10
No of forwards	3	3	5
No of backs	5	5	5
Safety zone between pitches	6 m	6 m	6 m
Tackle height – no swinging tackle allowed	Waist	Waist	Waist
Hand off	Not Allowed	Below Shoulder	Below shoulder
Time allowed for rucks & mauls	5 sec	5 sec	5 sec
No of players allowed in rucks & mauls per side	3	3	5
Kicking allowed	No	No	Defence zone only
Start match	Pass off	Pass off	As per 15-a-side
Method of scoring	Try	Try	Try
Line out	No	3 Man	5 Man
Scrum	No	3 Man	5 Man

Kicking

Under 11 & 12

It is not permitted to kick the ball outside the “defensive zone” (10m from own goal line). If the offence is unintentional, a scrum is awarded to the opposition and if intentional a penalty to the opposition

Scrums

Under 9 & 10: (3 man)

1. No push or contesting allowed, ball must be put in straight
2. Opposition scrum half behind his forwards – no follow around allowed
3. Scrum is over when ball is in the hands of the attacking scrum half
4. Scrum half must pass the ball – no break allowed
5. All players stay bound until ball has emerged
6. Both back lines 5m back to allow attack.
7. Always 10m from touch line and 5m from goal line

Under 11 & 12: (5 man)

1. All players stay bound until ball has emerged
2. Scrum may not move further than 1 step from the mid point of original scrum. Only strike can be contested (hooker v hooker)
3. Scrum half to feed the ball into the scrum with two hands and straight
4. No forward allowed to pick up the ball from the scrum
5. Opposition scrum half behind his 2nd Rows – no follow around allowed
6. Both back lines 5m from scrum to allow attacks
7. Always 10m from touchline and 5m from goal line
8. Scrum is over when referee calls “scrum over” or when the ball is in the hands of the scrum half who may break

Line Outs

No Lifting allowed in Mini Rugby

Under 9 & 10: (2 man)

1. Line-out 2m from touch line
2. No contest
3. Line–out is over when the scrum half passes the ball
4. Hooker at the front of the line-out
5. Both back lines 5m back to allow attack
6. Scrum halves behind their forwards and must pass the ball. No break allowed
7. Ball must be thrown straight into the line-out – no over throw
8. No catch and drive allowed

Under 11 & 12: (5 man)

1. 2m from touch line
2. Only the jump can be contested
3. A space of one metre (arms length) between all players in the line-out
4. Both hookers must be at the front of the line-out and both scrum halves behind their forwards
5. Both backs lines 5m back to allow attack
6. Hookers must throw to players (2m.), no over throw allowed and must be straight
7. Line – out is over when the scrum half passes the ball/ makes a break or when team catching the ball – catch & drive (5 seconds – “use it or lose it”) to apply

Rucks and Mauls

Referees to talk players through it and after 5 seconds “use it or lose it”