Parent's Guide to SA Rugby Mini Rugby U7-U12 2026

SA U8 T1 Rugby is SA Rugby's non-contact format for U8, adapted from World Rugby's T1 game. It is rugby without the contact: it keeps scrums, lineouts, a breakdown and a kick-off.

• 7 players a side: three forwards and four backs.
• Two halves of 10 minutes.
• Played across a normal field, between the 10 m line and the goal line, about 40 m wide.
• Pulling a tag counts as a tackle. A team must score within seven rips or hand the ball over.
• After a rip, the tagged player goes back to where the tag fell. The ripper and one more defender join the "breakdown", and the other defenders retreat 3 m.
• The scrum-half may run no more than 3 m before passing, and may not score.
• Scrums (three forwards) and lineouts (three players) are uncontested.
• Apart from the kick-off, no kicking in general play.
• Penalties are a tap-and-pass, with defenders 5 m back.

SA Rugby requires the Rugby Contact Programme (updated February 2026), six structured training sessions that teach the movement skills needed for safe contact:

• falling and landing safely
• rolling and body control
• wrestling and grappling in a controlled way
• bracing for and absorbing contact
• balance, posture and body alignment

The programme is:

• introduced in the second half of the U8 season, and
• run again as a 3 to 6 week U9 pre-season readiness block before tackle rugby begins.

Before delivering it, coaches and teachers must have completed the BokSmart Rugby Safety Programme and the Tackle Height Education module.

SA Rugby's School Rugby Age-Banding Regulations (updated January 2026) base age groups on the age a child turns during the calendar year. The oldest player in an age group is still that age on 31 December, so an U10 player turns 10 or younger that year.

U9: one-year band. Only children turning 9 that year may play U9. A child who turns 8 or younger that year may not play U9.

U10 to U13: two-year band. A player may be at most two years younger than the oldest age in the group. For example, a child who turns 11 or younger that year may not play U13. Where there is no U9 team, U9 children may play U10, and coaches must manage them accordingly.

Teams cannot play up a league. An U10 team may not enter an U11 league, because its youngest players would fall outside the U11 age band.

Non-contact rugby (U8 and younger) is not bound by these age bands. Schools may group children as they see fit, as long as anyone aged eight or younger plays non-contact rugby only.

SA Rugby's Scrum Law Modifications (updated January 2026):

U9 (first year of contact)

• Scrums are uncontested and used only to restart play. There is no hit on engagement and no pushing; the hooker must hook the ball.
• Either 5-player scrums with a maximum of 10 players a side, or 8-player scrums with a minimum of 15 players a side.
• Calls: "Crouch", "Bind", "Scrum".

U10 to U16

• Full 8-player scrums: the first introduction to competitive scrumming.
• Passive engagement with no hit. The ball goes in on the "Scrum" call and the contest starts then.
• A team may push no more than 1.5 metres, then the contest stops.
• No deliberate wheeling; if a scrum wheels past 45°, the referee stops play and resets it, and there is no turnover.
• Only trained forwards may scrum, and only the hookers may hook the ball.
• If the packs are badly mismatched, the referee should order uncontested scrums.

SA Rugby's 2025 playing-time directive and Primary School Law Variations set these for primary school rugby (the World Rugby laws apply otherwise):

From U10:

• Rolling replacements, up to 12 interchanges in a match, and the squad must include three trained front-row replacements (loosehead, hooker, tighthead).
• A yellow-carded player may be temporarily replaced; a red-carded player may be replaced immediately.
• When a card is shown, the referee calls the team's coach onto the field to explain why, and the carded player stays with the coach.
• If a maul moves forward more than 10 metres, the referee calls "Play"; if the ball does not come out, the attacking team gets a scrum.
• Lineouts must have all seven trained forwards, with no short lineouts.
• At U10 to U12, one coach may roam the touchline under the technical zone protocol.

SA Rugby lowered the legal tackle height for school and club rugby from 2024, and the Primary School Law Variations apply it from U10 to U13:

Tackler

• The tackle must be made below the base of the sternum and above the knees. Sanction: penalty kick.
• A tackle below the knees is allowed only with a clear wrap of the arms around the legs.
• No sling tackles (grabbing the carrier's clothing and swinging them to the ground). Sanction: penalty kick.

Ball carrier

• May brace for contact, but may not run into contact with the body fully bent or horizontal, with the head lower than the hips, or lead head-first into an opponent in open play. Sanction: free kick.
• May not pretend to be tackled in the air. Sanction: penalty kick.

Dangerous contact with the head or neck can still be carded.

Primary school matches (U10 to U13): SA Rugby's 2025 Primary School Law Variations say a player wears a jersey, shorts and underwear and plays barefoot. Mouthguards are permitted for everyone and compulsory for players in provincial teams.

Tag and T1 rugby (U8 and younger): players wear a tag belt with tags on the hips. SA Rugby's standard tag (ribbon) is 30 to 38 cm long and 5 cm wide. The Tag Rugby rules also say no jewellery, shirts tucked in and no spectacles (sports goggles are allowed).

Ball size: size 3 for U6 to U9, and size 4 for U10 to U13.

Mouthguard advice (BokSmart guideline): wear one at both practices and matches, check it regularly for splits, and replace it at least every 6 months for a growing child.

SA Rugby's Concussion Regulations (updated December 2025) treat a suspected concussion the same as a confirmed one in amateur rugby:

• Recognise and Remove: the child must leave the training session or match immediately and may not come back that day. In amateur rugby the referee may show a Blue Card to signal this.
• Medical assessment: a medical doctor should diagnose the concussion.
• Rest: 24 to 48 hours of physical and mental rest, followed by light activity that does not make symptoms worse.
• No contact rugby for at least 2 weeks, even if symptoms have cleared.
• Graduated return to play: the child completes a step-by-step programme, must be symptom free before the hard stages, and needs a doctor's clearance before full-contact training.
• Earliest return to a match: 21 days after the injury.

The regulations ask for extra caution with players under 19. Take the child to hospital at once if headaches get worse, they become more drowsy or confused, vomit repeatedly, have a seizure, have severe neck pain, or have weakness or numbness in the arms or legs.

Yes. Under SA Rugby's BokSmart regulations, anyone who coaches or assists in coaching a team must be BokSmart certified. Certification lasts two years and is renewed by completing the latest BokSmart course. A coach who cannot show proof of certification may not be on or next to the playing area during a match.

For tackle rugby from U9 upwards, SA Rugby's Rugby Contact Programme makes these courses compulsory for coaches:

• World Rugby online modules: Coaching Children, Introduction to Coaching, Tackle Ready and Breakdown Ready
• World Rugby Level 1 Referee course or the SA Rugby Introductory Referee Course Level 1
• World Rugby Coaching Women and Girls
• BokSmart online modules, including Tackle Height Change Education

For non-contact rugby (U6 to U8), World Rugby's Coaching Children module is recommended.

Anyone coaching children must also follow the SA Rugby Safeguarding Policy.