---
title: "Soccer Rugby"
description: "A normal small-sided game with one law borrowed from rugby: no forward passes. The ball only moves up the pitch when someone dribbles it."
canonical: https://hobbit.football/drills/soccer-rugby
language: en
publisher: Hobbit (https://hobbit.football)
---

# Soccer Rugby

> A normal small-sided game with one law borrowed from rugby: no forward passes. The ball only moves up the pitch when someone dribbles it.

U8 to U12 · 10 to 10 players · 20 × 30 m · 15 min

Also called Rugby football.

![Diagram of Soccer Rugby](https://hobbit.football/api/game-library/diagram/soccer-rugby)

## How to play

1. Mark a pitch 20 by 30 metres with a goal and a keeper at each end, and play 4v4. With more players, run two pitches side by side.
2. Play a normal game with one rule: a pass may only go sideways or backwards. The ball goes forward only when a player dribbles it.
3. A forward pass gives the ball to the other team where it was played. The keepers' throws and passes are the one exception.
4. When the ball goes out, restart with a dribble in. Change keepers every 4 minutes.

## The decision it trains

The player on the ball is the only way forward, so he chooses: keep driving at the defender, or stop and lay the ball back or across to a teammate who can drive into new space. Teammates choose where to stand: ahead of the ball they are no use, so they support from behind and beside, at an angle and distance that keep a pass on. Defenders know every attack comes through a dribbler, so they decide when to step in and when to delay.

## Make it harder or easier

- **Too hard:** add a neutral player who plays for the team on the ball and is the only one allowed to receive a forward pass.
- **Too easy:** an attacker must dribble past at least one defender before shooting.
- **Younger players:** play a first round with the ball in the hands, passing backwards as in rugby (a two-hand touch is a tackle), then the same rule with feet.

## What to ask at the breaks

- "When you could not go forward, where was your best pass?"
- "Where did you stand to help the dribbler?"
- "Defending, how did you stop a dribbler without diving in?"

## Where it comes from

It borrows rugby's law that the ball may not be passed forward. No inventor is documented, and the research found it only in English-speaking countries: Canada Soccer's Fundamentals coaching toolkit, a US coach's session plan, and Soccer Coach Weekly in the UK, whose version starts with the ball in the hands and rugby passing before moving to feet.

## Documented by

- Canada Soccer (Canada): Soccer Rugby
- German regional FAs (Bavaria, Hamburg, South Baden) (Germany)
- Sport Session Planner (United Kingdom): soccer rugby
- Soccer Coach Weekly (United Kingdom): Rugby football

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