Applying learning

Rugby (Part 3): Passing and scoring skills

Physical development

﻿Hi everyone, my name is Alistair, and today we're going to play rugby. Let's go! For this lesson you will need a rugby ball, a beach ball, a laundry basket and a bin. If you haven't got these items, you can substitute them with things you have around the home. And that's absolutely fine. Press pause whilst you get things ready. Let's get ready. Find a quiet, clear space to work, away from distractions. Ensure the area is safe and that your child is feeling fit and well to take part in the lesson. Check you're wearing the right clothes for sport and physical activity. I'd encourage your child to be as independent as possible with this. Make sure your resources are nearby. And use a familiar reference to prepare the learner that the activity is going to start. This could be a symbol, a sound, or even a song. Press pause whilst you get things ready. It's time to look, listen and learn. First, before we play rugby, we need to get our muscles ready. In this warm-up we're going to see if we can get our heart rates up and we're going to practise some of the movements that we tried in our first rugby lesson. So if we can remember the scrum, when we did a rugby tackle, and when we had to stretch and catch the ball. So I've got a rugby ball with me here. It's always good to practise with a ball. So first thing, just to get used to control of the rugby ball. So going to have a move around. So walk around the space. I'm in my garden here. You could do this inside your house, or when you're out on your daily exercise, but move in and around the garden. I can turn that into a bit of a jog and go around, think about changing directions. And we're going to start to introduce some of those rugby-specific movements. So if we shout "stretch," we're going to crouch down, and jump up and stretch with the ball. So as I'm moving round, first I'm going to shout "stretch," crunch down, jump up and stretch with the ball. Moving around again. And I shout "stretch," jump up and catch the ball. The next one, when I say "tackle." So we have a rugby tackle, and I'm going to at that point, I'm going to get down onto the floor, roll over and get back onto my feet, like that. So I've got "stretch" when I jump up, I've got "tackle" when I go onto the floor and roll over. And the last one is our rugby scrum. And when I've got a rugby scrum, I get down to my knees and I'm going to crawl forward and see if I can use that power that I have. So we'll try that as we're moving around, it could be a walk, it could be a jog, we're thinking about moving in different directions. We have "stretch" where we jump. We have "tackle" when we go down to the floor and roll over. And we also have the "scrum" when we're going to crawl and move forward, like we would in a rugby scrum. So we'll give that one try. So I'm walking around, and "scrum!" So I come down, crawl, move forward, back onto my feet. And I can start to jog around there. And then "stretch," so I'm going to stretch, jump up. Keep jogging around. "Tackle" down onto the floor, rollover and back onto my feet. Keep going. "Stretch!" You can try that, it's a really good warm-up, and you're practising those key rugby skills that we've learnt in lesson one. So that might go on for about five minutes there. Lots of fun in terms of the rolling round on the floor. If you're doing that inside, just make sure you've got cushions on the floor, you've got enough space and it's safe. If your child is a wheelchair user, think how you can adapt. So remember, when we said the tackle, we could really squeeze tight to the ball, and you could try and see if you could rip the ball off your child, and adapt those activities and movements. I've got a bit of a sweat on, I'm feeling hot. My muscles are ready for rugby. I think we're ready to start. Pause the video to complete your task. For the next part of our lesson, we're going to practise our passing, and build on the skills that we learned in lesson one. So remembering those key points of making sure that our body is facing towards the target. We swing our arms gently along and release the ball at the top of that movement, and see how we get on with aiming for our targets. Now I've set myself some different targets in the garden here. So I've used the bin. I've got a laundry basket. And I've used some chalk to make some targets on the walls. That could be a really nice activity before you even start your rugby lesson. You could choose your favourite colours. You could choose your favourite rugby team. And you could draw onto the wall there and make your target. You could use tape. There's loads of ways you can make some targets, so use whatever works best for you in your house. So I'm going to start with aiming for my blue bin target here. So I'm going to make sure that I'm facing the right direction, my body's facing the right way. I'm going to put my hands out to the side. I'm gently swinging my arms, a bit like a pendulum. I'm going to release at the top of the movement. So you can make this a bit more difficult, and move further back. You can make it easier, and move closer towards your target. So see how your child gets on. As they become more confident, you can start to make things a bit more difficult for them. So my first go, so swinging my arms gently, again, you can build that sense of anticipation, so, after three, like we've done in lots of our physical development lessons. So one, two, three. That was a good shot. So we've got the bin there, so onto my next target, which is the laundry basket there. So you can use different balls. So I've got my pink softball here, a bit like a beach ball. So again, whatever you've got to hand at home. And I'm going to aim for my basket, it's a bit lower, So I'm going to have to adjust and see if I can come, make sure I'm facing the right direction there. And I'm going to aim, so swinging my arms gently, my body's facing towards the target. After three: one, two, three. And release. Oh, not quite that time. So a bit more practise needed. And then I'm finally now, again, as with all of our activities in physical development, we use the STEP principle to make them accessible for all our children and young people. So if your child is a wheelchair user, think about adjusting the height of your targets. And same principle in terms of my body's facing towards the target there. And I've got some different ones. So I can have a low target here, which is my green target. I've got my white target in the middle, and my purple target at the top. And that's really important in rugby because there might be times where we might need to do a higher pass to get it to our teammates and get it over the top of the opponent. So we're starting to think about tactics and how we would play in a rugby game. So I'm going to make sure my body's facing the target. I'm going to swing my arms gently back. Again, after three: one, two, three. And I've hit the green target there. A good way where you can practise your catching, so against the wall, or something like that, you could do this inside the house with a balloon, is practising your passing and catching at the same time. So I'm going to aim for my white target. So again, a bit higher this time. So it's changing how I use that skill of passing. So after three: one, two, three. Got my white target there. And finally, a higher pass here. I'm going to aim for the purple target at the top. So after three: one, two, three. And there we go. So your child might practise that for 10, 20 minutes. They might be really engaged by this activity and might do it for a long time. So lots of repetition for these skills will really help. And that idea of overlearning is something that's a real positive thing for us in physical development. So have a good practise there, and then we'll move on to a rugby match and some skills we'd use there, and even scoring a try! Pause the video to complete your task. A really important skill in rugby is the sidestep and how we can move away from the other team who are trying to defend. Now I've set up a little course in my garden here. So I've got some different plant pots down, and we're going to think about that directional movement in which we will weave in and out of the plant pots. So the first thing I'm going to do, I'm going to go to the end of my garden. I'm going to try and run in and out of the different plant pots in my little course. We could start off with that, doing a slow walk. So I could be walking in and out of my plant pots in my course. And then we'll start to gradually make that more difficult and build our speed there. If your child is a wheelchair user, think of the STEP principle, how we can make more space, so we can manoeuvre the wheelchair inside and outside of those spaces that we have. So I'm going to put a bit of a jog on. So in, around the plant plots, I'm going to sidestep there, away from the defender. So really important skills for rugby. If we want to take that a step further and add a bit of competition in there. So we're starting to think about tag rugby. I've got a tea towel here. If I put the tea towel into my shorts, you can act as the defender for your child, and see if they are able to get away from you and avoid being tackled. So again, you're thinking of those skills of moving out of the way. So some speed, a sidestep that we have, trying to avoid being tackled, and you to pull their tag out, or tea towel in this case. So have a practise of that with your child. So again, think about those sidesteps, that I'm running there, and like dodge out of the way, and move away from you, the defender. You can swap that around and take it in turns. There'll be lots of fun with them trying to tackle you and get the tea towel out. It's a really fun way of becoming more active, getting some more movements, some more exercise into our daily routine. So have fun with that trying to tackle each other. And the last thing we'll come back for is trying to score a try, and score some points in rugby. I hopes that you've really enjoyed our rugby sessions in this unit. And maybe your child has been introduced to a new sport that they find really engaging. It's a brilliant game to get active. And you'll see all those amazing things of the persistence of your child in trying those new skills, with tackling and rugby scrums, brilliant ways to move and become more active. Now the final thing we're going to do today is the most important thing, and the most exciting thing in a game of rugby, and that's scoring a try. And that's how we score points in rugby. Now we have in rugby what we call a try line. So I've made my try line here, just out of some wool. You could put some towels down, you can mark that line in any way that you want. And that could be inside. If you're doing this activity inside, I'd say get some cushions down because it's a great chance to dive and score a try. And in rugby we score a try when we go over the other team's try line here. So I'm going to have to go over my line made out of wool. I've got some rainbow wool here. And I have to go over the line and put the ball down there. So this could be something where you might practise with your child. The last activity, where we had the tea towel, and they might have to try and get around you and put the ball over the line before you tackle them and take their tea towel out. And then again, you can take it in turns to do that. Think about this activity if your child is a wheelchair user. A try is scored when your child wheels themselves over the line and they're fully over the line and they're still in control of the ball. So again, that's something you can look at. You could dodge in and out of your different defenders or targets before you get the ball on the line. So I'm going to try and see if I can score a couple of tries before we finish our lesson today. So I'm going to go back to the wall. And I can run and sidestep. And I'm going to put the ball over the line there. And that's a try. You can really be creative in the way you do this. Your child can explore the different ways in which they might score a try. So it's lots of fun when you can slide over the line and score that match-winning try for your favourite team. So to finish up, I'm going to have a run, sidestep. A great try! Pause the video to complete your task. To make our lesson easier, you could explore rugby through sensory activities. For example, exploring balls in trays of soil and water. You could aim for larger targets that are closer to you. Or you could focus on fewer skills and movements and progress at a pace most appropriate to your child. To make it harder, look at our masterclass sessions and explore top tips from international mixed-ability players and coaches. You could search for local opportunities to play and watch rugby. Have a look at IMART, IMAS and the RFU. You could introduce new rugby skills, such as kicking, into the session, and look for distance and accuracy. More ideas, ask your parent or carer to search for and watch rugby-specific content online. You could design your own rugby kit. And finally, you could listen to the national anthem of your favourite team. See if you can learn the words and try to sing along. All of our activities can be adapted using the STEP principle. That's thinking about the space, the task, the equipment we use, and how people help us. For example, a balloon with beads in, or rice, to support visually impaired learners. We could use bigger, brighter resources. You could adapt the space and activities to suit wheelchair users. For example, to score a try, navigate through the obstacles in your chair and carry the ball over the try line. Brilliant rugby everyone! Bye, see you next time! Share your work with Oak National. If you'd like to, please ask your parents or carer to share your work on Twitter, tagging @OakNational and using the hashtag #LearnwithOak. We'd love to see your brilliant work.

Rugby (Part 3): Passing and scoring skills

Rugby (Part 3): Passing and scoring skills

These resources will be removed by the end of the Spring Term 2026.

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