Rugby — a step-by-step lesson for grown-up and child
This lesson teaches rugby around its delightful upside-down rule: the ball only travels backwards — so to score, somebody has to RUN.
What is this?
Rugby is a running game with an oval ball: carry it in both hands, run forward, and pass only backwards to teammates. Score by grounding the ball past the far line — a try!
What does it mean?
Every other ball sport rewards passing forward — rugby forbids it. That one twist makes running the only way the game moves, which is why rugby players are runners first and passers second, and why the rule alone is a lesson worth an afternoon.
What does the child need to know?
Your child needs three rugby ideas: the ball is carried in TWO hands — hugged, not held; the pass goes BACKWARDS over the shoulder; and in the junior game the tackle is a tag — grab the ribbon, never the body.
Why this matters
Rugby owns this wall’s southern hemisphere: New Zealand’s all blacks haka, Australia’s league and union, South Africa’s springboks. It is also the finest excuse to run Flat Out while hugging a cushion.
What it teaches
Two-hand carrying while running (a real coordination split), the around-the-corner backward pass, evasion running — and in tag versions, the honesty of the tug.
Words to learn
rugbytrypassbackwardscarrytagrun
Say this to your child
“"Rugby is the backwards game! Hug the ball in both arms, run as fast as your legs go — and if you pass, it must go BACKWARDS, over your shoulder, to the friend behind you. Forward pass? No no! Run to the far wall and press the ball down — TRY!"”
Step by step
- Show the card: "This is rugby — the hug-the-ball running game."
- The carry: ball (or cushion) hugged in both arms at the chest — not under one arm like a baguette. Jog a lap, hug intact.
- The backwards rule: demonstrate forward pass — shake the head! Then the legal one: stop, swing the ball back over the shoulder, partner walking behind catches.
- Join them: run forward three steps, pass back, runner receives on the move. The rhythm IS the sport.
- Play try-line tag below and close: "hug, run, pass it back."
Look closer at the picture
On this card the word "rugby" leads at the top in big letters with the game’s scene below — the oval ball carried in both hands exactly as the run looks on the field.
Ask your child
"Can we pass the ball forward?" "How many hands carry the ball?" "What do we shout when we press it down past the line?"
What your child can say or do
Your child might say: "Backwards only — that’s the rule!" "I hugged it all the way!" or the try call: "TRY! I pressed it down!"
Out in the real world
Rugby lives in every park in Auckland, Sydney and Cardiff — and on the screen every spring. Watch one try together and count the passes: they all travel backwards. The whole game in one rule.
Try it together
Try-Line Tag: two players with tag-ribbons tucked in the waistband, ball hugged, running the length of the room. The chaser tugs a ribbon — stop, pass BACK over the shoulder to a fresh runner, ribbons reset, go again. Cross the far line, press the ball down, TRY — and the haka dance of your family’s own invention.
Understanding check
Ask: "Which way does a rugby pass go? How many hands on the ball? What is scoring called?" Backwards, two, a try — three answers and the running game is on.
Parent tips
The backward pass feels wrong for about ten minutes, then it feels like the best secret in sport — let the wrongness be funny. And if a real tag belt is missing, a scarf tucked in the waistband works exactly as well.
This lesson pairs with the Rugby flashcard in the library — print it, show it, keep it on the fridge. Back to Sports & Movement (Class 37).