Skills
How to side-step in rugby: a kids' guide to finding the space
5 min read 15 October 2026
Every young player wants to know how to get past a defender. In our Playbook Find the Space (Game Smarts, ages 7–12), Mia and Leo learn four tools to do it, all without contact.
First: what is space?
Space is the open ground where the defenders are not. A gap is a space between two defenders. Defenders try to close the space. Attackers try to find it.
Tool 1: Eyes up
Before you run, lift your eyes and look for the gaps. A good habit for grown-ups: after each run, ask "What did you see?" Naming a gap out loud builds the habit of looking.
Run straight at the gap
Running sideways across the field just pulls the defenders with you, and you run out of room by the touchline. Pick a gap and run straight at it, so your team-mates still have space too.
Tool 2: Change pace
Jog towards the defender, then burst past. Slow, then fast. It makes the defender guess.
Tool 3: The step
- Run at the defender with the ball in two hands.
- Plant one foot on a bent knee.
- Push off it and go the other way. Eyes up!
Push off your left foot to go right, and your right foot to go left. Step when you are close, about two big steps away. Step too early and the defender just moves across.
Tool 4: Two-on-one
When there are two attackers and one defender, the defender can't tag you both. Run at the defender first to make them come to you. That is called drawing the defender. Then pass, backwards or level, to your free team-mate.
Try these at home
- Step through the gate: set two cones as a gate, with a grown-up in front. Run at the grown-up, step, and go through the gate. Both ways.
- Jog and burst: jog to a cone, sprint to the next. Eyes up the whole way.
- Two-on-one: two attack, a grown-up defends at walking speed with tags. Walk it first.
Play safe
Practise on grass or a soft, flat surface. Warm up first. Change direction on a bent knee, never a straight leg. Indoors, walk it through slowly, with no boots.