The shape
The scrum-half stands at the mark where the tag was made. The three centres line up flat across the middle about five metres back, the wings hold the touchlines and the full-back sits behind the centres as the deep option and the extra runner. After a tag the carrier stops and passes within the strides the law allows, and the line reshapes with the next carrier running at space, not at a defender. Check which tag count and restart your league uses.
Roles
- Scrum-half. The link. Takes the pass from the tagged carrier and moves it on fast, or runs at a gap when the defence is slow to set.
- Centre. The playmaker in the middle. Runs straight to fix a defender, then passes early to the outside.
- Left and right centre. Run onto the ball at pace into the space between defenders and pass before the tag if a wing is free.
- Wings. Hold the touchline so the defence has to cover the whole width; they are the finishers.
- Full-back. The extra runner who comes into the line late where a gap appears, and the cover if the ball is lost.
Strengths
- Width stretches seven defenders across a fifty metre pitch.
- Quick play after each tag catches a defence that is still turning.
- Teaches running into space and passing before contact without any contact at all.
Weaknesses
- Passing errors are turnovers, and tag ball moves fast.
- Players who run at defenders rather than space get tagged quickly.
- A set tag count means a sideways run wastes a tag.
When to use it
Tag is the first form of the game for the youngest age groups in England and is played socially by adults too, and the shape suits both. Use it when players are learning to run into space, pass off both hands and support the carrier. With younger players keep it simple: carry straight, pass to the person shouting, support the carrier. In the wet, short passes and the scrum-half link matter more than wide movement.
What to coach in training
- Evasion grid: 4v2 in a ten metre square, carriers dodge tags by changing direction, no contact at all.
- Pass before the tag: a line of four runs at four defenders and the carrier must pass before being tagged; then practise stopping on the tag, turning and passing to the scrum-half.
- Width game: a 7v7 game in which a try scored by a wing counts double, so the team learns to move the ball wide.
Works well against
It copes well with a flat defensive line that holds its shape, because the full-back arriving late and a quick pass after the tag creates a two on one at the edge. Against a defence that rushes up, the scrum-half link beats the line with a short pass to a runner on an angle. A defence that bunches in the middle leaves the wings free.
