5 on 5?

[M Two One]

I'm looking to set up a bi-weekly match with some local friends, but I doubt I could get enough people to play sevens. What do you guys think about 5 on 5? What could be altered to make this work?

I'm happy because we have a proper pitch to play on only about 15 minutes walk from my apartment.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Should work, would be a ton of space if you played on a fullsize pitch though

Set pieces could be a problem - scrums couldn't be 3 vs 3 because that just leaves one outfield player, and lineouts too
Could do 1v1 scrums and lineouts, would be interesting

 

[TRF_Cymro]

Are you planning to set it up touch rugby or contact?

Best bet is to play half pitch with 5 players, for scrums put in place a tap and go option, for penalties can kick for touch but instead of a lineout, tap and go 5m in from the sidelines similar to rugby league.

Im setting up a 7s touch rugby league here, if you need any more ideas for rules etc give us a shout.

 

[HeavyWings]

Really glad to see this thread pop up, trying to get my friends to give rugby a shot this summer, but don't have 14 people willing to try 7s, so this seems like a good idea! Might borrow some of these ideas

 

[smartcooky]

5 v 5 would work OK in a combination Rugby League/Union type format.

In the contact area if you have a ruck and the ball becomes unplayable, the team going forward gets the ball and does a play-the-ball RL-style with a dummy half and the opposition MUST have two markers who must adhere to the RL Laws regarding proximity and squareness. That leaves three players in the outfield for each team

In the case of a maul that becomes unplayable, the ball is turned over and the opponents get the ball for the play-the-ball.

You would be effectively substituting a play-the-ball for a scrum.

For line-outs, you could have one thrower (with a marker from the opposition) and one jumper from each team.

 

[nickdnz]

When I can convince my mates to play a game of rugby, it's a very rare occasion that I can get 14 people (or even play contact), so 5 on 5 would be fine. The trick I've found to make it enjoyable with those sort of numbers, is just play half or even a quarter of the field, and the league style roll between the legs instead of a ruck. It's not exactly ideal, but it works out alright.

 

[PanAtSea]

It sounds like what we would do for 7s training wiht our squad of 10/12, we'd play across half pitch touch rugby, putting the ball between legs in the tackle and if a team had a player less, they could tap and go. Absolutely knackering, but good fun.

We did do some contact like that as well, with one or two men going into the rucks, but obviously without scrums or proper lineouts. It works well and can be taken at a slow pace if people want.

 

[M Two One]

Thanks to everyone for your suggestions, I'm going to take all of these to mind and see what I can come up with. Once I get it going and we play I'll let you know what worked well and what we did to adapt the rules to make it fun and competitive. I'm not sure if they'll go for contact or touch, but we'll see.

 

[DuncTheDoodle]

I have a simular thing going, where we have about 8 or 9 people come down to a local park and play in the penalty area of a Football pitch (The closest Rugby pitch is a few miles away) and do non-lifting life-outs and make sure the numbers are balanced out (Even if this means the team throwing in has one more out of the line that the defence). Scrums become taps and rucks tend to just be won by the team in possesion, unless somebody makes a particuarly spectacular jackle. No drop goals, no conversions, just scored on try count. It works.

And there tends not to be much tackling going on, so rucks are kind of rare. It's either

 

[Amobokoboko]

We also do something similar with the cricket boys, we play touch 6 v6 as a fitness training.
Good fun.

 

[King_D'Arcy]

When I can convince my mates to play a game of rugby, it's a very rare occasion that I can get 14 people (or even play contact), so 5 on 5 would be fine. The trick I've found to make it enjoyable with those sort of numbers, is just play half or even a quarter of the field, and the league style roll between the legs instead of a ruck. It's not exactly ideal, but it works out alright.

Yeah we do the same when we're playing casually. I'm pretty sure this is how rugby league was invented. Just an easier way to play rugby in the park. That's why it's so rubbish and lacking in depth.