Is rugby safe for couples who have never played?

The no-contact drills on this page are about as risky as a game of catch with running. Skip tackling entirely: safe tackling needs coaching, and it is not what makes a two-person session fun. Warm up properly and use grass or sand rather than a hard surface.

What size rugby ball should we buy?

Size 5 is the standard adult ball. Size 4 is smaller and lighter, used by younger players, and is easier for small hands to spin. Expect to pay $15 to $30 for a decent training ball.

Why do rugby passes have to go backwards?

A forward pass is illegal in rugby union, rugby league, touch and tag. Practising it from day one is what makes the drills feel like real rugby: the receiver has to time their run from behind the passer, which is most of the skill.

How long should a couples rugby session be?

Forty-five minutes is enough for beginners: 8 warming up, 15 passing, 10 on catching and kicking, 10 on footwork, then a short tag game. Longer sessions tend to end in sloppy passes and someone sulking about a dropped ball.

🏉 Dates for Couples

rugby drills for couples

Rugby drills for couples work best as a 45-minute, no-contact session: one size 5 ball, four cones and a patch of grass, split into passing, catching, footwork and a 1v1 tag game at the end. You never need a third player, and nobody gets tackled. The session below is timed, scored, and works whether one of you has played for years or neither of you has touched a rugby ball.

by An Nayal, founder of Flamme · Updated October 2026

time: 45 minutes, plus a cool-down walk
cost: $15 to $30 for a ball, $10 for cones, $15 to $25 for tag belts (optional)
where: Any park with 20 metres of flat grass. A beach works and is easier on falls.
fitness level: Beginner friendly. Every drill scales by distance or speed.

how to run a 45-minute rugby session for two

step 1

Warm up (8 minutes)

Jog two laps of a 10-metre square of cones, then 30 seconds each of high knees, side shuffles, walking lunges and arm circles. Finish with 20 short easy passes standing 3 metres apart so your hands remember the ball.

step 2

Pass on the move (15 minutes)

Jog side by side 5 metres apart down a 20-metre lane and pass across. Rugby passes go flat or backwards, never forwards, so the receiver runs slightly behind the passer. Five lengths flat pass, five lengths spin pass, five lengths pop pass from 2 metres.

step 3

Catch, kick and footwork (20 minutes)

Ten high balls each (throw or kick it up, the catcher calls 'mine' and takes it against the chest). Then grubber kicks along the ground for the other to chase and gather. Then side-steps through a zig-zag of cones, ball in two hands, three runs each way.

step 4

Finish with the 1v1 tag game (10 minutes)

Mark a channel 10 metres long and 5 metres wide. The attacker starts at one end and tries to touch the ball down past the far line. The defender stops them with a two-handed touch on the hips or by pulling a tag. Five attacks each, a try is one point, and the loser carries the cones back.

which rugby drills work with only two people?

Anything built on passing, catching, kicking and evasion. Rugby looks like a team sport because of scrums, lineouts and rucks, but most of what a player practises alone or in pairs is handling and footwork. Those are exactly the parts that are safe and fun without a team.

drill	skill	time	how to score it
Side-by-side flat pass	Passing on the run	5 min	Count clean catches out of 20 lengths
Spin pass	Long, accurate passing	5 min	Step back 1 metre after every 5 clean catches
Pop pass	Short soft pass to a runner	5 min	Drops cost a burpee
Wall pass (solo or LDR)	Hands and reaction speed	3 min	Catches in 60 seconds from 3 metres
High ball catch	Catching under pressure	5 min	One point per clean catch, best of 10
Grubber and gather	Kicking along the ground	5 min	Point if it stops inside a 2-metre box
Cone side-step	Footwork and balance	5 min	Time it. Touch a cone, add 2 seconds
1v1 tag channel	Evasion and defence	10 min	Try = 1 point, five attacks each

how do you make it fair if one of you has played before?

The experienced player passes off their weaker hand only.
In the tag game, the experienced attacker gets a 5-metre-wide channel while the beginner gets 8 metres.
Score the beginner on improvement: if they beat their own wall-pass count from last week, they win the session.
Swap who chooses the drills. The person who has never played usually picks the ones that end in laughing.

can you join a team as a couple?

Yes, and it is the easiest way to keep it going. Social touch and tag rugby leagues run mixed teams on weeknights in most cities in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and a growing number in the US, and mixed formats usually require a minimum number of women on the field, so couples are a welcome signup. Touch rugby has no kicking and no contact beyond the touch, and a season usually runs 8 to 10 weeks. Search your city plus 'mixed touch rugby' and you will usually find a beginner division.

variations & upgrades

long-distance version

Each of you finds a wall and runs the same session on a video call with the phone propped on a bag. Wall passes for 60 seconds, high-ball self-throws, cone footwork against a timer. Read your counts out, and the lower total picks the next call's topic.

rainy-day indoor version

A soft rugby ball or a rolled pair of socks in a hallway: pop passes at 2 metres, reaction catches where one of you calls left or right at the last second, and 20 side-steps across the room. Ten minutes, nothing breaks.

make it a weekly date

Same park, same evening, and keep a note of every score. After four weeks, compare the first session to the latest one. The improvement is the part you will both be proud of, and it gives you an excuse to buy the good tag belts.

good questions, answered

Side-by-side passing on the run (flat, spin and pop passes), wall passes, high-ball catching, grubber kicks to chase, cone side-steps and a 1v1 tag game in a 10 by 5 metre channel. All of them need one ball and a few cones, and none involve tackling.

An Nayal

Founder of Flamme, the couples app used by more than 200,000 partners. He writes the relationship guides here and builds the free tools that go with them. annayal.com

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scan to get the app 📱

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