PASS & TACKLE

A ball that bounces the wrong way. A pass that must go backwards. Rugby breaks all the rules, and that is exactly why it is brilliant!

PASS & TACKLE! is Book 11 of the Little Champions series. It introduces children aged 8-12 to the history, science, skills and values of one of the world's great team sports. In rugby, there is a job for every kind of body, and nobody scores a try on their own.

Written in clear, friendly language that children can read on their own or share with a grown-up, this colourful handbook puts safety first. It explains why tackling, scrummaging and lifting are only learned with a qualified coach, and why protecting heads matters more than anything.

Inside, young champions will discover:

• The story of rugby, from the William Webb Ellis legend at Rugby School to Olympic sevens and the record-breaking 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup

• The whole rugby family: union, sevens, league, tag, touch and wheelchair rugby

• Rugby around the world, from the All Blacks and Black Ferns to Fiji, Japan, Argentina and the Springboks

• How to read the pitch, understand every line and post, and add up a rugby score

• The golden rule: why the pass must always go backwards, plus spin passes, pop passes, offloads and switches

• Running skills: sidesteps, swerves, hand-offs and support lines

• Safe, fair tackling, rucks and mauls, and World Rugby's "Recognise and Remove" message on concussion

• Scrums, lineouts, kick-offs, penalties and drop-outs explained step by step

• All 15 positions, and a guide to finding the one that suits you

• The five rugby values: integrity, passion, solidarity, discipline and respect

• The inspiring true stories of Siya Kolisi and Portia Woodman-Wickliffe

Packed with hands-on learning:

• 10 Chapter Challenge pages

• TRY THIS! activities, including a backwards pass challenge, a score calculator, a cone sidestep course, a tag rugby game and a design-your-own-jersey page

• SCIENCE boxes on gyroscopic spin, relative motion, Newton's laws and the physics of the scrum

• PLAY SAFE boxes that build lifelong good habits

• RUGBY VALUES boxes on respect, trust and the famous "third half"

• A 51-word glossary, a 17-star Champion Star Chart and a Little Champion certificate

Perfect for children starting tag rugby or joining a club, young fans of the Rugby World Cup and the Six Nations, classroom and homeschool PE learning, and every reader collecting the Little Champions series.

Pass it back. Charge forward. You are ready!