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Rugby · United States · Tactics

🏉 Tactics board · Rugby · United States

Build your formation, draw your movements and sequence your steps. Export to PNG or GIF, share with one link. How does it work?

Tactics board rugby online: build, draw, animate and share your strike play.

~15 min read
Tactics board mode · Rugby
A strike play can't just be told. It has to be shown — and it has to move.
GIF

The next-generation tactical whiteboard, right in your browser.

You've got a clear idea in your head — a lineout strike play, a backs move, a rushing line-speed defense to dial in — but the moment you try to explain it, you end up with a board wiped at halftime, arrows crossing every which way or a three-minute voice memo nobody listens to. TeamBranch's tactics board fills exactly that gap.

In a few minutes you turn an idea into an animated diagram: you set your fifteen, draw the runs, passes and rucks, chain the steps and export a GIF ready to send to the team's WhatsApp group, post on your socials or keep for the next session. No $200 software to install, no account to create: you open the page, place your fifteen, draw, export.

Clean line pitch Real players + photos GIF & PNG export Free, no sign-up
Headline feature · animated GIF

Your strike play becomes a moving animation, phase by phase.

Most whiteboards stop at a still image. TeamBranch animates your play. It works like an animation: each step is a keyframe, and the tool plays them in sequence. You set up the set piece (lineout, scrum), draw the first movement — the ball out, the first center's run, the screen — then add a step: it automatically copies the positions and lines from the previous one, so you only move what changes.

Three to six steps are enough to tell a lineout strike, a first-phase move or a chain of phases. One click on “Animated GIF”, you pick your format — Standard, Landscape (X / Facebook), Square (Instagram) or Story / Reels / TikTok — and the tool replays each step (~0.8s per frame), adds the watermark and downloads the file. Need a still image? The same menu also exports a high-resolution PNG.

▶ Generate an animated GIF⤓ Export as HD PNG
Storyboard · lineout strike▶ GIF
Step 1 · lineout
Step 2 · 9 plays
Step 3 · backs
▶GIF
5 steps
Export · share
5steps
~0.8sper frame
4formats
$0to pay
Coach · club, youth rugby, XV / Sevens

Dial in your strike play, send the GIF

You're working on a lineout strike or a backs move, you generate the GIF and send it to the team's WhatsApp group. Your players show up to training already having seen the runs and passes. The whiteboard that never gets wiped at halftime.

Strike playLineoutWhatsApp
Fan · analyst

Illustrate your breakdown instead of a wall of text

You argue “here's how this defense shuts the channel” with a clear visual rather than a wall of text. An animated diagram is worth a thousand tweets: you show the line speed, the rush, the overlap, and the MLR or Six Nations debate is on.

AnalysisDefenseDebate
Content creator · TikTok, Insta, X

An animated breakdown in the right vertical format

You put out an animated tactical breakdown in Story / Reels / TikTok format, with the players' real faces, in two minutes. A weight-optimized GIF that sends fast, ready for 9:16. The rugby content that stops the thumb in the feed.

9:16ReelsReal photos
Player · captain · scrum-half

Clear up a kick-to-the-corner move

You get everyone on the same page before a 5-meter attacking lineout or a 22 exit. Who jumps, who counter-drives in the maul, who hits the gap: one share-as-view-only diagram, and the call is crystal clear for the fifteen.

Attacking lineoutMaulShared link
The Tactics Notebook · special issue on systems of play
No. 15 · 1900–2026

A century of systems of play, from the running game to the rush defense.

A system isn't just a diagram: it's an idea of rugby. From the running game of the early days to the modern aggressive defense, every era invented its own way to occupy space, win the ball and cross the gain line. On TeamBranch's tactics board you can replay each of these systems, annotate them and animate them to understand — or teach — why they work.

1900–1960 · The origins

The pass, the scrum and the kicking game

In the early days, it's all about set-piece possession and the kicking game: scrum and lineout are contests of pure power, and the ball travels off the boot for want of organized defenses. The first three-quarter lines appear, with the idea of moving the ball across the width.

Wales and the All Blacks theorize the passing game and the first strike plays. On a tactics board, these choices read at a glance: who fixes, who passes wide, where you attack the space.

1970–1995 · The great schools

French flair, the 10-12 axis and dominant forwards

Two philosophies coexist. French flair makes an art of post-contact play and the expansive game: offloads, support, counter-attack from deep. At the opposite end, the Anglo school relies on forward dominance, the breakdown battle and territory off the boot.

The 9-10 half-back axis becomes the team's brain: choosing the play, managing tempo, launching the backs. Three ideas, three ways to draw the same fifteen players — exactly what a tactics board lets you compare side by side.

1995–2026 · Modern rugby

Quick rucks, gain line, blitz

Going professional changes everything: the game structures itself around phases, quick rucks and the gain line. Defense becomes a weapon — rush / blitz, fanning up, contest at the breakdown (the jackal).

Today the vocabulary is everywhere: pod, channel, gain line, offload, 22 exit, counter-ruck, exit. The tactics board puts these concepts within everyone's reach: you don't need a World Rugby badge to show where to set the pod and when to go wide.

Toolbox

Every drawing tool on the tactics board.

A static position tells you nothing. What turns a lineup into a readable game plan is the lines: runs, passes, kicks, rucks, zones and notes — each in the color of your choice. Here's the visual grammar of the board.

Player run
The run. Trace a player's path: line into contact, crossing run line, support, drop back. The tool that brings the next step to life.
Pass
The delivery. Link two players to show a pass, a pass wide, a miss pass or an offload after contact.
Kicking
The ball in the air. A dotted line for the up-and-under, the clearance kick, the grubber or the kick over the top: the difference from a pass is instantly clear.
Tackle / contact
The collision point. Mark the tackle, the line break or the contact to show where the ruck and the gain line are created.
Ruck / maul / zone
The breakdown & the space. Drop a ruck, a maul, or mark out a zone (channel, pod, defensive pressing zone). Essential for explaining a chain of phases.
Text annotation
The keyword. Drop a written marker — “pod 1-3-3-1”, “rush here”, “second line” — straight onto the pitch. And Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Y to undo-redo stress-free.
Tactical glossary

The words to know to talk rugby tactics.

Strike play
The coded move launched off a set piece (lineout, scrum). First phase, second phase, wide or close to the rucks: the tactics board's favorite playground.
Gain line
The imaginary line at the start of each phase. Cross it and you go forward; behind it and you go backward. All of modern rugby is played around this line.
Ruck & maul
The breakdowns. The ruck forms on the ground after a tackle; the maul standing, ball carried. Speed of ball, contest (jackal), counter-drive: it all draws in clean lines.
Lineout
The throw-in on the touchline. Jumpers, lifters, lineout calls (jump at 2, at 4, at the back), driving maul or quick ball. The most coded set piece.
Scrum
The forward battle at eight. Stability, drive, ball out from the number 8 or the 9: the base of all territory and penalties won.
Pod & forward system
The organization of the forwards into groups (pods) that relay: 1-3-3-1, 2-4-2… A wave pattern that structures the phases near the rucks. Compared in two set-ups.
Line-speed defense · rush / blitz
The line defense that comes up fast to cut the attack's time and space. Rush / blitz (aggressive line speed), drift defense, umbrella. The modern defensive weapon.
Channel & gap
The lanes of play. Channel 1 near the ruck, the wide channel, the gap between two defenders. Width, depth and fixing let an attack breathe.
22 exit
The strategy for getting out of your half: clearance kick, touch found, or ball in hand to gain ground. The moment you manage the territorial battle.
The fifteen & the positions
The team's skeleton: 8 forwards (front row, second row, back row), the 9-10 half-back axis, the backs and the fullback. Roles color-coded by line, freely movable.
Step by step · from idea to GIF

How to generate an animated GIF of your strike play.

The headline feature, broken down. It works like an animation: each step is a keyframe, and the tool plays them in sequence automatically on export. Three to six steps are enough to tell a lineout strike, a backs move or a chain of phases.

01
Set up your set piece
Pick your starting point — lineout, scrum, ruck — place your fifteen and the defense, put the ball in the right spot. That's your step 1.
LineoutScrumBall
02
Draw the first movement
Trace the 9's pass out, the first center's run, the pass wide. Pick the color for each type of line.
RunPassPod
03
Add a step
Below the pitch, click “+ step”. It copies the positions and lines from the previous one: you only have to move what changes.
+ stepAuto-copy
04
Repeat for each phase
One step = one phase. Advance the ruck, move the ball, add the offload or the line break. 3 to 6 steps tell the whole sequence.
PhasesHistory
05
Click “Animated GIF”
Pick the format — Standard, Landscape, Square, Story. The tool replays each step, adds the watermark and downloads. All that's left is to post.
GIFHD PNGShare
“
Rugby is about going forward together. The hardest part isn't having the move — it's getting fifteen players to understand it and take off at the very same moment.
The tactics board — exactly the gap this tool fills

Every strike play & phase you can draw and animate.

9 situations · no sign-up
↟
Set piece · Lineout

The lineout strike

Place your lineout, pick your call (jump at 2, at 4, at the back), trace the driving maul or the quick ball to the half-backs. Animate the sequence: throw, jump, release, first phase. The strike your forwards know by heart before training.

2 JumpM Maul9 Ball out
Lineout · 4-5 stepsGIF ready
⊗
Set piece · Scrum

The scrum strike

Set the scrum, show the number 8 pick or the 9's pass, and the backs move behind: crossing run, miss pass, switch. Animate the first phase to cross the gain line. Ideal for exploiting a 5-meter scrum.

8 Ball out10 Fly-half× Switch
Scrum · moveGIF ready
⟶
Attacking play

The backs move

Trace the running lines: the first center's fixing run, the miss pass to the wing, the switch or one-two with the fullback coming into the line. Animate the overlap to create the overload and the gap. The art of putting a man through the hole.

12 Fix15 Enters11 Wide
Backs · overlapGIF ready
▦
Forward play

The pod system

Draw your forward organization in 1-3-3-1 or 2-4-2: the waves relaying ruck after ruck, the pods advancing near the breakdowns to fix the defense before going wide. Animate the repeated phases to win the gain line.

1·3·3·1 Pods▦ Waves→ Width
Pods · phasesGIF ready
⇈
Defense

The rush defense

Draw the defensive line, the rush / blitz coming up fast to smother the attack, or the drift defense pushing toward the touchline. Show the jackal at the ruck and the second-line cover. Animate the collective line speed so the whole line takes off on the same cue.

⇈ Rush↘ DriftJ Jackal
Defense · line speedGIF ready
⚐
Set play · Penalty

The kick to the corner & the maul

The board's favorite playground near the line: the kick to the corner at five meters, the lineout forming a driving maul, the defense organizing to counter-drive. Place every player, trace the maul's drive and the ball out. The forwards' try on the menu.

P To cornerM Maul5m Line
Corner · maulView-only
🦶
Strategy · Territory

The 22 exit

Diagram your exit from your own half: clearance kick to find touch, up-and-under to reclaim, or ball in hand to advance. Trace the chasing runs and the back-field cover. Animate the tactical choice to manage the territorial battle and get out of your zone.

22 Exit↑ Up-and-under⟂ Touch
Exit · kickingStrategy
VII
Rugby Sevens & League

The Sevens game

Adapt the board to rugby Sevens or League (XIII): fewer players, more space, loop, switch and two-man support play. The pitch has a margin around the lines for lineouts and exits. Diagram the Sevens defensive structures and the quick strikes of the Olympic format.

7 Sevens↻ Loop↔ Space
Sevens · League · spaceMargin included
🧒
Rugby academy · youth

The training drill

Diagram a drill or a session exercise for your U10s to U16s: pass-after-contact, support, line play, safe tackle technique. Create custom players with photos of your club's kids so they recognize themselves. The animated session plan parents understand too.

M Youth+ Custom player▲ Drill
Youth · coachingSession plan
The fifteen, forwards & backs

Set your fifteen, pick your system of play.

Place the fifteen positions — front row, second row, back row, 9-10 half-backs, centers, wings, fullback — on the pitch, from set pieces to the expansive game. The players already placed (name + photo) keep their identity when you switch set-up; the roles are color-coded by line (forwards, half-backs, backs) for instant reading.

1-3-3-1
Pods
2-4-2
Waves
Lineout
Set piece
Scrum
Set piece
Rush
Defense
Drift
Sliding
XV / 7s
Format
⚙
Free
6 play templates · 1 click to start
01
5-step lineout strike
Jump, driving maul, 9 plays, first phase wide. Ready to animate as a GIF.
▶
02
Scrum move
Number 8 pick, first center's switch, miss pass to the wing. Cross the line.
▶
03
1-3-3-1 pod system
Forward waves ruck after ruck, then release wide. Win the gain line.
▶
04
Rush defense (blitz)
Line coming up, jackal at the ruck, second-line cover.
▶
05
Corner kick & maul
5m lineout, driving maul, drive and try. 4 steps.
▶
06
The 22 exit
Scrum 5m from your line, clearance kick, chasing run.
▶
Visual dictionary

The 12 tactical concepts you can illustrate in two minutes.

From the strike play to the rush defense, every big idea in rugby is drawn better than it's explained. Here are the most searched-for concepts — and they become crystal clear the moment you animate them on the tactics board. Set your fifteen, draw, animate, share.

LCT
Strike play
Set piece
Coded move launched off a lineout or a scrum. Drawn with the runs + the ball out.
lineoutscrum
GL
Gain line
Gain line
Cross it and you go forward. All of modern rugby is played around this line. Fixing and support.
crossgo forward
POD
Pod system
1-3-3-1 / 2-4-2
Forward waves relaying ruck after ruck to fix then go wide. Structures the phases.
waveschannel
RCK
Ruck & release
After the tackle
Speed of ball on the ground: quick ruck, clearout, contest (jackal). The lifeblood of pro rugby.
jackalclearout
MAU
Driving maul
Lineout · 5m
Ball carried standing that advances as a group. The forwards' weapon off an attacking lineout near the line.
drivecounter-drive
RSH
Rush defense
Rush / Blitz
Come up fast in line to cut time and space. Smothers the attack, forces the error.
blitzsecond line
DRF
Drift defense
Drift
Slide toward the touchline to push the attack to the edge. The patient alternative to the rush.
drifttouchline
OFF
Offload
After contact
Pass in the tackle to keep the momentum and break the defense. The salt of the expansive game.
supportcontinuity
DEC
Overlap
Overload
Fix then give to create the overload and the gap. Miss pass, crossing run.
missgap
KCK
Kicking game
Strategy
Up-and-under, grubber, clearance. Reclaim, gain ground or pin them back. Territorial management.
up-and-undergrubber
EXT
22 exit
Exit
Get out of your half cleanly: clearance kick, touch found. Manage the balance of power.
exitterritory
CHR
9-10 axis
The brain
Scrum-half + fly-half: choosing the play, tempo, launching the backs. The decision-making position.
scrum-halffly-half
Export · animated GIF & high-res PNG

A format for every platform, in one click.

The export menu offers the animated GIF (replaying your steps) and the high-resolution PNG (a still for a thumbnail or print), each in the right ratio. Landscape for X / Facebook, square for Instagram, vertical for Stories, Reels and TikTok. The GIF is weight-optimized to send fast by message.

Standard GIF
16:10 · animated
Full board
Landscape GIF
16:9 · animated
X · Facebook
Square GIF
1:1 · animated
Instagram post
Story GIF
9:16 · animated
Story · Reels · TikTok
HD PNG
High resolution
Thumbnail · print
Landscape PNG
16:9 · still
Banner · article
Square PNG
1:1 · still
Instagram post
Story PNG
9:16 · still
Story · poster
Save & share

Your strike play, in one link.

You save your tactic and get a view-only replay link: the person plays the sequence back step by step. A tactic that's full enough (at least the pack or the backline placed) also appears in the feed and the country's best XV; below that, it stays private and re-editable.

Frequently asked questions

Everything about the rugby tactics board.

A pick of the questions most asked on Google and in our user messages.

How do I make an animated GIF of my strike play?
Every step you add below the pitch becomes a keyframe of the animation. You set up your set piece (lineout, scrum), draw a movement (9's pass out, run, pass), click “+ step” (it copies the positions and lines), move what changes, and repeat. Then you click “Animated GIF” and pick the format. The tool replays each step (~0.8s per frame), adds the watermark and downloads the GIF. The more steps you create, the more detailed the chain of phases.
Is the TeamBranch tactics board really free?
Yes, completely. Lineup, drawings, steps, PNG and GIF export, replay link: no sign-up and no payment. No $200 software to install, no account to create. You open the page, place your fifteen, draw, export. Make as many strike plays as you like.
Can I put real players on the pitch?
Yes. Tap a marker to open the search and drop in a real player — their photo and position arrive automatically (MLR, USA Eagles, internationals…). You can also create a custom player (one of your club's kids, a buddy) with their own image. Roles are color-coded by line — forwards, half-backs, backs — for instant reading.
Can I place the opposition too?
Of course. Add opposing defenders, move them, give them a photo: you stage a real head-to-head, not just your own attack. Ideal for prepping a specific opponent — your strike against their rush defense, for example — or for film-study work.
Does the board handle set pieces (lineout, scrum)?
Yes, it's actually its strong point. You place your lineout (jumpers, lifters, jump calls), your scrum at eight, and you trace the ball out, the driving maul or the first phase behind. The clean line pitch shows the 22, 5-meter and halfway lines to put each phase in the right place.
What drawing tools does the board offer?
Six families, each in the color of your choice: player runs, passes (including miss pass and offload), kicking, tackles/contacts, rucks / mauls / zones, and text annotations. That's what turns a static position into a readable game plan. With a full history and the Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Y shortcuts to undo/redo stress-free.
How do I animate several phases?
Every step you add becomes a frame of the animation. The new step automatically copies the positions and lines from the previous one: you only have to move what changes (advance the ruck, move the ball, add the offload). Three to six steps are usually enough to tell a lineout strike, a backs move or a chain of several phases. The tool chains them automatically on GIF export.
Which format should I pick for social media?
Landscape for X / Facebook, square for an Instagram post, vertical (9:16) for Stories, Reels and TikTok, or Standard for the full board. The GIF is weight-optimized to send fast by message. Need a still image? The same menu also exports a high-resolution PNG — perfect for a thumbnail or a diagram to print.
Can I place a player or the ball off the pitch?
Yes. The pitch is drawn in clean lines (sharp at any size, dark mode included) with all the markings — try lines, in-goal, 22-meter, 5 and 15-meter lines, halfway and posts. Because there's a margin around the lines, you can place a player or the ball off the pitch: lineout throw-in, ball behind the in-goal, exit. Handy too for rugby Sevens and rugby League.
How do I share my strike play with my team?
You save your tactic and get a view-only replay link: the person plays the sequence back step by step. You can also export the GIF or the PNG and send it straight to the team's WhatsApp group, post it on your socials, or keep it for the next session.
Are my strike plays public?
Only if they're complete enough: a tactic with the pack or the backline placed joins the feed and the country's best XV. Otherwise it stays private and editable, and your share link stays view-only. You stay in control of what's visible.
Does the board work on a phone?
Yes, it all happens right in the browser, on desktop and mobile alike — nothing to install. It's actually the headline use case: you prep your strike play, generate the GIF, and your players watch it on their phones before training. You can zoom in on the zone that matters — lineout, scrum, defensive line — to work on it in detail on a small screen.
Does it work for rugby Sevens and rugby League?
Yes. The margin around the lines and the freedom of placement let you adapt the board to every format: rugby Sevens (fewer players, more space, loop and two-man support play), rugby League (XIII) (the six-tackle set, line-speed defense), social rugby. You diagram strike plays, defenses and set plays just like in XV.
Can I use it to coach youth players?
Absolutely. Diagram a drill or a session exercise (pass-after-contact, support, line play, safe tackle technique), create custom players with photos of your club's kids, and generate an animated session plan that players and parents grasp at a glance. The whiteboard that never gets wiped, for the academy.
Are there other sports besides rugby?
Yes. TeamBranch offers boards and lineups for many sports — soccer, basketball, handball, volleyball, water polo — each with its own pitch, positions and terminology. The rugby tactics board mode is built to animate a strike play and export it as a GIF, from the lineout to the expansive game.
Is the tactics board available in United States?
Yes. The rugby tactics board is available everywhere, in each country's language, United States included. You build the team of your choice — national side, club or your own team — draw your strike plays and export your GIF, with nothing to install.