Forward pods
Three-man and four-man pods drop onto the pitch pre-spaced. Rotate them to the angle you want and drag the whole unit as one.
Rugby Animator — free, no sign up
Show players the move, not just the call.
Build a rugby play on the pitch below. Both teams, full 15-a-side, your own colours and numbers, animated across the timeline. Nothing to install, no account needed.
Nothing you build here is saved or sent anywhere — it resets when you reload. Saving, exporting and the drawing tools come with an account.
No card required · Cancel any time · Keep every play you build
Built for rugby, not generic sport
Drop in a pod, a lineout or a backline — already shaped.
Most tactics boards give you dots and arrows and leave the rugby to you. Rugby Animator starts from the shapes you already coach, so a phase-play pattern takes seconds rather than fifteen fiddly clicks. Every placement rotates with Q and E, so you can angle it to the channel you are actually working in.
Phase-play structures
1-3-3-1 and 2-4-2 arrive as complete shapes across the field, ready to move through phases rather than built player by player.
Set piece and backline
Lineout setups and full backline shapes as single placements — then break the group when you want to move one runner on their own.
Movement, not just positions
A still diagram cannot show timing. This can.
A switch, a loop or a lineout strike lives or dies on when the runner arrives, not where they stand. You set the shape at each moment and the animator moves everything in between, so players see the picture unfold at the speed it actually happens.
Keyframe the phases
Set the shape, mark the moment, move the players, mark the next. Scrub the timeline or press play to watch the whole move run at half, normal or double speed.
Runs, passes and kicks
Run paths, pass lines and kick lines are separate tools, so the picture reads properly. Add freehand marks and text notes for the coaching points around them.
The ball goes with the carrier
Link the ball to a player and it travels with them through the phase, then releases on the pass — so the ball is never in the wrong place.
Three views of the pitch
Zoom to the bit that matters.
A backline move and a lineout need very different amounts of grass. Switch the view so the detail you are teaching fills the screen instead of sitting in the corner of a full field.
Full Pitch
The whole field, for kick-chase, exits, counter-attack and anything that travels a long way.
Tactical Half
Half the field at twice the detail — the usual choice for phase play and attacking shape.
Set-Piece Zone
Tight on the set piece, where lineout spacing and scrum launches actually need the room.
From animation to Playbook
Build it once, use it all season.
Create the animation, then keep the coaching detail with it. Your Playbook becomes a proper library of attack, defence and set-piece ideas instead of a folder of screenshots and half-remembered messages.
- Store plays with descriptions and tactical notes
- Group by attack, defence, set piece or your own categories
- Open any saved play straight back into the animator to adjust it
- Unlimited saved plays on every plan — no cap, ever
Getting it to the squad
Off your screen and into their hands.
A play only helps if the squad sees it. Export the finished move and send it however your team already talks — the group chat, a team email, or printed for the changing-room wall.
Video
Export the animated move as 720p or 1080p video — the format that works in a group chat without anyone installing anything.
Images
PNG or JPEG of any frame, or copy straight to the clipboard to paste into a team sheet, a slide or a message.
The play file
Download the play itself to keep a local copy or move it between workspaces.
Before you ask
Questions about the Animator.
Is the demo on this page the real thing?
Yes. It is the same animator, running in your browser. Both teams, full 15-a-side, your own colours and numbers, the full timeline. What it will not do is save, export, or use the drawing tools — those need an account.
Do I need to install anything?
No. It runs in the browser on a laptop or desktop. Nothing to download, and nothing for your players to install either.
How many plays can I save?
As many as you like. There is no cap on saved plays on any plan, including the entry-level Animator + Playbook plan.
Can I use it without the rest of RugbyAxis?
Yes. Animator + Playbook is a plan in its own right at R149 a month, with the rugby laws library included. If you later want squad management, training planning and Matchday 23, you move up a tier and every play you have built comes with you.
What happens to my plays if I stop paying?
Nothing is deleted. Your workspace locks at the end of the period you have paid for, and everything is exactly where you left it if you come back.
Build your first play in the next five minutes.
Fourteen days of the full Animator and Playbook, with saving, exports and the drawing tools switched on. No card required, and you keep everything you build.