Rugby tackling warm-up

Set-up

• 10m square.
• One ball per player.

What you get your players to do

Players jog around the outside of the box. You shout “down left” or “down right” and players parachute roll to that side, present a ball, get to their feet, reclaim the ball, and begin to jog on (See picture 1).

Then, in pairs, move across the box doing the following:

Pushing each other away with shoves to the chest (picture 2A).

Arms folded, hands on shoulders, barge shoulder to shoulder (picture 2B).

Arms folded, barge chest to chest (picture 2C).

Arms crossed, knock right shoulder to right shoulder, then left to left (picture 2D).

Look for

• Roll on to knees, hips then shoulders.
• Twist in the fall to face the opposite way to running.
• Ball at arms’ length. Spring to feet.

Development

With arms crossed, players look to knock each other out of the box using the upper body only by barging and pushing. Hands must be kept on shoulders. Players knocked out of the box or falling over are out of the game. The winner is the last player remaining (see picture 3).

Notes

• Adjust the size of box to suit the number of players.
• If there are not enough balls, use cones.
• Players knocked out of the game should pair up and continue the first exercises.

This warm-up is from Rugby Coach Weekly.