Numbers scramble
A game sense warm-up for U8 and up, with where the cones go, how it runs and what to say when it is not working.
Free to read with no account. It works at a pitch with no signal too.
- Age grades
- U8, U9, U10, U11, U12
- Time
- 5 minutes
- Players
- 8 to 24
- Space
- 20 x 20 m
- Kit
- 4 cones
- Pitch
- Fine on hard ground
Setting it up
Everyone jogging inside a square.
How it runs
Shout a number and they have to get into groups of that size, sat down, as fast as possible. Anybody left over does five star jumps. Then start shouting shapes instead of numbers. A triangle of four. A line of three. Six goes. Gets them listening and moving before you ask them to listen to anything harder.
What to watch for
- Move towards people, do not stand and wait to be picked
- Count out loud so your group knows if it is right
- Head up while you jog so you can see who is near you
Make it easier
- Walk it
- Only call numbers, no shapes
Make it harder
- Call two numbers and they pick which to make
- No talking allowed
What it looks like when it is going wrong
What you can see from the touchline, then the one thing to say about it.
- Standing still waiting to be picked up by a group
- Move towards people. Go and find a group
- Counting silently then getting it wrong
- Count out loud so you can hear each other
More like this
The grades that can do it
What U8 rugby allows is the rule this sits under. Regulation 15 is reissued every summer, so the RFU's own rules of play are the ones to read for this season rather than a copy on somebody else's website. Ours included. Read against the RFU's 2026/27 appendices in August 2026.