Stuck in the mud
An evasion and footwork warm-up for U7 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
- U7, U8, U9, U10, U11, U12
- Time
- 6 minutes
- Players
- 8 to 24
- Space
- 20 x 20 m
- Kit
- 4 cones, 2 balls
- Pitch
- Fine on hard ground
Setting it up
A square with two catchers in it, each carrying a ball. Everybody else is a runner.
How it runs
The catchers touch a runner with the ball to stick them. Stuck means feet apart, arms out, no moving. A free runner crawls between their legs to unstick them. Two minutes, then swap the catchers. It is the oldest game in any school playground and it earns its place here because nobody stands about and the ones who get caught still have a job.
What to watch for
- Change direction rather than running in a straight line
- Look for someone stuck who nobody is guarding
- Catchers work together. Push them towards each other
Make it easier
- Smaller square
- Stuck for a count of five, then free yourself
Make it harder
- Three catchers
- Free somebody by passing them a ball instead of crawling through
What it looks like when it is going wrong
What you can see from the touchline, then the one thing to say about it.
- Runners going nowhere near anybody who is stuck
- Somebody go and free him. You cannot win this on your own
- A catcher throwing the ball at somebody rather than touching them
- Keep hold of it. Touch them with it, do not throw it
More like this
The grades that can do it
What U7 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.