The standard warm-up

Every session opens with the same five-minute warm-up, led by one of the players (see claude.html and claude.html). This page is the model: the same four phases, in the same order, every single time.

Everything is run in lines off the try-line, working out to a cone line (the 22, or ~20m) and back. One shape, four phases, progressively harder — raise the heart rate, add retreating, open the joints up, then finish on the pads.

Kit: a cone line at ~20m, and ruck shields for the last phase.

Why the same thing every week

The leader can actually lead it. A fixed sequence can be memorised. A different warm-up each week means a player reading off a card, badly.
It is predictable. Several of our players do much better when they know exactly what is coming next — same lines, same order, same words, every session.
It gets better, not just repeated. Because nobody is learning the format, the group can push the quality: sharper lines, better positions, more effort on the last rep than the first.

The four phases

Squad splits into three or four lines on the try-line. Every rep is out to the cones and back. Roughly five minutes; stretch it to seven or eight if it is cold or there is time.

#	Phase	Time	Reps (out and back)
1	Heart rate	~60s	Jog out, jog back. Jog out, stride back. Stride out, jog back. Target: breathing hard enough to notice. Not gassed.
2	Jog and retreat	~60s	Jog out, backpedal back — chest up, eyes up, stay square. Side-shuffle out (change lead halfway), backpedal back. Jog out, backpedal back, turning on the leader's call.
3	Dynamic stretching (Activate style)	~2 min	Knee hug out / heel flicks back. Lunge with a rotation out / straight-leg kicks back. Open the gate out / close the gate back. High knees out / skip back. Controlled and full-range. This is not a race — the line that finishes first has usually done it worst.
4	Pads — Zoom-Cruise-Boom	~90s	Shields at the cone line. Each player: zoom (fast approach), cruise (settle, stay on toes), boom (finish on the shield). Two or three each. See `activities.html`.

Phase 4 is a shield, not a tackle. It warms the body up for contact; it does not replace the two-minute contact warm-up in claude.html, which still runs before any tackling.

What the leader actually says

The leader needs about eight lines. This is the whole script:

Phase	Say this
Start	"Warm-up — three lines on the try-line, out to the cones and back."
1	"Jog out, jog back... jog out, stride back... stride out, jog back."
2	"Now backpedal coming home — chest up, eyes up." Then: "Turn!" on the way back.
3	"Stretching now — knee hug out, heels back." Then call each pair as it comes.
4	"Shields up — zoom, cruise, boom. Two each."
Finish	"Warm-up done, over to the coaches."

Coaching notes

Pick next week's leader at the end of this week's session, not on the day. It gives them a week to think about it, and it removes the surprise for anyone who would rather not be volunteered on the spot.
Let it be led badly before you step in. The point is the player leading, not a perfect warm-up. Step in only for safety, or if the group has genuinely stopped.
Phase 3 is the one that gets rushed. It is also the one doing the injury-prevention work — the RFU's Activate programme is the reference if you want the full version. Slow it down; call the movement rather than letting the lines race.
Quality targets to push over a block: straighter lines and a proper start together in phase 1; genuinely square, chest-up retreating in phase 2; full range in phase 3; a real change of pace between zoom and cruise in phase 4.
If numbers are low, use two lines rather than dropping a phase. All four work with eight players.
If it is cold, add a rep to phase 1 rather than cutting phase 3.