FORMER England and British & Ireland Lions star Ugo Monye has given the thumbs-up to the Rams’ Juniors and Minis after they took part in the #GetYourShirtOn challenge on Sunday.

With the second lockdown preventing youngsters from training together at the club, BT Sport pundit and ex-Harlequins wing Ugo ran three online sessions in a bid to keep youngsters across the country active.

Before he began, Ugo announced: “We want the guys to wear their shirt to show who they represent,” and our youngsters rose to the challenge in high numbers.

Shiplake College deputy headmaster, Paul Jones, and his son, took part, with the former describing it as a ‘very fun session’ before Ugo replied on Twitter with a hand clap emoji.

Aimed at the Under 10s and below, Ugo first asked the Minis to operate a ‘high knees’ work-out, before encouraging them to accelerate their running on the spot for 10 seconds when he shouted ‘chase’.

Next up was his shout to ‘tag’ – either to the left or right - or ‘tackle’, which prompted our youngsters to drop to the floor and do a quick press-up.

Side-stepping and line-out reaches were next on Ugo’s list before a variety of animal movements – including the snake, kangaroo, cheetah and turtle.

Crab walks and bear crawls followed to end the ‘warm-up’, with a 30-second clap challenge the next event for our boys and girls, where they threw a ball up and clapped as many times as they could before catching it.

And from there an added twist was added as the kids were asked to hop on one leg while taking part.

Under 8s coach Alan Meechan linked the video to his squad and club photographer, Paul Clark, described it as a ‘great initiative from the RFU’.

If your kids missed it and want to have a go, click here

The second session for U11s to U14s followed a similar pattern to warm-up, before the bear crawls and a ‘grab and reach’ activity to help our juniors work on the line-out.

Ugo then initiated a ‘three reps each side’ drill to help develop core strength before forward rolls and shoulder stability exercises kept everyone on the front foot.

Next up were low squat walks before another line-out drill before a tricky obstacle challenge.

First up, the kids had to jump off a chair and land on two feet, then leap a pillow and land on one leg, go over a towel and reset themselves on two feet before hurdling a bucket.

They then pick up a rugby ball and do as many clap-and-catch efforts as possible in 30 seconds!

The figure-of-eight challenge rounds out the day ahead of another session next Sunday and our Siren Amy Parsons was delighted Ugo’s session got her ‘teenager Billy out of bed!’

To watch it in full, click here

The final video was aimed at the Under 15s – where Mark Pett-Ridge and the gang held it as a team session – and began with what Ugo called a ‘snake run’, helping work on the side-step.

Ski jumps followed before three ‘walking crunches’ each side, and then a ‘leg hop and stick’ which will help develop our youngsters change of direction.

Toe-raising reps and landing softly to improve the calves are next in line, before deadlift snaps squats, glute bridges and press-ups round out the session.

If you missed it, click here