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| 1. ACTION REQUIRED Getting Ready for the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 Find out how to make the most of the upcoming Women’s Rugby World Cup through Girls’ Activity Days, RugbyFest events, Yarn Art and more in this section! Important Update on League Promotion & Relegation changes for the 2025 Season With longer-term changes to competition formats requiring more discussion and club consultation, we have fast-tracked a change to National and Regional Men’s leagues to begin the process of modernising our competitions. Learn about the changes in this piece. RFU Leagues Travel Funding Support for the 2025/26 Season We’ve increased the Travel Funding Support by £200K this season. The travel funding policy for teams playing in the 2025/26 RFU Leagues will remain the same as last season for offshore travel, with a slight change for onshore travel. Community Cup Changes for Counties 1 & Below We’re introducing a new format for next season, giving clubs a cup fixture early in the campaign. All clubs will be automatically entered, with the option to opt out by August 8th. Player Registration is Open! Adult players can now renew their registrations and parents or guardians can renew their child or dependent to ensure they’re ready to hit the ground running when the season kicks off. Age Grade Updates Check out the latest Age Grade updates here, from Match Load and Recovery Guidance, to the Summer Activity Framework for July and August. READ ONLINE > |
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| 2. ACTION IF OF INTEREST Calling All Coaches! The 2025/26 season coach training programme is here! With over 800 courses and 15,000 places available for booking it’s time to secure your place on the course you need. Join the CRISP Project – Help Shape the Future of Player Welfare The Community Rugby Injury Surveillance and Prevention (CRISP) Project is now open for team registrations for the 2025-26 season. RFU Virtual Safeguarding Conference 2025 – Last Call for Registrations! The RFU Virtual Safeguarding Conference is taking place on 12th July 2025 for CB safeguarding managers and club safeguarding officers, but also open to committee members, coaches, referees, and all volunteers involved in our sport. Support available for your club! Find details and registration information for our upcoming webinars and support here. |
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| 3. FOR AWARENESS What do you know about the RFU Injured Players Foundation? Complete this five-minute survey to help the IPF understand levels of awareness of the charity amongst the community and you could win an England Rugby signed shirt. First Aid Training – Key Updates for 2025-26 Following a recent review of the Emergency First Aid in Rugby Union (EFARU) course, England Rugby will no longer deliver face-to-face first aid training. To support clubs, comprehensive guidance is now available on the Pitch Side First Aid & Immediate Care webpage. GMS-Howden Risk Assessment Tool Integration The Howden Risk Assessment Tool is a bespoke platform that includes a number of risk assessments templates. This includes the first aid risk assessment template that can be utilized for the annual risk assessment. Club Safeguarding Audit 2025 – Now LIVE! The deadline for submission this year is 24th October 2025 and no further edits or submissions will be allowed after this date. Gender Participation Policy Review When the Gender Participation Policy was approved in August 2022, the RFU committed to reviewing it regularly based on new evidence and feedback from the community. Read about some updates in this section. Community News – monthly round-up Read this month’s roundup of the best community rugby stories – and find out how to submit your own story. READ ONLINE > |
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Payment of players return due by 30th June
A reminder to clubs concerned that this return needs to be completed by the end of this month.
https://help.rfu.com/support/solutions/articles/103000275565-how-to-complete-payment-of-players
Age Grade Summer Activity Guidelines
RFU Community Game Update – June
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Please see the CGU for this month below. The CGU is available for everyone to read, so if you’d like to share it with others then please forward on the email or the link and they will be able to read it. |
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| 1. TO ACTION Adult Player Registration From Tuesday 1 July, players and registrars alike will be able to go into GMS and complete re-registration tasks. Find out about improvements we’ve made and what players will need to do to complete the simple process in this section. Age Grade Player Registration Age Grade Registration for the 2025/26 season officially opens on 1 July. With half of all registrations complete before the season even began, we know how valuable it is to get ahead of the admin during the summer. Modernising how we run rugby – join our webinars In recent weeks proposals have been put forward for consultation about the way in which rugby might be run in future. To help inform your thinking, a series of webinars are being run throughout June. READ ONLINE > |
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| 2. ACTION IF OF INTEREST Get Ready for the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 We are excited to launch our Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 Girls’ Activity Day initiative to help you make the most of the tournament. Join the Red Roses Yarn Art Community Initiative We’re thrilled to support the Red Roses Yarn Art campaign, led by England star Abby Dow. This nationwide initiative invites communities to create rugby-themed crochet and knitted decorations to celebrate the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025. Funding Opportunity – Ready to power your club’s future? You could receive matched funding, advice and crowdfunding support to help you raised the funds you need to make lasting, energy-saving improvements, with a new drive to help community sports clubs reach net zero. Upcoming webinars & support available for your club! Find details and registration information for our upcoming webinars and support here. |
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| 3. FOR AWARENESS Age Grade Summer Activity Framework & Age Grade Regulations for 2025/26 The Summer Activity Framework is now well underway, as we continue with the age grade off-season and a reminder that Regulation 15 updates for 2025/26 are now available to view. Changes to Emergency First Aid Training Delivery Following a review of the Emergency First Aid in Rugby Union (EFARU) course, from 1 July 2025, England Rugby will no longer deliver face-to-face EFARU courses RFU Safeguarding Conference 2025 – Save the Date! This years RFU Safeguarding Conference will take place on 12th July 2025, featuring key updates from the RFU Safeguarding Team, along with a range of external speakers Community News – monthly round-up Read this month’s roundup of the best community rugby stories – and find out how to submit your own story. READ ONLINE > |
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Community Game Update May
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Please see the CGU for this month below. The CGU is available for everyone to read, so if you’d like to share it with others then please forward on the email or the link and they will be able to read it. |
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| 1. TO ACTION Have your say – Governance and Representation Review We want your views on an ongoing consultation being run which seeks to modernise the way the game is governed in England. Age Grade Updates: Regulations for 2025/26, Summer Activity Framework & U18 Girls Playing Calendar With the current age grade season now complete, check out this section for updates on regulation changes for next season, the Summer Activity Framework for May and June and changes to the U18 Girls Playing Calendar. Last chance to upload your fixtures! All your fixtures for this season need to be uploaded to GMS by 23 May 2025 for your new international ticket allocations that will be sent to you this summer. READ ONLINE > |
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| 2. ACTION IF OF INTEREST Rugby World Cup 2025 Activation Guides & Trophy Tour We are excited to launch our Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 club activation guides to help you make the most of the tournament. Also find the locations and dates of the upcoming RWC Trophy Tour! Celebrating a BIG Year and our Red Roses in the classroom with Twinkl For 2025, alongside the Twinkl team and our colleagues at Rugby World Cup 2025, we are building a host of new resources. These are FREE to download and can be used by teachers and parents right across all Key Stages and ages. Adult Player Registration With the season switchover approaching we’re running a series of webinars to help prepare everyone from players to administrators with the process. Find out how to attend a session in this section. Coach Development Summer Series 2025! The England Rugby Summer Series Coach Development courses are live for booking, with courses starting on June 1st. Find out more about the courses available in this piece. National Volunteers’ Week: 2 – 8 June Volunteers’ Week is approaching and provides a great opportunity to recognise the amazing contribution that volunteers make. Resources to help you celebrate your volunteers can now be found on our website. Want to become a Female Health Champion? We are looking for individuals who are passionate about the development of women and girls’ rugby to become Female Health Champions. Upcoming webinars & support available for your club! Find details and registration information for our upcoming webinars and support here. |
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| 3. FOR AWARENESS Community News – monthly round-up Read this month’s roundup of the best community rugby stories – and find out how to submit your own story. READ ONLINE > |
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Have your say on how rugby is run
| View in browser News | Tickets | Store HAVE YOUR SAY ON HOW RUGBY IS RUN IN ENGLAND A nationwide public consultation has been launched on potential changes to the RFU’s governance and representative structures. Your feedback that the current decision-making structure of the RFU is complex and unwieldy and that the game feels excluded, has been heard. This is your chance to give your views on how rugby is run across England, led by a desire to better embed game representation directly within decision-making bodies. TAKE PART >  News | Tickets | Store © All Rights Reserved. Please do not reply to this email. Unsubscribe | Privacy | Contact Us Rugby Football Union, Rugby House, Allianz Stadium, 200 Whitton Road, Twickenham, Middlesex, TW2 7BA |
Female Health & Wellbeing
Want to become a Female Health Champion?
We are looking for individuals who are passionate about the development of women and girls’ rugby to become Female Health Champions.
The Champions will receive training and resources to enable them to deliver female health workshops to clubs in their area, increasing the knowledge of the specific health needs of female rugby athletes and raising awareness of England Rugby’s female health toolkit for players, coaches, and club volunteers https://www.englandrugby.com/…/female-health-wellbeing
We are currently looking for expressions of interest from those who would like to take part in the project and will then attend one of four training sessions that we will be delivering in June 2025. If you are keen to be included please complete this form by 25th April 2025: https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/e162ba42fed54704a1095cae117caf61?fbclid=IwY2xjawJ4RIBleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETFXYWRPMWthdDFJU0JmaE9CAR679ACU8N5ZcEdmRflkNfaZxTZima77pBpH5BQPklPpuNyDFgUEv2brPeV9pQ_aem_lwkeA7lp7tBYlPgezjgS2w
Expression of interest does not guarantee a place on any of the Champion training courses, we will be in touch with those who have secured a place after the closing date.
Introducing Ian Davies as our 1st Guest Coach for the Cornwall XV Aside Conference
Dear Coach,
Following the success of last year’s coaching conference we are pleased to confirm we have scheduled for Saturday 12 July 2025. The invited coaches will be announced in the coming weeks.
Don’t miss out on this fantastic coaching development opportunity.
https://www.coachcentered.com/coach-development
We’re thrilled to announce the first of our guest coaches for the XV Aside Conference at Truro School on Saturday 12th July — Ian Davies, former DoR of Cornish Pirates.
Don’t miss the chance to learn from one of the best! Stay tuned for more announcements.
Click Here to secure your spot and access the early bird conference offer.
Jon Bates
Coach Centered Ltd
07764336709
RFU Community Game Update – March
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Please see the CGU for this month below. The CGU is available for everyone to read, so if you’d like to share it with others then please forward on the email or the link and they will be able to read it. |
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| 1. ACTION REQUIRED Tackle Height Implementation Update We wanted to take this moment to thank you for your hard work in ensuring the changes to Tackle Height were successful, and to update you on some of the results we have seen so far. T1 Rugby Resources available to you With the summer fast approaching, it may be time to start thinking about your club’s non-contact offer. Following the successful launch of T1 Rugby in schools and colleges, we’ve produced a range of resources that will help you maximise the opportunity the format provides. ICYMI: A message from Sir Bill Beaumont and the RFU Board Last week, Sir Bill Beaumont and the RFU Board wrote an open letter detailing the focus of the RFU moving forward and a new motion to be voted on at the upcoming SGM based off feedback heard on the recent nationwide tour. Read the letter in full in this section. Papa Johns Men’s Community Cup Updates We are happy to now be able to announce the finals venues for the Papa Johns Men’s Community Cups. Find them here as well as more general updates on the competition. Age Grade Playing Calendar 2025/26 We are pleased to provide the National Age Grade Playing Calendar for 2025/26. This is the framework for national competitions and player pathway activity throughout the year. Payment of Players Declaration 2025 update (Regulation 7) A reminder that the 2025 Payment of Players declaration went live on 1 March 2025 and is open until 30 June 2025. The declaration covers the period of 1 June 2024 – 31 May 2025. READ ONLINE > |
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| 2. ACTION IF OF INTEREST Are you ready to make the most of the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025? We know many clubs are already thinking about how they can make the most of this summer’s Rugby World Cup. In the coming months, we will be providing clubs with a comprehensive suite of activation resources to support any activity you may be planning. Mascot Opportunities at Red Roses matches We want to let clubs know that we have a very limited number of community mascots opportunities for the upcoming Red Roses games at LNER Community Stadium, York on Sunday 23 March, and Mattioli Woods Welford Road Stadium, Leicester on Saturday 19 April. Coaching Resource – Developing England Players: Catch and Pass For this month’s U14-U18 coaching support, the England U20 players guide you through some key skill zones that help support the development of catch and pass. Upcoming webinars & support available for your club! Find details and registration information for our upcoming webinars and support here. |
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| 3. FOR AWARENESS Fixture Upload Reminder A reminder that all your fixtures for this season need to be uploaded by 23 May 2025 and your new international ticket allocations will be sent to you next summer. Community News – monthly round-up Read this month’s roundup of the best community rugby stories – and find out how to submit your own story. READ ONLINE > |
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Message from Sir Bill Beaumont
| Message from Sir Bill Beaumont and the RFU Board Over the last few months, I have been on a nationwide tour to hear the views of you, our members, who are the lifeblood of our sport. We’ve visited the length and breadth of the country holding meetings with over 500 people from 400 grassroots member Clubs, Constituent Bodies, Referee Societies and National Representative Bodies, with further meetings planned. This has been an incredibly worthwhile tour, and we have heard loud and clear that there are specific areas where you want and need more support from the RFU. As a result of hearing your feedback we are going to take action in the following areas: • Governance Reforms • Financial Sustainability • Continued Growth of the Community Game • Reducing Administrative Burden • Simplifying and Modernising Competition Structures • Investment in Community Club Infrastructure • Improving Communications More details on all of this can be found here alongside a reminder of our ongoing work and state of play here. Listening to your feedback the board has also instigated an additional resolution for members to vote on at the Special General Meeting on 27 March. This relates to the ongoing Governance and Representation Review, which will look at ways to support local areas taking more power of decision making. The additional motion is: Members believe the Governance and Representation Review should be expedited and this should include formal consultation with the wider game. Proposals (including to address feedback from the roadshows) should be shared before the RFU’s AGM and members are to be further consulted on actions later in the year. I urge member clubs to vote in favour of this resolution which can bring about meaningful governance change and against the motion that members have no confidence in the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Any decision relating to the employment of the CEO is the responsibility of the RFU Board and the Board unanimously supports Bill Sweeney remaining as CEO. This support is based on his achievements to date, highlighted in the document attached, as well as his ability to deliver the RFU’s strategy while being highly motivated to respond and react to what we have heard from you, our members. It is worth remembering that the call for an SGM initially came from the Rugby Football Referees Union and some Championship Clubs. The group who now call themselves the Whole Game Union (WGU) have called into question the integrity of fellow volunteers and suggested highly misleading statements about the RFU. From our conversations with you, our member clubs, our understanding is that the WGU do not represent the wider views of our game and that we can collaborate effectively to deliver the changes you want. A vote of no confidence risks sending the Union into paralysis and creating a costly leadership vacuum, especially at a time when we are recruiting a new Chair and when our CEO is spearheading vital commercial and broadcast negotiations that will play a huge role in safeguarding our future financial sustainability. Details on how to vote can be found here. I urge you to exercise your right to vote and to vote for meaningful proactive change in relation to governance, by voting against resolution one and for resolution two. The article here explains the facts and why voting for an expedited Governance and Representation Review would be the right vote for the community game and for rugby in England both on and off the pitch. Finally, it is clear from meeting so many of you, that you are all doing incredible work, giving up your free time to make a huge contribution to the English game – on behalf of everyone at the RFU my sincere thank you for what you do. Sir Bill Beaumont |
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