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1. ACTION REQUIRED The Community Rugby Support Fund 2024/2025 The Community Rugby Support Fund for 2024/25 is now live. The purpose of this fund is to support voting member clubs, CBs and referee societies who are in the greatest financial need. The claim window closes on Tuesday 5 November. Club Safeguarding Audit 2024 – deadline approaching! If your club offers age grade activity or wishes to have 17-year olds playing up into the adult game, make sure you check out this section for important safeguarding information. Age Grade Registration – 45 days deadline approaching Make sure you register your age grade players. More information can be found in this section. Playing Out of Age Grade – Reminder This section contains a useful reminder about the playing out of age grade regulations and provides some helpful clarifications. READ ONLINE > |
2. ACTION IF OF INTEREST Apply for our Women’s Leadership Programmes! Applications are now open for two new leadership programmes for women involved in rugby union. Deadline is Monday 18 November. Visit this section for more information on both programmes. Volunteer Recruitment Programme Apply for funding and access a range of resources, to help plan and deliver a volunteer recruitment activity. Developing Future England Players U14-U18 Coaching Resource Check out this section for more information on the Developing Future England Players U14-U18 Coaching Resource. T1 Rugby resources for Schools Visit this section for information and our T1 Rugby resources for Schools. Partner up with Scouts in your area England Rugby and Scouts have announced an exciting partnership aimed at equipping young people with essential life skills through the power of rugby. Upcoming webinars & support available for your club! Find details and registration information for our upcoming webinars and support here. |
3. FOR AWARENESS Age Grade Clubs National Cup Finals We are pleased to confirm the National Cup Finals for this season. The finals will all take place on Sunday 4 May. Group Ticket Offers for Red Roses v France Join us for an exciting day of rugby and cheer on the Red Roses as they chase their seventh consecutive Guinness Women’s Six Nations title! 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 > |
Community Game Update September
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1. ACTION REQUIRED Support with Adult Player Registration All players, in all formats of the game, are now required to register themselves annually to play rugby within RFU member clubs. Age Grade Registration The 2024/25 age grade rugby season will run from 7 September 2024 to 5 May 2025. Age grade players can be registered at anytime, anywhere for the new season. Reminder: Age Grade Cluster Registration Form and Guidance The Age Grade Cluster Registration Form and guidance document for teams that are clustering has been released and is available on the age grade section of the website. Grow the game at your club with Inner Warrior and Love Rugby The Love Rugby and Inner Warrior campaigns are great ways to grow the women and girl’s section at your club. Find out how to get involved in this section. First Aid Risk Assessments and Pitch-side Care Standards (PSCS) Clubs are reminded of their requirement to complete an annual first aid specific risk assessment and to meet the PSCS for training and matches as set out in Regulation 9 (Player Safety). READ ONLINE > |
2. ACTION IF OF INTEREST Honda Volunteer Hospitality registrations for Autumn Internationals As part of the Honda Volunteer Recognition Programme, volunteers who already have match tickets to one of England Men’s Autumn International home fixtures can register for up to four tickets for pre-match hospitality. World Rugby Representative Opportunity The RFU has three representatives on the World Rugby Council and one of these roles is now open for applications. An applicant would also become a member of the RFU Council when they take up this role. Community Rugby Injury Surveillance & Prevention Project (CRISP) The CRISP team is looking for teams to help us develop our understanding of injuries across all levels of the community game. Upcoming webinars & support available for your club Get access to the ‘off field club support’ services provided by the RFU – many of which are free – and register for important upcoming webinars. |
3. FOR AWARENESS Women’s Rugby World Cup Tickets for your club! Clubs can secure tickets to the opening match and final via the presale which opens on 24th September. Ticket Secretaries will receive an email on the day with a link to access the presale. 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 > |
Community Game Update August
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1. ACTION REQUIRED Regulation Changes for 2024/25 Following a regulation review, find out the key changes which will impact the game and volunteers. Support with Adult Player Registration All players, in all formats of the game, are now required to register themselves annually to play rugby within RFU member clubs. Age grade rugby updates From Age Grade Registration to playing out of age grade forms for the new season, check out all the important updates for the age grade game in this section. Stepping Into Coaching Stepping into Coaching is a free new online England Rugby resource designed to introduce new coaches to the knowledge, skills and behaviours which can help to support their coaching. Launch of New Age Grade Cluster Registration Form and Guidance The Age Grade Cluster Registration Form and guidance document for teams that are clustering has been released and is available on the age grade section of the website. READ ONLINE > |
2. ACTION IF OF INTEREST Can you UP YOUR GAME for the RFU Injured Players Foundation? Check out how you can make the most of the opportunity for your team to host your own fundraising match to support the #RugbyFamily. Gilbert Club bulk promotions Check out these exclusive Gilbert Rugby offers for England Rugby Clubs & Schools – available all season long! Upcoming webinars & support available for your club Get access to the ‘off field club support’ services provided by the RFU – many of which are free – and register for important upcoming webinars. |
3. FOR AWARENESS Tackle Height update Following the lowering of the tackle height for the 2023/24 season, we have analysed over 20,000 tackles as part of the World Rugby tackle analysis project that involves countries from across the world. Read about the findings in this section. Win prizes with Allianz! England Rugby, in partnership with Allianz, are running a competition for community clubs to win two prizes. Enter today in this section! New England Rugby website launches The new England Rugby website launched this week. Read about the changes 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 > |
RFU Community Game update July 2024
1. TO ACTION Launch of Adult Player Registration Adult Player Registration will go live from 16 July 2024. From this date, adult players will be able to log into the Game Management System (GMS) to register themselves to play. Find out more about the process and how to help your players in this section. Register your age grade players for 2024/25 All new and existing age grade rugby players from U6 to U18 must be registered on the Game Management System (GMS) for the 2024/25 season. Find out more in this piece. Are you ready for T1 Rugby? T1 Rugby has launched! The world’s first non-contact sport that fully reflects the unique characteristics of rugby, designed to supercharge participation and engagement at your club. Papa Johns Women’s Community Cup Competitions Entries are now open for the 2024/25 Papa Johns Women’s Community Cup Competitions. READ ONLINE > |
2. ACTION IF OF INTEREST Hospitality for your club at Twickenham Twickenham Experience Ltd, the RFU owned hospitality business based at Twickenham Stadium would like to offer clubs the opportunity to have access to the ticket inclusive hospitality at the home of England Rugby at a discounted rate. Love Rugby Photoshoot We are looking for Girls aged 6 – 15 and Boys Aged 6 – 10 to take part in a photoshoot for the campaign. Register your interest in this section. Upcoming webinars & support available for your club Get access to the ‘off field club support’ services provided by the RFU – many of which are free – and register for important upcoming webinars. |
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 > |
Community Game Update June
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1. ACTION REQUIRED RFU Annual General Meeting 2024 The RFU’s AGM takes place online at 6pm on Monday 17 June. Find out details and how to vote in this piece. Game Management System (GMS) season switchover We know that GMS is busy at the start of each season as users engage with a range of processes to get ready for the new season. Find out more in this section. 2024/25 League Season Update & Travel Funding Find out when the 2024/25 RFU league season fixtures will be live and learn more about the RFU’s travel funding policy. National Boys U18 and Girls U18 & U16 Cup Competition Entry Now Open The National Boys Under 18s Cup competition and National Girls Under 16s and Under 18s Cup competitions have been announced. Find out how to apply to enter. Get your club ready for Adult Player Registration From next season, all players, in all formats of the game (including non-contact from April 2025), will be required to register themselves annually to play rugby. Find support and information here. Legal & Regulatory Responsibilities for Clubs All incorporated clubs have legal and regulatory responsibilities. Find relevant support and information for your club here. Payment of Players Declaration 2023/24 – Deadline 30th June Time is running out to make Payment of Players declarations for this season. Check out what you need to do and guides to help in this section. READ ONLINE > |
2. ACTION IF OF INTEREST Regulation 9 and CRISP Recruitment Find a reminder of the Regulation 9 requirements in this section and find out how you can become part of the Community Rugby Injury Surveillance and Prevention Project (CRISP). Become part of the IPF Squad 🏉 Flats and Topsy are on a mission to mobilise the IPF Squad and recruit more teammates. Find out who’s on their target list and what roles they’ve been assigned – and how you can get involved too! Upcoming webinars & support available for your club Get access to the ‘off field club support’ services provided by the RFU – many of which are free – and register for important upcoming webinars. |
3. FOR AWARENESS Check out the Red Roses ticket offers for clubs Make sure your club gets access to ticket offers for Red Roses rugby matches. The deadline for this offer is 11 July. Introducing the Inclusive Leadership Delivery Group The Inclusive Leadership Delivery Group have recently been recruited and we are delighted to share their profiles with the Community Game. Routes Into Rugby – Our New Series In the latest episode of our new series, Ugo Monye heads back to the home of England Rugby for the Twickenham Takeover, which brings teams from across the grassroots game together to showcase their skills on the biggest stage of all. Clubs win training sessions with an ex-Red Roses captain! Read about why ex-Red Roses captain, Tamara Taylor, delivered training sessions to groups of age grade girls at Ashfield Rugby Club, Bolton RUFC, and Eastleigh RFC. 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 > |
RFU Community Game Update May
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1. ACTION REQUIRED Get ready for Adult Player Registration To help get ready for Adult Player Registration next season and to support the health of the game, we are asking clubs to make sure that players’ email addresses are verified on GMS. Don’t miss out on International Tickets – upload your fixture data now International ticket allocation is fixed for two seasons, and these allocations are determined by the number of 15-a-side rugby matches played. The deadline for entering all 2023/24 matches is Friday 24 May 2024. Update on National and Regional Leagues Following approval at governance, we can now announce the Men’s and Women’s Structured Seasons and National 1 – Regional 2 League Structure for next season. Age Grade Regulations for next season – 2024/25 The updated version of Regulation 15 – Age Grade Rugby for 2024/25 is now available. Find out about the changes in this section. READ ONLINE > |
2. ACTION IF OF INTEREST Developing England Players – U14-U18 Skill Development Programme – book now! Book your place on the FREE Developing England Players (U14-U18 Skill Development Programme) coaching courses 7s Guidance With the 15-a-side season drawing to a close, you can find guidance and regulations in place 7s camps, festivals and tournaments in this section. National Volunteers’ Week: 3-9 June Volunteers’ Week provides a great opportunity to recognise the amazing contribution that volunteers at your club, CB or referee society have made, as well as inspiring more people to make a difference. HMRC letter on Community Amateur Sports Club (CASC) status Many affiliated clubs registered with HMRC for special tax status under the Community Amateur Sports Club (CASC) scheme will receive a letter from HMRC by the end of May. View guidance on what steps to take next here. IPF Survey It is unlikely you will ever need to contact the RFU Injured Players Foundation (IPF) as, thankfully, life-changing injuries remain extremely rare in rugby union. However, it is important you know what to do if someone from your rugby family does need support quickly. Support available for your club! The RFU provides various ‘off field club support’ services, as well as regular webinars on a range of topics – find them all here. |
3. FOR AWARENESS Papa Johns Community Cup Finals Last weekend saw some incredible rugby being played in 28 Papa Johns Community Cup Finals across four venues. See the full winners and a report here. Routes Into Rugby – Our New Series In the first episode of our new series, Routes into Rugby, Ugo Monye joins Clifton College student and Bristol Bears academy player James to discuss his unconventional route into rugby and look at how the sport has helped his development. Community News – monthly round up In case you missed them, check out some of the top community rugby stories over the last month from the England Rugby website. READ ONLINE > |
RFU Community Game Update April 2024
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1. ACTION REQUIRED Get your club ready for Adult Player Registration We are asking clubs to help your players with accounts on the Game Management System (GMS) to verify their email address. This will help you to help get your players ready for next season and support the health of the game. Don’t miss out on International Tickets – upload your fixture data now International ticket allocation is fixed for two seasons, and these allocations are determined by the number of 15-a-side rugby matches played. The deadline for entering all 2023/24 matches is Friday 24 May 2024. Age Grade Summer Activity Framework 2024 The Age Grade Summer Activity Framework for 2024 applies to any age grade rugby activity in the off-season. View it now. READ ONLINE > |
2. ACTION IF OF INTEREST Have your say through our next Player Engagement Panel The 4th Community Player Engagement Panel is taking place on the 24 April and we want you to be involved! Impact ’25 Connecting Communities Programme The Connecting Communities programme provides clubs with the opportunity to work with new partners, apply for funding and access a range of resources to encourage more women who have never been involved in rugby to use the club facilities. Papa Johns Community Cup Travel Funding Travel funding support will be available to Men’s and Women’s clubs competing in the Papa Johns Community Cups that travel over 98 miles (round trip) to play a group or knockout fixture. Food For Rugby A suite of Food for Rugby nutrition advice toolkits are now available for the community game. Trips, Tours, and Overnight Stays Guidance We are pleased to provide the RFU’s Trips, Tours, and Overnight Stays Guidance, updated to assist you with any planning for upcoming tours or overnight stays. Support available for your club! The RFU provides various ‘off field club support’ services, as well as regular webinars on a range of topics – find them all here. |
3. FOR AWARENESS Impact ’25 legacy programme The RFU celebrated Impact ’25, a transformational legacy programme at North Bristol RFC today (Tuesday). Upcoming GMS Updates Some improvements to the Game Management System (GMS) will be made over the coming months. These updates have been made following feedback from volunteers, clubs and CBs. Continental Tyres Schools Cup Finals The Continental Tyres Schools Cup Finals took place over three days at StoneX and Twickenham stadium this month, with nine teams taking home silverware at U15 and U18 levels. RFU Injured Players Foundation (IPF) announces new patron Former British & Irish Lions and England captain and current World Rugby Chair, Sir Bill Beaumont, will start his tenure as IPF Patron this month. Community News – monthly round up In case you missed them, check out some of the top community rugby stories over the last month from the England Rugby website. READ ONLINE > |
Community Game Update – March
1. ACTION REQUIRED Men’s RFU League Structure 2023/24 – League Deadline and unplayed fixtures With some teams left with games to play that may take them beyond the scheduled end of season, the RFU Adult Competitions Management Committee have set out a process to manage the situation. Get ready for Adult Player Registration – prizes available To help get ready for Adult Registration next season and to support the health of the game, we are asking clubs to make sure that players’ email addresses are verified on GMS. Age grade rugby 2024/25 playing calendar We are pleased to provide the framework for national competitions and player pathway activity throughout the year. Women’s Fixture Scheduling – Have Your Say We want to hear from Players and Volunteers from the Women’s Game about when you’d most like to play matches and the benefits of Saturday vs Sunday fixtures. READ ONLINE > |
2. ACTION IF OF INTEREST Become a member of the RFU National Youth Council The RFU’s National Youth Council (NYC) is helping to grow rugby and is currently recruiting for new members to join the group. Love Rugby Summer Activity Programme The RFU are providing support for clubs to run girls’ activity including a Love Rugby Camp in May followed by four weeks of rugby sessions in June & July. Honda Rugby Grounds Connected National Events 2024 We are delighted to announce our events for 2024, fully loaded with amazing people, great machinery demos, and the opportunity to connect with others in the industry. Have you made use of an AGP yet? Artificial grass pitches supplement good quality natural turf pitches – the enduring surface for rugby union – by providing playing, training and education facilities with a consistent surface throughout the year upon which the game can develop. Padel Tennis – An Opportunity For Rugby Clubs? In order to support rugby clubs who may be looking at Padel as a potential income generator, the RFU has developed some guidance to consider when working with a Padel company. Support available for your club! The RFU provides various ‘off field club support’ services, as well as regular webinars on a range of topics – find them all here. |
3. FOR AWARENESS Community News – monthly round up In case you missed them, check out some of the top community rugby stories over the last month from the England Rugby website. Community Rugby in the news From London EmpowerHER to the Contintental Tyres Schools Cup, it’s been great to see community rugby in the news over the last month, check out some of the highlights here. READ ONLINE > |
RFU Community Game Update February
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1. ACTION REQUIRED Adult Player Registration – verify your players’ email addresses To help get ready for Adult Player Registration next season and to support the health of the game, from February 2024 we are asking clubs to make sure that players’ email addresses are verified on GMS. The National Rugby Survey is live! Every year the National Rugby Survey is your way to share how your season has gone so far and what you would like the game to look like in the future. Papa Johns Men’s Community Cup Draw & Finals Information We are pleased to announce the draw for this seasons Papa Johns Men’s Community Cup, as well as details on where the finals will be held this season. Your chance to play at Twickenham with Play Together, Stay Together Be in with a chance of playing at Twickenham stadium, by telling the RFU what your club is doing to help age grade players transition to adult rugby. READ ONLINE > |
2. ACTION IF OF INTEREST Age Grade Rugby – Key Reminders in the second half of the season It is great to see Age Grade Rugby back up and running after the Christmas break across clubs, schools and colleges. Check out these key reminders for the rest of the season. RugbySafe HEADCASE Concussion Tracker Over 400 clubs are already using the Proactive App to assist their incident and injury recording, pre-session checks and emergency action planning and now the system includes a groundbreaking concussion tracker feature. Feature in an England Rugby film! The RFU is searching for inspiring girls within the community game whose story can be told via a content film. Youth Group Offer for Red Roses v Ireland Ahead of the Red Roses v Ireland match, the RFU is running an offer for youth groups to attend this fixture. Support available for your club! The RFU provides various ‘off field club support’ services, as well as regular webinars on a range of topics – find them all here. |
3. FOR AWARENESS 2023 Community Rugby Inclusion & Diversity Survey Results In October 2023 the RFU launched the fourth Community Game I&D Survey. Many of you will have contributed to this and you can discover the findings in this section. The Clubhouse: Episode 3 The latest episode of The Clubhouse, the RFU’s magazine show that takes a closer look at the community game was released last week. Community News – monthly round up In case you missed them, check out some of the top community rugby stories over the last month from the England Rugby website. READ ONLINE > |
RFU Community Game Update January 2024
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1. ACTION REQUIRED Age Grade Registration prize winners and new Prize Draw! Congratulations to the winners of our Age Grade Registration competition! We are now pleased to announce the Age Grade Girls Registration Prize Draw. Prizes include the opportunity to win a training session with an England Red Rose player and £2,000 club kit vouchers, meaning there are five opportunities to win! Honda Volunteer of the Year – Nominations now open! The Honda Volunteer of the Year Awards 2024 recognise volunteers for their achievements over the past 12 months. We want to celebrate all the volunteers who help make rugby happen, whether on the pitch or behind the scenes, and hear about those who make your club or organisation great. |
2. ACTION IF OF INTEREST Club and CB Support and Webinars The RFU provides various ‘off field club support’ services – many of which are free. Find out how to access support on everything from Legal matters to insurance, as well as the wide range of upcoming webinars, in this section. Get Involved with touch to Twickenham After a successful first year in 2023, we are delighted to launch Touch to Twickenham in 2024. With 48 events around the country for U14 and U18 mixed-gendered school and college teams, Touch to Twickenham aims to get more schools and young people engaged with rugby and presents a fantastic opportunity for clubs to link with, and support, their local schools. Your chance to play at Twickenham with Play Together, Stay Together The Twickenham Takeover Day is returning in 2024! Once again eight community teams will have the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play at the home of England Rugby. Find out how to enter in this section. |
3. FOR AWARENESS Aggravation of Sanctions for all Match Official Abuse (MOA) cases from 1 January 2024 The RFU Head of Judiciary, Richard Whittam KC, has issued guidance to all disciplinary panels that any instance of Match Official Abuse (MOA) will be subject to mandatory aggravation of any sanction by a set number of weeks depending on the level of the offence. The additional weeks will be applied to every level of the adult game. Getting ready for Adult Player Registration Over the next few months, we will be sharing information to help your clubs and players get ready for Adult Player Registration. Further guidance will be shared in February’s Community Game Update. Clubs can start to get ready for Adult Player Registration by making sure that their current registered players have a verified email address and up-to-date personal details on the Game Management System (GMS). The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) 2024 Prohibited List The WADA 2024 Prohibited List came into effect on 1 January 2024. The Prohibited List details what substances and methods are banned in sport and applies to all players regardless of the level at which they play. Community News – monthly round up In case you missed them, check out some of the top community rugby stories over the last month from the England Rugby website. READ ONLINE > |