April 2018

RFU Council met on Friday, April 20^th. As part of the Community Game Board Update, Jim Chapman gave a presentation on the work of the Competitions Development Sub-Committee which he chairs.

As noted below the next meeting of Community Game Board will be held on3rd May in Dublin as part of a 4 Home Nations Community Conference.

The next meeting of RFU Council is on 8^th June which will also incorporate the AGM (see below)

Community Game Board – for the first time ever the Community Game Board will meet in Ireland on Thursday, 3^rd May. Prior to that a meeting will be held, attended by representatives from the 4 Home Nations.  When first mooted the IRFU agreed to host the meeting with the hope that it will become an annual event, moving around the Home Nations on a rotational basis.  There will be more news next month on what was discussed but the agenda currently contains items regarding the National Rugby Survey (which is also carried out in Ireland, Wales and Scotland) which will bring out current issues of concern that are common across the whole of rugby in the Home Nations

RFU Council – brief headlines were :

·         Deborah Griffin (W & G) was elected to World Rugby. As you may have seen in the press World Rugby have increased their size but this was on the proviso that new members had to be female.  Deborah is also a Board Member at the RFU. It is likely that Deborah will relinquish her Women’s and Girls representative role on RFU Council, thus leaving a vacancy.

·         Sue Day – has now taken over as Chief Financial Officer.  As well as being a Chartered Accountant Sue represented England Women and is an active member at Wasps FC.

·         RFU AGM – will take place on Friday, 8^th June at Cowdray Hall, Cavendish Square, W1. It will commence at 5:00 p.m. Please note that the Calling Papers for the AGM will, for the first time, be sent out electronically. Please tell your club Secretary to look out for these (approx. 1 month before the meeting) as they will contain details of how to register a proxy vote. As always, we would recommend that as many clubs as possible register a proxy vote (if not attending), either Jim or Ted will be happy to take these along to the meeting to register them and vote accordingly.

·         East Stand – despite significant difficulties encountered during the building of the East Stand it is anticipated that it will be completed on 28^th Sept and will be available during the Autumn Internationals. The refurbished East Stand will include enhanced hospitality facilities and will allow the RFU to bring all hospitality “in house” offering a first class experience.

·         RWC Warm Up Games – one of the World Cup Warm Up games (against Italy) next year will be located at St James Park, Newcastle.  Details are currently being finalised and we will keep you updated as information is released

·         Autumn Internationals 2018 – ticket prices for these games will be released by the end of April once they have been agreed by the RFU Board. It is expected that tickets for the game vs New Zealand will attract a premium price as they will be hotly sought after, whereas tickets for the Japan game will be very attractively priced and readily available

·         Supplemental Pot – as you will be aware the difference between the Entitlement price and Full price of tickets is placed into the so called “Supplemental Pot”. On an annual basis this is then distributed to clubs. This year it is expected that each club (voting) will receive £1020. Clubs should receive this in June.

·         England v Barbarians – this game takes place as part of the “Counties” day at Twickenham which sees the culmination of both the Bill Beaumont Cup and Gill Burn’s Women’s County championship.  This year a number of tickets will be made available to each CB (County) for distribution amongst volunteers at £10 per. ticket (sadly, travel and accommodation are not included). Again, we will give further details once these are known.

International Ticketing Roadshow/Health of the Game -  sadly this event, held on April 17^th at Doncaster, was not well attended. Along with a presentation showing the results of the 2017 National Rugby Survey (more details to come), Nigel Gillingham (RFU Council Member for Gloucestershire and member of the International Rugby Ticketing Sub-Committee(IRTSC)) gave a presentation on the proposed allocation of International tickets to the Game. 50% of tickets for each game at Twickenham are allocated to Clubs, CBs, Referees Societies, Schools, Colleges and Unversities.  These tickets come at an “Entitlement Price” which is less than they are offered on general sale.  The means of allocating these tickets has remained unchanged for a number of years (despite clubs having changed) and the IRTSC is undergoing consultation regarding the methodology behind the distribution.  The current proposal is that each club should get a base allocation (2,4,6 or 8 tickets) and would then “qualify” for additional tickets based on the number of games a club played during a season (this would include Men, Women and both boys and girls at U14 and above). This, it is felt, would reward those clubs who are contributing to the health and growth of the Game.  In general, this met with approval from those at the meeting, although there was a feeling that some recognition be given to clubs running mini sections.

      There will be an opportunity for Clubs to comment although they will not receive the Presentation and it is hoped that within the County we can utilise District Meetings to collect the views of Clubs. However, if any clubs have comments they wish passed on to the IRTSC then please email them to County Office who will pass them on to Ted and Jim

Activities in April (Jim Chapman)

Date
08	West/Aire-Wharfe Volunteer Recognition (Yorkshire Carnegie)
09	YRFU Management Board/West Yorks Club Forum (Huddersfield RUFC)
11	North Yorkshire Volunteer Recognition (Cairn Hotel, Harrogate)
17	RFU Roadshow (Doncaster)
18	RFU Nominations Interview (Twickenham)
20	RFU Council (Twickenham)
25	Yorkshire Cup Final (York RUFC)
26	Area 6 Forum (Headlam Hall,Darlington)

Activities in April (Ted Atkinson)

Date
04	Player Development Sub-Committee (Wellington College)
05	England Counties U18 – Outreach work Dinner with RN, England U18 & Ireland U18
06	Dinner with Ireland U18 Management
07	England U18 Counties v Ireland U18 Clubs & Schools  (HMS Temerare)
09	YRFU Management Board/West Yorks Clubs Forum (Huddersfield RUFC)
11	East Yorkshire District (Beverley)
15	Yorkshire U20s v Hertfordshire U20s (Doncaster RFC)
20	RFU Council (Twickenham)
26	Area 6 Forum (Headlam Hall, Darlington)

Ted Atkinson & Jim Chapman

March 2018

March 2018

RFU Council is due to meet on Friday, April 20^th. Community Game Board will next meet on 2^nd/3^rd May. The CGB meeting will be held in Dublin and will include representatives from all four Home Nations, where we will explore common issues in the Community Game before meeting as Community Game Board.

RFU Council Elections – Both Ted and Jim would like to personally thank all those clubs who took the time to support them in the recent Elections for RFU Council Members. The level of support we received was gratifying and, suffice to say, we are proud and honoured to be given the opportunity to represent the County on Council. It goes without saying that we will strive to do our utmost to support both the Game and the County during our time at Twickenham. As you will be aware term limits have been changed and both Ted and Jim will now represent the County until 2021.  

England v Ireland – one of the most rewarding duties as a Council Member is the opportunity to reward and thank volunteers on their visits to Twickenham.  Both the County President and the Mitsubishi Valued Volunteer are invited, on an annual basis, to Twickenham during either the Autumn International Series, or a Six Nations match.  It was, therefore, our pleasure to welcome Mike Smith (President, YRFU) and his son Nathan along with Alan Secker (and guest) to Twickenham on the 17^th March for the England v Ireland game.  All four had lunch in the Spirit of Rugby restaurant before watching the match (least said the better!). After the match the Spirit of Rugby is transformed for the post-Match Dinner which both teams attend.  Both Presidents and Captains made speeches before Alan was called up and presented with a gift to thank him for his long service to the Game by England Head Coach, Eddie Jones.

RFU Cup Finals – Over the year’s Yorkshire has had great success in the 3 RFU Cups. This year is no exception and it will be our pleasure to welcome Old Otliensians (Junior Vase) and Wath-upon-Dearne (Senior Vase)  to HQ on Sunday 6^th May for their respective finals.  Sadly, York could not make it a hat-trick going down very narrowly to Droitwich in their Semi-Final.  It is customary for the relevant RFU Council Members to act as Liaison Officers on Cup Finals Day. This involves ensuring the teams have relevant accreditation, are directed to changing rooms and warm up areas and get to the post-match meals on time. We also get to spend some time with Club Officials ensuring they are directed to relevant areas both pre and post match.  In all it is our duty to ensure that both players and officials have a day to remember.  We look forward to greeting Old Otliensians and Wath on 6^th May and also hope that they will be joined by Yorkshire U20s who are just one game away from returning to Twickenham.

Women’s Championship Review Group – as many will be aware the newly formed Tyrell’s Premiership was introduced into the Women’s game at the start of the season. It is aimed at raising the standard of the Women’s game ensuring that our international side is consistently in the top tier. Entry into the Premiership was by tender and clubs had to meet some very stringent standards (both playing, financial and in terms of player welfare) before being admitted for an initial period of 3 years during which there would be no promotion or relegation. The whole process was overseen by the Women’s Performance Management Group (WPMG).  This left the question of where the second tier of women’s rugby (Championship North and South) featured in the landscape.  To this end the WPMG set up a working group to consider the short, medium and long term future of the Championship.  Jim  Chapman was part of this group which has met regularly over the past six months.  Final recommendations have been put together and, whilst remaining confidential at this moment, will be placed before the WPMG in April.  WPMG will then need to make their own recommendations to RFU Council (probably at the June Council Meeting).  We will ensure that these recommendations are distributed around relevant parties prior to the Council Meeting.

Activities in March (Jim Chapman)

Date
05	Yorkshire RFU Management Board + Forum (Pontefract RUFC)
08	Women’s Championship Review Working Group (Twickenham)
10	France v England (Paris)
13	YRFU Competitions Sub-Committee (County Office)
14	Aire-Wharfe District Sub-Committee (Keighley RUFC)
15	Community Game Board (Twickenham)
16	England v Ireland Committee Dinner
17	Meeting with RFU Board Members England v Ireland (Twickenham)
20	England Colleges RFU Board Meeting (via Telephone)
22	Women’s Championship Review Working Group (Twickenham)
27	YRFU Change Implementation Group (Wetherby RUFC)
29	Competitions Development Sub-Committee (Twickenham)
31	Old Otliensians v Eccleshall  (RFU Junior Vase Semi-Final)

Activities in March (Ted Atkinson)

Date
05	YRFU Management Board and Clubs Forum (Pontefract RUFC)
10-12	France v England (Paris)
14	Yorkshire West District Sub-Committee (Old Crossleyans)
16-18	England v Ireland (Twickenham)
24	Thornensians v Barnsley (pre-Match Lunch) (Thornensians RUFC)
28	YRFU SGM (Morley RFC)

Ted Atkinson & Jim Chapman

March 2018