Yorkshire RFU has two Representatives who are elected by the Clubs in the County to sit on the RFU Council. They also participate in Sub-Committees of the RFU which report to the Community Game Board. Keep checking back on a monthly basis as your Reps keep you up to date with relevant matters from the RFU.

March 2018


RFU Council is due to meet on Friday, April 20th. Community Game Board will next meet on 2nd/3rd 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 17th 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 6th 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 6th 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
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