July 2019

The next meeting of RFU Council is on Friday, 13^th September. Community Game Board meets on 29^th August.

This has been a quiet month with both Jim & Ted taking the opportunity to have a well earned break !! August promises to be a busier month.

RFU Strategy Refresh – with Bill Sweeney taking over as the new CEO of the RFU he is taking the opportunity to look at the overall strategy of the RFU with a view to publishing a review of the Strategy when the RWC comes to and end in November. A small group of Board Members and Council Members, along with Staff Representatives have formed a working group and the next stage of the process is a number of meetings with Council as a whole to consider the RFUs Strategy over the next five years. The first of these meetings will take place on the morning prior to the England v Wales game on Sunday, 11^th August. We will ensure that details of the new Strategic Plan are distributed when finalised.

RFU Website – some of you will be aware that this has undergone a re-vamp designed to bring it “up to date”.  Inevitably, there will some parts of the website that will not function as previously and, if you find an instance of this then please accept our apologies but we hope you will be patient as things are updated. If you do find a problem then please let us know and we can report it to the IT Team at Twickenham

Rugby World Cup Warm Up Games – as you will be aware England have a number of Warm Up Games planned prior to their departure for Japan. If you have missed them, then the dates are :

11/08/19 – England v Wales (Twickenham 14:00)

17/08/19 – Wales v England (Cardiff 14:25)

24/08/19 – England v Ireland (Twickenham 15:00)

06/09/19 – England v Italy (Newcastle 19:45)

We hope that you have all got your tickets for the game in Newcastle!!  Your Council Reps are always trying to get games staged in the North of England and it really helps if we can go to Twickenham and say “Look at the crowd numbers”. It has also been announced that this year’s “Value the Volunteer” will be hosted at this match.  The County’s most Valued Volunteer will be invited to the match with a lunch planned for the team’s hotel, pre-match dinner, complimentary seats and overnight accommodation. As soon as we know who the volunteer will be, we’ll let you know.

Activities in July (Jim Chapman)

Date
01	YRFU Annual General Meeting (Morley RFC)
02	Travel Funding Working Group (Twickenham)
03	England Colleges RFU – Board Meeting (Twickenham)
10	Mental Health in Sport (Aireborough RUFC)
30	Travel Funding Working Group (Conference Call)

Activities in June (Ted Atkinson)

Ted is currently enjoying some well earned rest and recuperation following recent ill health. He will be unavailable for most of July

Ted Atkinson & Jim Chapman

July 2019

June 2019

The next meeting of RFU Council is on Friday, 13^th September. Community Game Board meets on 29^th August.

RFU Council & AGM – The RFU AGM was held on 14^th June at Cowdray Hall in Central London. The main business was to receive reports on activities undertaken at the RFU and to elect the President for the coming year. As many of you will be aware Peter Wheeler, ex-England hooker, was elected President.  HHJ Jeff Blackett becomes Senior Vice-President and Nigel Gillingham steps up to Junior Vice President.

Earlier in the day Council also ratified the decision of the Nominations Sub-Committee:

Ted Atkinson – Player Development Sub-Committee

                        Education and Age Grade Sub-Committee

Jim Chapman - Community Game Board

                        Competitions Development Sub-Committee (Chair)

                        RFU Rep to England Colleges RFU Board

Finally, Keith Shurville (East Midlands) was afforded Distinguished Membership of the RFU. Keith is standing down from RFU Council after many years of service and richly deserved his award.

World Rugby – As you will have seen in the Press the proposed Nations League will not go ahead. Unfortunately, World Rugby could not gain agreement over the proposals and they have been taken off the table.  There were many reasons for this and, to be frank, some press reports did not reflect the discussions that actually took place.  Broadcast rights are now at the top of the agenda and, in particular, 6 Nations broadcasting.  The 6 Nations Committee is hopeful that it can strike a good deal by negotiating collectively rather than individually as has happened in the past.

RFU Strategy Review – the new CEO, Bill Sweeney, has launched a review of RFU strategy. A small group of both staff and Council Members has been formed to look at this matter and, after its initial deliberations, will involve all Council Members. A session was held at the last CGB meeting and a further consultation is planned prior to the RWC Warm Up Game in August.  The revised strategy will then be brought to Council in September with a view to launching it post-RWC in November.

Premiership Rugby – again, you will have seen in the Press reports that the Premiership will expand to 13 teams with a play off between the top of the Championship and bottom club in the Premiership.  This has been extensively discussed by the Professional Game Board (PGB) and it seems likely that it will be adopted at the end of the 2019/20 season with the exception that there will be no relegation for a one year period.

Tyrells Premiership – the current structure for the Tyrell’s Premiership were introduced two years ago and were approved for a three year period which ends at the close of the 2019/20 season. Council has debated proposals for the structure of the Premiership on two previous occasions and voted to accept the following :

·         Premiership will remain at 10 teams

·         Entry into the Premiership will by tender/re-tender and audit

·         The structure will run for three years

·         Women’s Performance Management group will hold delegated authority during the three year period.

In addition to this Community Game Board approved an Operating Framework for Championship Clubs (tier 2). This is a voluntary set of parameters for these clubs which, as well as providing good practice for clubs, will provide guidance for those clubs that may aspire to the Premiership.

EnglandRugby.com – this is currently undergoing a refresh in terms of look and feel but also functionality. In order to achieve this you may find times when certain functions are not available.
Holding pages will be put in place whilst upgrades take place.  Please bear with this, we are sure the updated site will be well worth the small inconvenience caused.

RWC Preparations – the initial training squad for the World Cup will be announced on July 4^th with the actual travelling squad being announced in mid-August, with the first group game taking place against Tonga on September 22^nd.  The RFU are also gearing up with publicity to accompany the tournament. Some of this will be available for clubs to download and customise for events they may be planning around the competition. More details will be forwarded to clubs when these assets become available.

Activities in June (Jim Chapman)

Date
01	Premiership Final (Saracens v Exeter) (Twickenham)
02	Liaison Officer – Yorkshire Women – Gill Burns Cup Final (Twickenham)
03	YRFU County Committee (County Office, Morley)
06	Competitions Development Sub-Committee (Twickenham)
08	YRFU Volunteers Evening (Emerald Suite, Headingley)
10	North Yorkshire District Meeting (Ripon RUFC)
12	YRFU Competitions Sub-Committee (West Park Leeds)
14	RFU Council & AGM (Cowdray Hall, Central London)
22	Nat West  RugbyForce (Aireborough RUFC)
26	Area 6 Forum (Headlam Hall, Darlington)
27	Community Game Board Interview with Bill Sweeney (CEO)  (Both Twickenham)

Activities in June (Ted Atkinson)

Ted is currently enjoying some well earned rest and recuperation following recent ill health. He will be unavailable for most of July

Ted Atkinson & Jim Chapman

June 2019