The next meeting of RFU Council is on Friday, 13th
September. Community Game Board met on 29th August.
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 an 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 took place on the morning
prior to the England v Wales game on Sunday, 11th August. We will
ensure that details of the new Strategic Plan are distributed when finalised.
RWC 2019 – We are sure
that clubs are gearing up for the Rugby World Cup. With the time difference
between ourselves and Japan it means that most games will take place reasonably
early in the morning but we hope that clubs will find ways of attracting new
members into their club. Most of all we hope that you all enjoy the tournament.
Working Groups
– as we approach the start of the new season it is worth mentioning three
working groups that have been established at the RFU, all of which will report
back to Community Game Board and Governance Sub-Committee before making reports
to RFU Council.
·
Travel
Funding - the RFU has, since the inception of leagues, made
a contribution towards travel costs to fulfil these fixtures. It should be
noted that it is the only Governing Body in England that does this but, within
current financial restraints it was felt that it was time to review how travel
is funded. The Working Group, of which Jim Chapman is a member, has finished it’s
initial review of how travel is funded and made a report to the last Community
Game Board (CGB). Whilst recommending that travel funding continues it would
like to examine different ways that clubs are awarded funding. More details
will be brought to the next meeting of CGB with a view to implementation in
season 2020/21
·
Level
Transfers – this has
always been a vexed question whereby clubs are moved to maintain league sizes
and it has worked both for and against a club’s interests. Ray Kelly (Acklam
RUFC and Yorkshire RFU) is part of this working group that aims to review level
transfers. The findings of the group will be reported to Governance
Sub-Committee before going forward to Council
·
Competitions
Review – increasingly
lower XV rugby and a change in individual’s lifestyle is impacting the league
structure and the RFU has decided to review the whole competitions landscape
concentrating firstly on male rugby, although the remit may well expand to
include the women’s game as well. The
review group is chaired by RFU Board Member Stephen Pearson (Oxford University),
and Jim Chapman (in his role as Chair of Competitions Development) is also a
member of the group. The Working Group
will have its first meeting during September and will then report to CGB.
Investment Games
– this is the term used to identify the finals of various competitions (e.g.
RFU Senior and Junior Vase). Traditionally these games have been held at
Twickenham but it costs a lot to open Twickenham as traffic controls,
stewarding etc. are required both by the Stadium and Local Authority. The RFU
Cups (Intermediate, Senior and Junior Vase) will remain at Twickenham along
with the County Championship Finals (including U20s). The School’s Cup Finals
will also be held at Twickenham. Other
finals will be moved to Premiership grounds around the country.
Future Blog – Jim Chapman
is due to take a five week vacation to visit relations in the USA and,
therefore, this blog will be suspended until November (i.e. no edition at the
end of September or October). Ted will,
of course, be available to answer any queries that you may have.
Activities in August
(Jim Chapman)
|
Date
|
|
|
03
|
YRFU Committee Day & Committee Meeting (Wetherby RUFC)
|
|
11
|
RFU Council & Board Meeting ref. Strategic Plan
(Twickenham)
England v Wales (Twickenham)
|
|
24
|
Meeting ref. Broadcast Strategy (Twickenham)
England v Ireland (Twickenham)
|
|
29
|
Community Game Board (Twickenham)
|
Activities in August
(Ted Atkinson)
|
Date
|
|
|
01
|
Interviews for England U18 Counties Coach (Ripon RUFC)
|
|
03
|
YRFU Committee Meeting (Wetherby RUFC)
|
|
07
|
Conference ref. Yorkshire Academy (Phone)
|
|
13
|
England Counties “Wash Up” Meeting (Harrogate)
|
|
28
|
Interview for England Counties Head Coach
|
Ted Atkinson & Jim Chapman
August 2019
