November 2019

RFU Council met on Friday, 29^th November with the next meeting scheduled for Monday, 24^th February. Community Game Board will meet on 5^th December.

Adult Male Competition Structure Review Group – this group has been established at the behest of Community Game Board and is chaired by Stephen Pearson (RFU Board & Oxford University). Community Game Board has been alarmed by figures which showed a large increase in the number of games being called off, large numbers of players being utilised in 1^st XV squads and the results of the National Rugby Survey where players expressed a desire to have fewer games during the season. This is also allied to Sport England figures showing a decline in the number of adult males playing the Game (NOTE: this trend is echoed across all team sports).

The group has met three times and, at its last meeting, established “listening groups” to consider some options across the structure of the season.  It must be stressed that these groups will NOT make any decisions but were small groups (not exceeding 20 people) who would be used as a sounding board for the ideas put forward. The Review Group had already considered season re-structures put forward by the Scottish RFU, England and Wales Cricket Board and the French Federation and these formed the basis of the structures exposed to the meetings.

The Review Group will next meet on 9^th December to consider next steps.  Any proposals that come out of these meetings will be widely distributed to the Game for their comments.  Again, it must be stressed that currently NO PROPOSALS have been drawn up and nothing has been decided by the Review Group.

Project Light – this is the name given to the process of all 6 Nations members to re-negotiation of media rights across international rugby.  The hope is that by working collaboratively the value of media rights can be raised bringing more income into the Game. A great deal of negotiating has already been undertaken with a partner company being identified.  Currently a process of “due diligence” is being carried out and, it is hoped that this will be completed in the near future.  At that point the terms of the deal will be made public.

National Rugby Survey -  this has now closed and the findings are, currently, being compiled. Approximately 21,000 responses were received to the survey and they have highlighted a number of areas for concern across the game.  Full analysis will be available shortly with this then being broken down by CB (County) which should be available in February 2020.

Diversity and Inclusion Working Group – this group, of which Sally Burns has been a member, made its final recommendations to RFU Council on 29^th November. The group was established in the wake of the Code for Sports Governance which called for all Governing Bodies to “recruit and engage people with appropriate diversity, independence, skill, experience and knowledge to take effective decisions that further the organisation’s goals”. Council accepted and adopted 10 recommendations from the Working Group and agreed that these should be acted upon. Initially the work is centred around the RFU but it will extend to CBs and, eventually, clubs.

RFU Finance – the Annual Report for 2018/19 will be published on Tuesday, 3^rd December.  And will be widely distributed.  Until publication the results must remain confidential but we hope you will take the time to look at and read the report which looks at the performance of the RFU in all aspects of its operation.

Activities in November (Jim Chapman)

Date
06	YRFU Competitions Sub-Committee (County Office)
13	Yorkshire West District (Old Brodleians RUFC)
14	Adult Male Competitions Structure Review Group (London)
15	North Division v All-Blacks 40th Anniversary Dinner (Otley RUFC)
16	President’s Lunch (Wetherby RUFC)
20	England Colleges RFU Board Meeting (Twickenham)
27	Area 6 Forum (Darlington)
29	RFU Council Meeting (Twickenham)

Activities in November (Ted Atkinson)

Date
13	Conference call ref. Yorkshire Academy
20	Play Development Sub-Committee (Twickenham)
26	Meeting ref. Yorkshire Academy (County Office)
28	Education & Age Grade Sub-Committee (Twickenham)
29	RFU Council Meeting (Twickenham)

Ted Atkinson & Jim Chapman

December 2019

August 2019

The next meeting of RFU Council is on Friday, 13^th September. Community Game Board met on 29^th 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, 11^th 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