RFU Representatives Reports

The next meeting of RFU Council is on Friday 14^th June, 2019 this will be followed by the RFU AGM. Both meetings will be at Cowdray Hall which is in Cavendish Square in London. Community Game Board will meet on Thursday, June 17th

New CEO – The new CEO, Bill Sweeney took up post on 9^th May. He is currently in the process of meeting staff and Council Members but, we understand, will be attending the Volunteer Dinner in Yorkshire on 8^th June. I’m sure we’ll give him a proper Yorkshire welcome and will value the opportunity of getting to know him.

RFU Cups/County Championship/YRFU Cups – as always the end of season brings with it the climax to a number of cup competitions both nationally and locally. Congratulations go to Northallerton and Thornensians who both won through to national RFU Cup Finals. Sadly, results did not go their way but we are sure they enjoyed their day out at Twickenham.

Domestically congratulations go to Sandal, Old Brodleians, Yarnbury and Knottingley who lifted the Yorkshire Cup, Shield, Silver Trophy and Bowl respectively. Thanks should also go to Sheffield, Heath, Wetherby and Leeds Corinthians who provided their opponents.

Yorkshire U20s once again lifted the Jason Leonard Trophy with a fine win over Lancashire and whilst the Senior Men’s team also beat the Red Rose they did not qualify for the Final. Lastly, congratulations to Yorkshire Women who will take on Sussex Women in the Final of the Gill Burns Cup – at the time of writing the game has yet to be played.

RFU AGM – this takes place on the evening of 14^th June (5:00 p.m.) at Cowdray Hall in Central London. All clubs should have received the Calling Notice which is, these days, delivered electronically. Part of this will include the opportunity to cast a Proxy Vote. As usual if any club wishes to appoint Ted or Jim as their Proxy then please fill in the appropriate section and either post to Ted/Jim or pass to County Office. We will then arrange to collect and cast your votes accordingly.

Data Collection – we have been asked recently about data that is collected and utilised by the RFU. There are two surveys carried out during the year that provide data on the state of the game. The first of these is a national Survey carried out by Sport England. This is carried out by telephone and asks the respondents whether they are involved in any physical activity. Follow up questions interrogate what sport, how often and for how long. The data has been collected for a number of years and now gives a useful picture of trends. Sadly, the major trend is that team sports in the U.K. are declining with people preferring “individual” activity such as gym usage, running, cycling etc. This fits in with societal change where people want activity to fit in with their personal circumstances, rather than fitting these into the requirements of team sports. Rather better news is that Rugby is one of only two sports (the other being basketball) where we are designated as “no change”. All other team sports have been designated as “in decline”. As clubs, we need to take heed of this and need to begin to explore how we can adapt to the requirements of society.

The second survey is the National Rugby Survey, commonly referred too as the NRS. This takes place twice throughout the year and is administered by an email containing a link to the survey which is sent out to all people whose details are recorded on GMS (and have opted to receive the email). Again, this has been running for a couple of years so we are now in a position to look at trends which are emerging through the data. Each County (CB) receives a breakdown of the data showing how they compare to national trends. Again, some interesting trends are beginning to emerge with, again, people calling for a more flexible approach to the way that our sport is played.

RWC Warm Up Games – tickets are now available for England’s Rugby World Cup Warm Up games.

11 Aug (Sunday)	v Wales	Twickenham	14:00
17 Aug	v Wales	Cardiff	TBA
24 Aug	v Ireland	Twickenham	15:00
06 Sept (Friday)	v Italy	St James Park, Newcastle	17:45

Payment of Players – a reminder that Payment of Players Declarations need to be completed and submitted via the RFU website prior to 30^th June. This applies to ALL clubs at level 3 (National 1) and below regardless whether players receive payments or material benefits. Full details of how to complete and submit the declaration are available on the RFU website and clubs have already been given details in the Community Game Update (March 2019) which is sent to every club. Failure to complete the Declaration could result in losing RFU Benefits (e.g. Travel Payments, RFF Loans etc). If you have any questions regarding the Declaration you should, in the first instance, contact your local RDO.

Joint Home Nations Community Game Conference – this took place at the beginning of May and was led by EY who presented their vision of the future in 10-15 year’s time. As expected the vision was dominated by the use of technology and the notion that people will plan their lives in a much more individual way and will expect the provision of services to meet their individual needs. The conference then split into groups to consider the impact on our sport of this vision. In particular the question being asked was “What will YOUR club look like in the future?”.

There is not space in this blog to begin to share the width of views that were expressed but the main concerns expressed across the groups were how we, as clubs and as a Game, can begin to provide a flexible framework in all our offerings that will continue to provide us with viable clubs catering for the needs and requirements of the next and future generations. The clarion call that went out at the end of the conference was the need for EVERY CB and CLUB to begin to consider what they need to do to provide an answer to the vision that was presented.

The Conference also considered problems that surround pitchside behaviour. There is a common problem throughout all four nations when it comes to people feeling they could intervene in the running of games and ways that we could begin to modify this behaviour. The Conference did not begin to posit any solutions but did begin to look at ways that bad behaviour could be challenged and also ways the good behaviour could be positively encouraged and rewarded.

Activities in May (Jim Chapman)

Date
01	Aire-Wharfe Plate Final Presentation (Roundhegians RUFC)
02	RFU Appeal against North League Re-Structure (adjourned after 15 mins) Yorkshire Shield Final (Heath v O. Brodleians) (Keighley RUFC)
08 & 09	Joint Home Nations CGB Conference (Twickenham) Community Game Board (Twickenham)
11	Yorkshire v Cheshire (Huddersfield YMCA RUFC)
12	Yorkshire Women v Cumbria Women (Wharfedale RUFC)
16	South Yorkshire District Meeting (Doncaster Phenix RUFC)
18	Lancashire v Yorkshire (Fylde RFC)
19	Lancashire Women v Yorkshire Women (Leigh RUFC)
23	RFU Appeal against North League Re-Structure
30	Conference Call with Ben Lowe (Rugby Growth Manager) & Paul O’Leary (Competitions Manager)

Activities in May (Ted Atkinson)

Date
04,05 & 06	RFU Cup Finals (Twickenham)
07	Meeting Re Sevens (York)
09	Player Pathway Meeting (QEGS, Wakefield)
10	Volunteer Presentation (Driffield RUFC)
11	Yorkshire v Cheshire (Huddersfield YMCA RUFC)
12	Divisional Selection for England U20s Counties (Derby RUFC)
15	Education Sub-Committee Meeting
18	Lancashire v Yorkshire (Fylde RFC)
21	Developing Player Pathway Meeting (Bridlington RUFC)
22	Player Development Sub-Committee (Twickenham)
24	Conference Call with Don Barrel (Academies Manager)

Ted Atkinson & Jim Chapman

May 2019

RFU Council – met on Friday, April 12^th at Twickenham and turned into a very long meeting. A lot of meeting time was taken up with internal Council business but highlights were :

· Francis Baron – as previously reported Council took the unprecedented step of removing Mr Baron’s Privileged Membership following his report which questioned RFU Finances. This matter keeps rumbling on with threats of legal action still pending. Part of the discussion centred around the verbatim transcript which is taken at every Council Meeting. A small group will examine whether this should remain.

· Council Survey – a survey had been carried out regarding Council business and the time spent by Council Members (who are all volunteers and receive no payments from the RFU other than reimbursement of expenses). Most council Members spend between 26 and 50 days per. year carrying out their functions and, in the current economic climate, a considerable debate examined how Council could become more efficient and, at the same time, reduce its expenditure. A Working Group will be established to examine some of the matters brought up in the debate (e.g. better use of technology, moving Council/Sub-Committee meetings away from Twickenham etc.)

· Finance – continues to be central to RFU matters and all clubs will have, by now, received notification of reductions in budgets for the 2019-20 season. Both Ted and Jim are happy to discuss why these reductions have been made but basically RFU Finances are dependent on four things :

· Broadcast Rights – the subject of re-negotiation and much discussion around global agreements

· Tickets – the main source of income for the RFU

· Entertainment – with the opening of the East Stand the RFU needs to maximise the hospitality enjoyed by many prior to international (and other) matches

· Sponsorship – and area under increasing strain with Companies reluctant to enter into long term agreements and also looking to streamline current agreements.

All of this has meant that budgets have returned to levels they were at 5 years ago, with the Community Budget set at around £28.5m for the coming season.

Both Council and CGB will continue to monitor budgets closely ( Jim Chapman, who sits on CGB estimates that they have spent in excess of 36 hours this year talking and examining budgets) with an aim to maximising the effect of budget on the Community Game.

· Rewards and Recognition Working Group – has met frequently throughout the year with an initial brief to look at how Council Members are rewarded and recognised for the contribution they make to the workings of the RFU. This became slightly subverted during the course of the year and began to look at the costs associated, in particular, with attendance at International Fixtures. A large number of motions were placed before Council which, for instance, means that only 1/3 of Council can attend away fixtures during the 6 Nations. Again, if anyone requires full details Ted or Jim can discuss these.

· Tyrell’s Premiership 15s – the first four year cycle, during which no promotion or relegations has taken place, comes to and end next season and Council received a presentation from the Women’s Performance Management Group regarding the possibilities for clubs at the end of the 2019/20 season. The views of Council will be factored in to firm proposals that will come back to Council in June for decision.

· Nominations – presented its report to Council and proposed :

President – Peter Wheeler

Senior Vice President - HHJ Jeff Blackett (Co-Opted)

Junior Vice President – Nigel Gillingham (Gloucestershire)

Immediate Past President – Chris Kelly (Schools)

Additionally, Wing Commander Peter Whiting (RAF) was nominated as a Board Member for three years commencing in August 2019

· Council Code of Conduct – a Working Group under the Chairmanship of ex-President Paul Murphy reported back to Council on work they had done to establish a Code of Conduct for Council Members. This was adopted by Council by a substantial majority. The Code of Conduct will, soon, be available from the RFU website.

· Women’s Six Nations – Nicky Ponsford and Simon Middleton presented to Council on the recent, very successful 6 Nations. The focus now moves to building on that success next season and preparations for the 2021 World Cup in New Zealand.

· Community Rugby – Steve Grainger reported on the latest Sport England, Active People Survey. This is a telephone survey that asks people about their “involvement” in sport. Once again, the survey has seen a decline in the number of people involved in team sports. Only ourselves and Basketball have been designated as “no change”, all other sports are designated as “in decline”. The emphasis is still on what may be described as “individual activity” (i.e. gym attendance/walking/cycling) rather than involvement with team sports.

· Governance – the main item was changes to Regulation to allow the “Game On” initiative to be launched. “Game On” (of which more to come) is an attempt to allow games to be played “outside” or with reduced regulation (mainly at 2^nd XV level and below). It has been successfully trialled in both Wales and Ireland and will be introduced in England in preparation for next season. More details about “Game On” will follow.

Activities in April (Jim Chapman)

Date
04	Competitions Development Sub-Committee (Twickenham)
11	Presentation on World Rugby Global League and Television Rights Strategy (Twickenham)
12	RFU Council (Twickenham)
16	YRFU Competitions Sub-Committee (County Office)
17	Yorkshire Cup Final – Sheffield v Sandal (Morley RFC)
27	Yorkshire Silver Trophy final – Yarnbury v Wetherby (Ripon RUFC)

Activities in April (Ted Atkinson)

Date
01	YRFU Committee (Acklam RUFC)
03	Area 6 Forum (Headlam Hall, Darlington)
10	East Yorkshire District S-C (Beverley RUFC)
11	Presentation on World Rugby Global League and Television Rights Strategy (Twickenham)
12	RFU Council (Twickenham)
13	Presenting NCA Cup (Hull Ionians)
14	England Students v France Universities (Chester RUFC)
17	Player Development Sub-Committee
18	Meeting with Dean Ryan (RFU, Head of International Player Development)
27	Presenting Nationla Div 2 North Trophy to Hull Ionians (Sheffield Tigers RUFC)

Ted Atkinson & Jim Chapman

April 2019