Rugby Football Union
Exeter Chief’s Cornish full-back/wing Merryn Doidge has been named on the bench for England Women’s return game with France on Friday evening in Villeneuve d’Ascq in northern France.
Should Merryn come off the bench it will be her first full cap for England. We wish her all the best for Friday evening.
The game can be seen on the BBC i-player at 8 pm BST.
| Return to Rugby We hope you are all enjoying having rugby and outdoor hospitality back up and running at your clubs. The Community Game Update will move to fortnightly editions to space out communications unless there is important information to share, such as government guidance or financial support. This edition includes: 1. Return to Play – Stage D2 guidance 2. 14 days left for RUWSF Asset Improvement Loan applications 3. Training Course calendar 2020 – 2021 4. Mitsubishi Motors Volunteer of the Year – six days to go 5. Webinars and on-demand videos 6. Red Roses help create a Warrior buzz 7. 2021 RFU AGM notice Return to Play – Another step closer  Yesterday we saw the move to Stage D2, which now means contact fixtures with adapted laws can be played and is another step in the right direction. We have updated resources on the Return to Rugby page below, including stage D2 Guidance and a Stage D2 Law variations video. This move to Stage D2 also applies to age grade rugby until the 31 May, when the season will finish and the Summer Activity Framework will come into effect. Information to help you prepare can be found below. Age Grade Changes Summer Activity Guide Summer Activity Overview Stage D2 Age Grade Match Guidance The next #AskAgeGrade session on @AgeGradeRugby will be hosted on Monday 3 May. Current off-field guidance Off-field guidance is available via our Help Desk FAQs below, in line with steps reached on the government’s roadmap. Helpdesk FAQs Return To Rugby To read the rest of the update please click on the link |
The RFU road map has today moved to D2. With adapted law matches now allowed. Scrum and Maul are still excluded.
| Return to Rugby This edition includes: 1. Return to Play – one week until Stage D2 2. RUWSF Asset Improvement Loan applications – 11 May deadline 3. Adult Male Future Competition Structure from 2022/23 season 4. Payment of Players update 5. Mental Health support coming out of lockdown 6. Red Roses in Six Nations Final this Saturday 7. Webinars and on demand videos Return to Play – Move to Stage D2 from 26 April  From Monday 26 April we will return to Stage D2 on the rugby roadmap, which includes contact fixtures with adapted laws. Please familiarise yourselves with the guidance below. A video is also available here. Age Grade This move to Stage D2 also applies to age grade rugby, from Monday 26 April until the end of the extended 2020-21 age grade season on Monday 31 May 2021. From Tuesday 1 June, we move to the out-of-season period through June, July and August, when activity will follow the Summer Activity Framework. For details, see below. Age Grade Changes Summer Activity Guide Summer Activity Overview Stage D2 Age Grade Match Guidance The next #AskAgeGrade session on @AgeGradeRugby will be hosted on Monday 3 May. Current off-field guidance Off-field guidance is available via our Help Desk FAQs below, in line with steps reached on the government’s roadmap. Helpdesk FAQs D2 Guidance Payment of Players update Following RFU Council’s vote on Friday, the below changes have been agreed to Payment of Players, Regulation 7. 1. The following changes to the thresholds at Level 3, 4 and 5 for season 2021-22. While clubs are able to pay above the threshold, if they do they will lose access to RFU Benefits as defined by Regulation 7. The revised thresholds are: • Level 3 – £250,000 (down from £275,000) • Level 4 – £125,000 (down from £157,500) • Level 5 – £50,000 (down from £65,000) • Level 6 – £0 – no change 2. All clubs at Level 8 and below and all non-voting clubs will only need to complete the declaration annually if they pay their players or player coaches and wish to be eligible for RFU Benefits. 3. There will be no requirement for Student clubs to complete the declaration annually unless the Student club plays in an RFU League at level 7 and above. Any questions please contact paymentofplayers@rfu.com. To read the rest of the update, click on the link |
PLEASE TAKE PART IN THIS SURVEY County Championship survey We are contacting you to help us understand the views and opinions of all individuals in the community game on the County Championship competition. The results of this survey will feed into the independent review of the County Championship across the senior men’s, senior women’s and men’s U20 competitions, which has been commissioned by the Community Game Board (CGB) and aims to take all feedback into consideration before providing recommendations/options to the CGB on the future and format of the competition. This survey should take no longer than 10 minutes to complete, and will close at midnight on Sunday 25 April 2021. Take Survey P.S. Remember, as a supporter you are a valued member of the CRFU! |
| Return to Rugby |
| This edition includes: 1. RUWSF Asset Improvement Loan Programme 2. Return to Play – Off-field changes from Monday 12 April – Government Step 2 3. Return to Play – Rugby update 4. RFU Age Grade Summer Activity Framework 5. RFU Adult Men’s and Women’s Competitions 2021/22 6. County Championship Review 7. Mitsubishi Motors Volunteer of the Year 2021 – nominate by 2 May 8. Watch the Red Roses and videos on demand County Championship Review  As many of you will be aware, an independent review is underway of the County Championship across both the Men’s and Women’s Senior Competition and the U20s Men’s Competition, with an aim of making recommendations to the Community Game Board on the future and format of the competition. Please keep an eye out for a survey that will be circulated this Monday, 12 April, to players, coaches, CBs and Clubs. We are keen to hear from as many people as possible to understand your views and to collate feedback that will help to inform the group recommendations. Please contact competitions-development@rfu.com should you have further questions. To read the rest of the update click on the link |
Here is the latest guidance on return to rugby including:
– On field guidance
– Summer Activity Overview
– Test & trace
– Clubhouses & Pitches
| Content: 1. Rugby Union Winter Survival Fund Asset Improvement Loan Prospectus 2. RFU Transgender Policy Proposal – External Consultation 3. 2021 Women’s Six Nations kicks off this weekend Rugby Union Winter Survival Fund Asset Improvement Loan Prospectus  We are delighted to launch our full prospectus for the Rugby Union Winter Survival Fund Asset Improvement Loans programme. This is a partnership programme enabling government loans to be made available, via the RFU, to help clubs invest in their assets to enable them to reboot and become more financially resilient into the future. It has been designed and developed in conjunction with Sport England who continue to provide oversight. At the time of writing, government have confirmed that the programme is open to all incorporated clubs and we are continuing dialogue with them to look at ways by which this can be extended to unincorporated clubs. We hope to have this resolved next week but wanted to publish the prospectus today to enable clubs to have as much time as possible to consider the detail of the scheme and discuss their appetite to apply. Loan funding is available between £20,000 and £150,000 for facility projects that will help clubs to survive, diversify revenue, reduce operating costs and protect and grow their membership. This prospectus outlines the applications process and key facts about the three funding “buckets” available, as well as repayment terms, example costs and RFU support available relating to each eligible project category. We aim to open the application process next week, at which point detailed FAQs will be available to consult alongside the prospectus to enable clubs to determine whether to make an application, to select the most suitable project for your club and to calculate loan repayment terms. Further information will be published on our loans page next week. Loans Prospectus RFU Transgender Policy Proposal – External Consultation The RFU is conducting a review of its transgender policy which sets out the eligibility criteria for playing contact rugby union in England. As part of the review process, the external consultation for the proposed policy is now open. The consultation period will run until 5pm on Friday 16 April and we welcome your feedback. We encourage anyone who wishes to engage in the external consultation to read the proposed policy in full and watch the video before completing the survey. You can find all of this information, including the survey link and background video, via the button below. As the national governing body for rugby union in England, it is the responsibility of the RFU to regulate participation in order to promote the safe and equitable treatment of all taking part. Rugby Union is a sport for all and the RFU seeks to promote equal opportunities to ensure that anyone who wishes to play the game should be able to do so without prejudice. It’s important to consider the individuals involved and the sense of community and acceptance that our transgender players tell us rugby provides for them. As a contact sport, player welfare is paramount and the proposed policy seeks to strike a balance between inclusion, fairness and safe participation. Transgender Policy 2021 Women’s Six Nations kicks off this weekend The Red Roses’ opener against Scotland will be live on BBC iPlayer this Saturday, kick off 3pm. The full match day squad, captained by Emily Scarratt, is listed below. You can also watch the team’s preparations in O2 Inside Line: Red Roses, Season 2, Episode 1. Full Squad O2 Inside Line |
| Return to Rugby This edition includes: 1. Rugby Union Winter Survival Fund – Loans prospectus 2. Rugby Union Winter Survival Fund – Grant update from Steve Grainger 3. Car Sharing – Updated guidance 4. First Aid – Updated guidance 5. Return to Rugby On-field guidance 6. Return to Rugby Off-field guidance 7. Warrior Camps to return in May – sign up now! 8. Government Restart Grants 9. Webinars and On demand videos Send photos and videos to @EnglandRugby of you gearing up for rugby; cleaning your boots, preparing the pitch and getting your kit ready with #ReturnToRugby. Rugby Union Winter Survival Fund Loans update  We hope that clubs have found the advance prospectus helpful and that they can continue to think about how they may wish to use the asset loan. In the video below, Ted Mitchell, tells us what they can be used for and details the terms attached to each loan. Both the video and advance prospectus can be found below. This can also be found on our loans page, with the application period set to open in early April. Advance Prospectus Prospectus Video Rugby Union Winter Survival Fund – Grant update from Steve Grainger Over the last few weeks we have been notifying clubs who have been awarded grants from the rugby Union Winter Survival fund, which will continue over the next few weeks. We are aware that some clubs are querying the amounts awarded. The video below explains how they have been calculated. Watch Video To read the rest of the update click on the link |
The Government Roadmap has moved to Step One – from today Monday 29 March
• Adult and age grade community rugby (including schools and colleges) may resume at Stage D1.
• O2 Touch, Tag and Ready4Rugby training and matches are permitted within the club and against other clubs. We will confirm travel guidance when published by government.
• Contact training (excluding scrums and mauls) is permitted to introduce contact gradually and prepare players physically for the next stage on the Return to Rugby Roadmap. Our guidance strongly recommends a maximum of 20 minutes contact in total per session, with regular hand sanitising breaks during and after contact skills training and equipment should be cleaned after use. Players should avoid face-to-face exposure of more than three seconds and more than 15 minutes of exposure at less than one metre with another player.
