Eastern Counties Rugby Union

The committee season is up and running again, and the first Council meeting of the season was held at Twickenham on September 30th, but before some comments on that, a couple of ‘parish notices’ from me:
1. Match Official abuse: EC Discipline is already dealing with a high number of Red cards, even at this part of the season – this includes seven in one weekend and a case of alleged assault on a Referee – folks, this is appalling and risks putting the Game into disrepute. I know that all of these cases will be dealt with competently, but we need to return to a situation where self-discipline governs our actions – I would ask all Coaches to remind their players. Thanks
2. Tackle Height Law – the safety of our players should be paramount, especially at Age-Grade level; the RFU is asking for Club Coaches to participate in a pilot to reduce the area of tackle to waist-high. Several Clubs have offered to help with this, and it would seem sensible for Eastern Counties Club Coaches to support this – the strong possibility is that this recommendation will become Regulation as from the 23-24 season, so ‘prepared is forearmed’. We all know that there is a drop-off in players from the ages of 16 to 20, and it is quite possible that the threat of serious injury caused by poor tackle technique could be but one reason. The most recent Community Game Update drew awareness of the pilot, and any Clubs that are willing to take part should let either John Lawn (JohnLawn@rfu.com ) or Ross Cowie (rossrugby@btinternet.com ) know so that support can be provided – not only should this important change make the Game safer, it should also help Referees when managing the Game. Thanks.
3. Honda Volunteer Award – after considerable debate we put Sally Lloyd forward for recognition – Sally has been a long-time Volunteer Safeguarding Officer for Norfolk, and the award is richly deserved. Sally and Cefyn will be guests for the England v Argentina match.
4. On the matter of Safeguarding, a gentle reminder that the Annual Club Safeguarding Audit is now ‘live’ with a cut-off date of 31st. December; can all Clubs please ensure compliance by that date, or preferably earlier – our RFU Field Staff will be monitoring and following up where necessary – again, many thanks.
5. Bring and buy – I have been asked by Lowestoft and Yarmouth to see if any Club has some portable floodlights that they no longer require – if so, L&Y would be grateful for them – please contact John Langford (johnlangford52@gmail.com ) and arrangements can be made.
Council meeting – the person that used to write up the Middlesex Notes has left Council, and his replacement is not inclined to carry this on, so you are left with my notes instead – these are to be found below:
RP NOTES FROM COUNCIL MEETING 30.09.22
1. An overview of the situation with Worcester Warriors and Wasps – this has been overtaken by events, but this is not something that Council is mandated to oversee, being the province of Premiership Rugby Ltd. and the RFU Board. It is surprising to learn that very little oversight of financial and governance matters is taken by either – this is now being addressed by PRL, with more information coming out in the Press by the day. . The fixation with having ‘large Stadia’ and the attendant overhead costs could be one reason behind the situation with Wasps (see 6.2 below). The last thing we need to see now is the RFU stepping in to bankroll PRL to the detriment of Grassroots Rugby.

2. Eddie Jones gave a presentation about the England squad and their journey towards RWC 2023 in France – he is , as usual, bullish about our chances and is looking forward to the Autumn series and the Six Nations matches to hone his squad selection.
3.RFU Strategy and Delivery Plan – it is now clear that the RFU is stretched when trying to deliver a large number of initiatives, and that this also has an impact on Volunteer workload- the emphasis in future will be to reduce the number of activities and aim for quality rather than quantity, but most of us could have forecast this. The RFU have to direct some of their work to comply with Sport England and DCMS dictates as there is often funding attached, so this makes some sense. A revised strategy working document will be forthcoming. We were shown some 353 areas where the RFU is ‘working with’ so the capacity for reduction is clear – the proof will be in the pudding, and finance as well as human resource must play their part.
4. NGB Structure – a working group has been reviewing the structure of Council and how it operates – some twenty-six recommendations have been made, and these now require time to bed in. After a pause to allow this a further review will then take place in the 23/24 season to take heed of operational changes, especially with the Community Game Board, who agree and set activities in conjunction with the RFU Executive.(Best read in conjunction with point (3) above! Agreement for this gained 73% approval.
4.2 Approval of revised County Championship regulations was passed with 87% approval –
these are intended to group matches more closely together to avoid excessive travelling, especially at Pool 2 and 3. Pool 1, where the ‘big guns’ play will continue in its current form. The ‘level’ that players can be selected from will form part of this, in our case (Pool 2) we will only be able to select players that play regularly in Regional 1 and below – this opens up further opportunities for our Grassroots players to represent EC in the Bill Beaumont fixtures (which were announced on 11th. October)
5.1 A reduction in the number of non-England qualified players in the Women’s 15 Championship from 23/24, reducing the number of these players with a minimum of thirteen EQP as a baseline - this is to improve the opportunity for EQP to climb the representative ladder to Roses level, and underpin the quality of the Premiership 15.
5.2 Governance and Business Transformation – the need for appropriately managed Clubs and CBs is a ‘must’; the RFU will be piloting a process with a small number of Clubs as well as looking at a similar process for the finance and monitoring mandate for CBs – more details later. The principal aims are to reduce Volunteer workload whilst giving the RFU a better overview of how Clubs are managed.(sounds like Accreditation to me!)
6.1 Concern about the high number of Adult Male matches voided at the start of the season, especially in the South-West – whilst EC have seen a number of matches postponed, mainly down to ground conditions and the difficulty of preparing players to match fitness levels, we have faired relatively well, and our Competitions Group is constantly monitoring the situation. Work also continues to prepare the ‘Platform for Rugby’ portal, which will replace the much-maligned GMS.
6.2 Professional Game Board - work to reduce the Minimum Operating Standard for ground capacity will be effective from 23/24 season – a reduction to 5000 people, but with planning permission and funding to increase to 10001 from 24/25 will apply – this removes the barrier that prevented the Championship Champions from promotion in the past. Work is also taking place for a Championship Cup programme to start in the 23/24 season.
6.3 ‘ Every Rose’ action plan – with a view to preparing for the 2025 Women’s World Cup to be held in England further work to support localised match groups will continue, with a more regionalised League structure the ambition. Objectives to attract 100,000 Female players by 2025, and to fill Twickenham for at least one Red Roses match are part of this.
6.4 Governance – Adult Male player affiliation process will eventually become mandatory, but the intention is for a ‘soft launch’ – however this is one area where EC has tried to push for, and Clubs should actively consider how compliance can be achieved without too much grief for our Volunteers.
6.5 Head Impact Study Group – work in hand with World Rugby includes Tackle Height Regulation (probably from 23/24 for Age Grade), Instrumented mouth guards to measure impact and graduated and enhanced return to play protocol.
7.1 Finances – The RFU continues to recover from the effects of Covid – the remaining £17 million Bank overdraft was repaid in July following receipt of the CVC investment in Six Nations share pot. Rising energy costs will likely add at least £1.2 million to overheads. The Annual Report is due out soon.
Roger Pierson - RFU Council Member for Eastern Counties Rugby Union
e-mail: rogerpierson@btinternet.com