The RFU is ‘rebooting and rewiring’ schools’ rugby in England following the findings of an independently chaired review.
The review, chaired by United Learning CEO Sir Jon Coles, found that while rugby continued to have a healthy presence in many schools, there was evidence of a decline in others: those with strong rugby traditions driven by concern about injury and those who didn’t play the game believing it is difficult to introduce.
The review also found that there is a perception that rugby remains a sport for "posh white boys." The sport in England is hugely dominated by private schools, which offer fantastic facilities and coaching but scout state school players via lucrative scholarship deals.
The top university teams, now starting to act as feeders for Premiership clubs, are massively over-represented by former private school pupils, who make up about 7% of the population.
Two-thirds of England's 2024 Six Nations squad had some level of private education, compared with 15% of the country's Euro 2024 football squad.
"This is a moment for change, "said Jon Coles, who led the review. "The RFU must now take bold steps to make sure that schools with a strong rugby tradition want to play rugby and other schools want to join in."
"There is enormous potential for the growth of a game which is now played and loved by players of both sexes, all skin colours, all economic backgrounds and all shapes and sizes - but historically hasn't reached this whole population.
"This is a critical time to take action and make it as easy and appealing as possible for schools to add rugby to their offering."
To encourage the continued growth of rugby in education, the RFU has begun the rollout of T1 Rugby: a new non-contact form of the game from World Rugby that reflects the characteristics of rugby union. They have set a target of introducing T1 Rugby into 5000 schools in the next four years.
Schools will be supported with T1 Rugby by a new national network of school rugby managers, which will be 100-strong by 2027. The school rugby managers will work with local schools to get rugby embedded into their curriculum, as well as strengthen links with local rugby clubs.
The review also highlighted a sizable market of untapped talent in schools that do not have a tradition of playing rugby, especially amongst girls and in communities where there have historically been few opportunities to play.
Played with seven-a-side teams on half-sized pitches, the new development will be supported by T1 Rugby "flatpacks" provided by the RFU, containing all the equipment needed to play, as well as a range of resources for staff to be able to teach the game even if they have no rugby experience. It will be easier than ever for schools to add the sport to their curriculum, inspiring a new generation of players from all different walks of life to take up the game.
The RFU’s Executive Director of Rugby Development, Steve Grainger said: “Building on the clear recommendations of the review we are committed to developing more and better resources and training for schools across the country which will be key in engaging young people and helping them to access our great game.
“We need to reboot and rewire rugby at the heart of schools, recognising that it's not going to come through 15-a-side contact rugby but it's just going to come from getting an oval ball into more young people's hands and getting them to learn the word rugby that they might have never heard before.”
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