Revealed: £1m plan to save grass-roots men’s rugby

Nine-point plan to spur revival

There are nine prongs to the plan, neatly outlined in three sets of three. First come the national initiatives, headlined by the RFU campaign, ‘Play Together, Stay Together’, that was launched this week with a video starring Joe Marler. “Just think about what rugby gives us,” ponders the inimitable prop.

Coach developers will be deployed to clubs identified as needing more help to retain players and the third top-level proposal is the opportunity to adopt flexible laws in order to complete a match. Known as ‘Game On’, and predominantly targeting second- and third-teams and lower, this could mean uncontested scrums and line-outs or even teams being reduced to 10 players.

Across the RFU’s regional constituent bodies, there will be a focus on links between clubs and universities. Hampshire, for instance, is planning October welcome events for prospective players studying at Bournemouth, Southampton and Winchester. Additional coaching support features here, as does funding to vary kick-off times, enabling Saturday afternoon fixtures to shift to Wednesday or Friday evenings, perhaps.

At club level, volunteers and returning players will be rewarded. Recruitment via social media will be encouraged, with Grainger suggesting that players could track down five ex-teammates on Facebook. If two can be persuaded back into the sport, that would be a big win. Finally, clubs will be challenged to think about making their environment as welcoming as possible. The odd free meal or a bit of kit tend to go a long way and all nine of these projects will be pushed over the coming weeks.

‘We need action right now’

“The target is deliberately short-term, deliberately the first half of this season,” Grainger emphasises. “Everyone comes up with long-term things but we need action right now. We’ll know by Christmas whether that has had the impact we hoped.”
Two age groups stand out, beginning with the 17-22 bracket. Some of these players will have emerged from lockdown into the adult game having barely dipped their toe into full-contact as teenagers. Over 30s, or those most likely to occupy second- third- and fourth-teams and relish rugby’s social aspect, is the other priority.

“In first XV league rugby, those matches will predominantly get played because those are the mark of the club,” Grainger explains. “First-teams are needing more and more players – it’s not uncommon for one to use 50 players in a season. Each time players get drafted up, they are losing players from second and third teams. Roughly one in three across the season of lower-XV matches doesn’t happen. That’s for a whole host of reasons – illness, Covid, an unplayable pitch, a stag-do at the club.”

The unavoidable back-drop to all this is the dark cloud of a concussion law suit against the professional game. Grainger acknowledges that “injury and fear of injury” has always been a challenge. Although he has not seen “hard evidence” showing that head impacts stand out over other worries for community players, he points to “non-contact offerings” as an alternative.

Another card up the RFU’s sleeve is a new national club competition, which has been introduced to coincide with a “flattened” league restructure with more localised divisions of fewer teams comprising fewer games. This will take place when league schedules are done, incorporating sides from levels five (now known as regional one) and below. It has been designed to present a “varied diet” to players and prevent seasons growing stale for those at clubs in mid-table.
The forthcoming season, and the next few weeks, feel vital for men’s rugby union.

While it is not quite now-or-never, the nettle has been grasped.

“We definitely haven’t taken an eye off the age-grade game and we’re pushing on with plans to grow the women’s game,” Grainger says. “But we have to do something right here right now to grow the adult male game, hence the recovery plan.”