The Rugby Football Union (RFU) has been cautioned that it is confronting an existential crisis and has been advised to implement radical changes to schools rugby to prevent it from becoming a “declining minority sport” that could undermine Steve Borthwick’s England team amid a concerning drop in participation. According to an independently chaired review commissioned by the RFU, “rugby is not winning” in the schools’ marketplace due to “shifting attitudes and values along with increased risk aversion within society”. The review, titled Changing the Game: the Future of Schools Rugby in England, also points to concerns about head injuries and the sport’s image as being for “posh white boys” as contributing factors to the decline in participation.
In response, the RFU has pledged to roll out a new non-contact version of the sport called T1 Rugby over the next four years. The review also suggests introducing a third “reduced contact” variant of the game alongside the traditional model to alleviate parents’ concerns about injuries and break down perceived barriers to entry into the sport. “In the schools ‘marketplace’, rugby is not winning,” the report, led by Sir Jon Coles, CEO of national schools group United Learning, states. “It is losing out to other sports. Rugby in England cannot rely on having the central cultural place in national life that it has in Wales or New Zealand. Changing attitudes and values coupled with greater risk aversion in society, which once saw rugby as central to school life, mean that rugby also cannot rely on that any longer.
This is of significant importance to rugby in England, as without rugby in schools, there will be much less rugby in the community, a much weakened professional and national game, and a diminished audience. This is an urgent issue approaching crisis point. The RFU could adopt a strategy of a very small number of elite schools populating the professional and national game; alongside a ‘clubs’ strategy. They could not worry about getting people playing in school but rather rely on the clubs to introduce the game. The review group believes that this would be a major strategic error, elitist in only allowing children and young people from particular backgrounds to access rugby union and lead to a shrinking game at all levels.
To do both of these things well is to walk a fine line. But both must be done boldly and with energy. Without (a), the game will shrink rapidly in schools and in consequence in the community and beyond. Without (b), the game will be a declining minority sport, seen as upper class and elitist. You must always change a losing game, and at the moment rugby is playing a losing game in schools.” The report also recommends the establishment of a director of schools rugby position at the RFU and a “rugby flatpack” which would enable a PE teacher with no rugby experience to be able to coach a term of T1 rugby. It expresses hope that rugby’s decline in schools can be halted if the recommendations are adopted but warns that the sport’s values are being eroded amid a perception problem.
“The game does continue to have an image problem with some, who may see it as a game for the ‘posh’ or for ‘posh boys’ or for ‘posh white boys’,” the report reads. “Rugby is a game which has inspired and enthused people of both sexes, all skin colours, all social and economic backgrounds and all shapes and sizes – but that is not the perception everywhere in England.”
Source link: https://www.theguardian.com
