On Wednesday, 12th February, the RFU Roadshow trundled into Sedgley Park RUFC a little delayed after a hold up on their way from Darlington, the previous evening’s venue for consultation.
Led by Sir Bill Beaumont, Interim RFU Chairman, the delegation invited attendees to put forward ‘anything at all’ to them and those attending did so for the next two hours. Little was held back.
There was a lot of talking done and there appeared to be a lot of listening as well. It was also obvious that issues that affected the day’s attendees were echoes of what had been said at other venues. Amongst these:-
• Leagues too small so not enough games;
• Poor communication needs urgent attention;
• RFU Governance in need of review;
• Few representative games (Women’s, Age Grade etc.) played outside the South of England (as one attendee said, ‘The RFU think Southampton is in the South and Northampton is in the North.’);
• Insufficient funding help for grassroots rugby;
• Papa John’s competition…..
……and so on.
Overall, the meeting was positive but all will depend on what actions are progressed to guide the game into the future.
The day after the meeting, participants were sent a letter from Sir Bill Beaumont outlining what had been raised so far in the Roadshow process. This letter can be read here:-
An Update from Sir Bill Beaumont | Rugby Football Union
Hopefully this consultation process will result in a better future for our game.