OPINION – “We have to appreciate that we enjoy a full contact sport”

Yesterday the RFU community update unleased two bombshells for our wonderful game, from July 1st 2023 you can only tackle at waist height & registration of players will be mandatory at every level.

To tackle the tackle protocol first; I appreciate the intent of this rule but I have question the practical implications to the lower tiers of our game. I am now a confirmed Rugby Vet, having played social rugby for my club for 20+ years, and the changes made in recent seasons to make the tackle height lower, I believe, have made the overall game safer.

I am not about to go on a it-was-better-in-my-day rant, it still is my-day or at least I was hoping it was going to be for some time to come, but we have to appreciate that we enjoy a full contact sport and whilst our aim is not to hurt one another, sometimes we do.

Experience tells me that trying to re-programme several generations of players on an arbitrary date will just lead to games constantly being stopped for infringements that were perfectly acceptable and considered safe this season and, at worst, more players sanctioned and off the pitch than on it.

I am not alone in some of this thinking, all you have to do is look at some of the comments on social media posts to see that.

This rule should be the aim not a newly set, and lower, bar!

Mandatory registration of all players, as set out in their statement yesterday, will lead to the death of social grassroots rugby.

A bold claim, one that I and many others truly fear will be the case. I have played at the lowest step of the rugby ladder for many years and it is brilliant! Playing against the same clubs, teams & players for decades & then having the opportunity for those foes to become teammates is a pleasure & a honour. It is the basis that the FYB platform is built upon, no?

As the Chair of a one team social rugby club, simply put, we would not still be in existence if it was not possible for willing players from anywhere to put on our shirt & put in a shift in, in our name.

If dual registration is just that, merely two clubs, we and many clubs like us will be holding games less frequently. With participation in adult men’s rugby is drastically down on pre-pandemic levels; Bill Sweeney on The Good, The Bad & the Rugby podcast confirmed there are believed to be 170k active players in England down from 260k in 2016, with societal changes quoted as a contributing factor.

With less players playing why reduce their opportunities to do so.

What is the real reason for mandatory registration? In their accompanying video they claim one benefit is player safety, return to play protocols can be better managed, however, several times knowing where players are, who they are playing for and when they are playing is mentioned.

Could it be that this is merely an ill advised attempt to get more accurate data on participation in our sport or is it more commercial than that?

Robert Holmes is a player & current chairman of Racal Decca RFC in Surrey