RFU Regulation 10 – Cross Border matches with Scottish and Welsh clubs

RFU Regulation 10 deals with tours, which invariably involve overnight stays and activities other than rugby, and cross border matches, predominantly against Scottish and Welsh clubs where the travel and match can be completed in less than a day. For tours, clubs have to apply well in advance to their CBs for approval providing significant detail of the activities. However, cross border matches are often arranged at late notice. Therefore, the regulation allows CBs to give advance approval at the beginning of the season to its clubs to play such matches without at that stage having any detail of the games (opponents, venue, and whether age grade or adult teams).

The RFU regulation derives from a World Rugby regulation that requires a full record of such matches is maintained by the Union / CB when permission is given, and that World Rugby can request those details. Therefore, to comply with the World Rugby regulation, when clubs play such fixtures, and have advance approval from their CB, they will now need to send to their CBs at the end of the season a list of such matches with the following information:

• RFU Club
• Date of Match
• Venue (Home or Away)
• Name of Club and which Union it is from (invariably it will be a Scottish (SRU) or Welsh (WRU) club
• Details of teams involved (1st XV men, 2nd XV Women, U16s boys etc)
• Result

CBs are to maintain a list of these matches and should remind their clubs at the end of the season of the need to provide this information. It applies for this season onward.

This is most likely to affect clubs in CBs adjacent to Scotland and Wales, but the RFU Regulation 10 will be amended to reflect this requirement alongside other regulation amendments that are published on 1st August each year.