England Rugby Age Grade Competition Review
AGE GRADE COMPETITION REVIEW
Approved Principles
1. Mixed contact rugby will finish after Under 11s.
2. Under 13s dual age band for girls will not include Under 11s.
3. Fifteen-a-side rugby will start at Under 14.
4. New Rules of Play for Under 13s will be implemented in the 2016/17 season.
5. The introduction of the lineout commences in the Under 14s.
6. There will be a nationally defined menu of national and county competitions per age group.
7. There will be no formal league rugby before Under 15s.
8. There will be no tournaments (competitions that find an overall winner) below Under 12s.
9. All competitions and representative rugby (local to CB to national) will be played in specific nationally consistent windows during the season.
10. Regional Player Development Groups will be formed to drive the player pathway programme.
11. From the 2015/16 season the divisional representative level will be replaced by a regional level programme at Under 16s.
12. There will be no representative rugby below Under 15s.
13. There will be no district programmes at Under 16s.
Note also that w.e.f. Sept 2016, U13 will become Mini Rugby
I am already aware of serious concerns about some aspects of this which I will air in due course but at this stage I am keen to discover what more people think.
