On Monday 23 January, the Club Rugby Board (CRB) received a presentation from Scottish Rugby’s Rugby Development Department on the benefits of law trials lowering the tackle height in the community game – an initiative supported by World Rugby.

In research studies conducted in France and South Africa, lowering the tackle height has been shown to reduce the number of head-on-head contacts and concussions. Lowering the tackle height has also shown positive outcomes regarding increased ball-in-play time and offloading.

The CRB has agreed for the Rugby Development department to deliver a period of consultation with players, coaches and referees to ensure those closest to the community game can contribute to establishing the way forward to a safer game for all.

As a result, a series of consultative webinars will be delivered during week commencing Monday 20 February, where Scottish Rugby will gather views from a broad spectrum of stakeholders within the community game.

During the webinars, representatives from Rugby Development will share more information on the cited research, discuss possible law changes which may be considered and take views from those in attendance.

Tackle Height Consultation Webinars

• Wednesday 22 February, 7:30pm | National League club representatives (for club leaders and committee members) | Click HERE to register.
• Wednesday 22 February, 8:30pm | Regional League club representatives (for club leaders and committee members) | Click HERE to register.
• Thursday 23 February, 7:30pm | Match Officials (for panel, society, club and school match officials) | Click HERE to register.
• Monday 27 February, 7:30pm | Youth Game (for players, coaches and directors of rugby) | Click HERE to register.
• Monday 27 February, 8:30pm | Adult Game (for players, coaches and directors of rugby) | Click HERE to register.

Following these initial consultations, the Club Rugby Board and the Rugby Development department will communicate next steps.

Scottish Rugby has today confirmed the successful clubs in receipt of more than £400,000 funding via the Club Sustainability Fund (CSF) 2023.

This year’s 13 successful applicants will receive investment towards projects via two funding strands – Capital and Revenue – designed to improve club facilities or allow clubs to employ administrators to support with operational needs.

Find out more about the successful applicants in the link below.

The competitions team wish to advise clubs currently participating in Regional and Reserve leagues to expect an invitation to an upcoming consultation session via Zoom to discuss the competition structures for next season and beyond.

The working group leading the project consists of representatives from the Club Rugby Board, Rugby Development and competition committees.

The group have been working hard in the background to create a competition structure (Regional Leagues Division 1 and below and all Reserve Leagues) which will provide a model that provides regular fixtures, competitive playing opportunities and opportunities for those teams with aspirations to progress.  

Scottish Rugby will host a Community Game Conference for club, school, and society representatives on Sunday 11 June 2023 at BT Murrayfield.

Building on the success of last year’s Game Development Conference, attended by over 250 coaches and match officials from across the domestic game, this year’s conference will also include sessions for club, school and society leaders and volunteers.

Further details of sessions and guest speakers along with registration details for the conference will be confirmed later in Spring.

Keith Wallace, Scottish Rugby Vice President and Chair of the Club Rugby Board (CRB) said: “I am delighted that we can bring representatives together from across the game once again this summer. The opportunity to bring clubs, schools, and societies together to learn from each other to help grow our game, and to input to future strategy is really exciting”.   

Gavin Scott, Director of Rugby Development said “We’re pleased to be working in conjunction with CRB to deliver this conference, in what should be a great day, with lots of opportunities to hear from knowledgable presenters, as well as good practice examples from throughout the game, and influence future direction”.

Click below to view highlights from last year’s Game Development Conference.

Edinburgh Rugby will take its match preparations to the home of Melrose RFC and Southern Knights with an open training session held at The Greenyards on Wednesday 22 February, 2-5pm.

Access is free of charge and supporter seating will be available in The Greenyards Main Stand for the duration of the session. All those attending are encouraged to sign up via Eventbrite - linked below - so the club can gauge numbers for the event.

There will be plenty of opportunity to meet and chat to the players with a Q&A and signing/selfie session scheduled pitchside at the end of training.

Players will also be on hand to take on a short session with kids attending from local schools in the Melrose area.

The Scottish Government (SG) has published a public consultation on potential alcohol advertising and promoting restrictions in Scotland. 

The SG committed to consulting and engaging on a range of potential measures, including mandatory restrictions on alcohol marketing, in their Alcohol Framework 2018.

The consultation paper, available here, is wide ranging and covers potential restrictions on all of the major sources of alcohol advertising and promotion in Scotland, including advertising outdoors, in-store, and through sports and events sponsorship. Clearly, this could have serious financial implications for rugby clubs and the Government is keen to hear your views. 

An Easy Read version of the consultation paper has been produced and can be accessed here.

Scottish Rugby invites clubs to consider responding to the consultation via Citizen Space using the following link: https://consult.gov.scot/alcohol-policy/alcohol-advertising-and-promotion. You can save and return to your responses while the consultation is still open.

Please note the consultation will close on Thursday 9 March.

If you have any questions regarding any of the above please contact rugbydevelopmentadmin@sru.org.uk.