The damning report on schools rugby released by the Rugby Football Union this week leaves little open to interpretation. The verdict is unequivocal, the warning stark: act now or the sport will drift into irrelevance. Whatever you think about the non-contact or reduced contact initiatives aimed at tackling the issue, at least the RFU has admitted it has a problem.
It is a societal problem as much as anything else. Parents are being turned off rugby in a more risk-averse atmosphere where football is king. Rugby is complicated, seen as dangerous, it can be perceived as a sport for “posh white boys”, according to the report, and is a foreign concept in most state schools.
