Page 17 - RFU Annual Report 2018

1
CEO’S REVIEW
OF THE YEAR

5

Our Strategic Plan priorities are: Saracens defeated Harlequins in the
WIN, GROW, ENGAGE, PROTECT inaugural final at Ealing Trailfinders,
with the U18 and U15 Girls Cups played
alongside.
WIN
During the season we also created a new
Putting sustainable success at the heart player pathway for our female players
of the professional game, the aim is for and introduced centres of excellence
England to win on the international at Tyrrells Premier 15s clubs. Our
stage in men’s and women’s 15s and 7s. Under 20 women continued to develop,
beating France U20s for the first time
England men’s tour to Argentina in in 12 attempts. They went on to win the
summer 2017, with 16 of our players on Tri-Nations title after a 27-17 win over
British & Irish Lions duty, showed real Canada, having already beaten Canada
strength in depth as 11 made debuts and and USA on their three-game tour.
England won both Tests.

Having started 2018 defending their Six
Nations title, the fifth place for our men’s
team was disappointing. Eddie Jones
subsequently delivered his review of the
performance to both the RFU Board and
the Professional Game Board.

The England team’s 2018 summer tour
to the southern hemisphere saw us lose
the series 2-1 to South Africa. Despite
the series loss, we won in Cape Town’s
Newlands Stadium for the first time ever,
which was our first victory on South
African soil since 2000.

In August last year, England Women
reached the Women’s Rugby World
Cup final which drew a Saturday night
ITV prime time audience of 2,651,000.
Following the World Cup, the women’s
contracts moved to sevens to prepare
for the Commonwealth Games and
Sevens World Cup and new match
fee arrangements were put in place
for the women’s XVs players through
November and the Six Nations.

Underlining our commitment to the
long-term growth of women’s rugby,
in September 2018 we announced the
introduction of full-time 15s contracts to
come into effect on 1 January 2019.
We launched the Tyrrells Premier 15s -
the new women’s domestic competition
- with the promise of
A £2.4million RFU investment
over three years. This will
benefit clubs and country and
narrow the gap between the club
and international game.

Annual
Report
2018