Page 18 - RFU Annual Report 2018

1 CEO’S REVIEW
OF THE YEAR

6

WIN (CONTINUED) them to feature for England U20s and
in the Premiership. The U17s had two
The highlight of our Sevens good development camps and, in August,
went to South Africa on a three-match
programme was both our men and development tour, losing three matches
women winning bronze medals in the Aon International Series to
at the Gold Coast Commonwealth predominantly older players.
Games.

Our men beat Australia in the quarter- The 14 regional academies focused on
long-term planning to better manage
final of their home Commonwealth the best players in the pathway. These
Games and then the reigning series talented players have benefitted from our
leaders South Africa to win bronze. new development camps which aim to
The women’s team’s achievement and equip them better for life both on and off
performances throughout the tournament the pitch.
were fantastic, with many players having
transitioned back from 15s game.
In the professional game, we increased
In the World Rugby HSBC Sevens coach development support and
opportunities for coaches working
Series finale in Paris, England Sevens in transitional and senior roles in
sealed silver and the 19 points earned by Premiership clubs, and a new Premier
Simon Amor’s side for this result meant Coach qualification is to be piloted.
they finished fifth overall in the season’s
standings.
Our performance analysis now allows us
In their respective Six Nations England to see trends in the game and potential
consequences - and partnerships with
Women and our Under 20 men came four universities will bring a wealth of
second to France. For the U20s men, two performance-based research over the next
Six Nations matches stood out: the away 12 months.
win in France, who beat us on points
difference to claim the title, and the final A successful season for the Professional
home win against Ireland.
Game Match Officials Team saw our
A real highlight is the emergence of three referees in demand for World Rugby
appointments and three appointed to
talented young coaches who, as part TMO roles at international level. Rugby
of our coach development agreement, Europe has been well supported by our
produced some fine rugby. The squad match officials, two new professional
went on to reach their sixth consecutive referees took charge of Premiership
World Rugby U20 Championship final, games and our four contracted Assistant
losing to hosts France in front of 18,000 Referees continued to develop while
fans in Beziers.
refereeing in the Championship. We
We aligned the U20s training intensity had our first professional female match
official referee in the Greene King
closer to that of the senior squad, Championship, also refereeing World
resulting in a decrease in soft tissue Rugby Sevens and the women’s gold
injuries, and improving robustness of medal Commonwealth Games match.
pathway players before they step up to
the senior squad. And we introduced
sport specific physiological performance GROW
indicators, relating directly to winning
outcomes in rugby. The statistical proof Our Strategic Priority to grow the game
was distributed to club academies for by providing more rugby through more
pre-season. opportunities for more people has seen a
great deal of work done over the season.
In the men’s pathway, our U18s had mixed
results the highlights being their away Our playing pool continues to
wins against both Scotland and Wales. grow, with a net increase of
254 male teams meeting our
The Performance Pathway players third quarter key performance
showed the kind of promise to enable indicators.

Annual
Report
2018