Coaches and Referees Ready for New Season
At the end of June, 2,400 coaches and 1,200 referees were in the process of completing their England Rugby awards, becoming qualified to coach and referee rugby union. And, in readiness for the new season, nationwide courses have seen thousands mastering the lowered tackle height introduced across the community game from 1st July.
The changed tackle height aims to improve player safety by reducing head impact exposure and concussion risk in the tackle for both the ball carrier and tackler. It covers clubs at National One and below in the men’s game and Championship One and below in the women’s game, as well as schools, colleges and universities.
More than 4,000 trained
David Fraser, Training Workforce Manager, says: “It’s been fantastic to see the response from coaches and referees to help implement the updates to the tackle height law. During the consultation, one of the key recommendations was that England Rugby provide opportunities during the summer for coaches and referees to be trained ready for the start of the season.
“This will have seen more than 4,000 people booked onto 200 TackleSafe workshops. Engagement with the updated content has been very positive, with almost 90% of those responding to a post-workshop questionnaire saying they are confident taking what they have learned to implement back at the clubs, and the rest saying they are fairly confident. England Rugby Coach Developers are training them to coach the tackle in a new way, and those attending have responded really enthusiastically to the change.”
A workshop at Stafford RFC saw coaches from adult and age grade squads there, with others from Lichfield, Willenhall, Burntwood, Eccleshall, Cannock and Worthing RFCs. Andrew Keeling, who coaches the Stafford U9s and U16 girls, was impressed with the course.
“It has given me the confidence to implement the new Law changes surrounding the tackler and the ball carrying area of the game,” he said. “Split into two sections, it was clear and supported by skill and game-based activities.”
When the Tackle Height Law change was announced, Durham RFU allocated funding to support social adult male rugby, offering Tackle Masterclasses from former England and Newcastle Falcons player and coach Mark Wilson for club coaches working with the social sides.
Professional players becoming advanced coaches
At the upper end of the coaching qualifications, The England Rugby Advanced Coaching Award programme 2024 is about to start, with seven courses across the country, one of them for professional players.
About 180 are booked on courses around the country, which will include four days’ face-to-face engagement, webinars and online support. At the end of a year, community coaches can be assessed for the England Rugby Advanced Coaching Award in the following year.
Schools on board
Former England, Newcastle Falcons and Northampton Saints scrum half, Lee Dickson, is now Master in Charge of Rugby at his old school, Barnard Castle and believes he will have done his job when “after leaving sixth form, students still love playing the game of rugby.”
A recent TackleSafe workshop at the school was, said Lee: “Great for my staff who teach maths or chemistry and take a rugby team at the weekend, but also a good refresher for me. I thought it was very worthwhile and, having played the game, I have never coached anything other than low tackles, that’s what we have always done at Barney.
“I’m a huge advocate of taking it down to the sternum because that takes out head on head contact and I’m a big believer in what the RFU are trying to achieve. From a school point of view, tackling low is a habit we have created. I say to the players ‘Look at Courtney Lawes, at 6ft 6 he’s a big old boy, but he always tackles low.’”
Dougie Patterson, PE teacher and lead practitioner for character and culture at County Durham’s Woodham Academy in Newton Aycliffe, was previously a community rugby coach and played rugby for ten years.
“I think the tackle height being from the sternum down is a very good step to be taking and it reinforces what we have been teaching,” he said. “Anything that prevents contact with the head and concussion is positive and it is reassuring for everyone that the RFU has taken the lead on concussion prevention.”
Rugby World Cup legacy for women
To help the continuing growth of the women’s game, as part of the Rugby World Cup Legacy programme, specific courses are aiming to support over 1,000 female coaches and 500 women referees, with 650 women coaches and referees requesting vouchers to participate for free in the training for 23/24.
And at the Warwick University Slate Conference Centre the second match officials’ development Everest Conference, saw twice the number from last year's inaugural event, with 120 there recently.
