The Rugby Football Union has been warned it is facing an existential crisis and has been urged to make radical changes in schools rugby to avoid becoming a “declining minority sport” that could weaken Steve Borthwick’s England side amid a damaging decline in participation.
According to an independently chaired review commissioned by the RFU, “rugby is not winning” in the schools marketplace because of “changing attitudes and values coupled with greater risk aversion in the part of society”. The review, entitled Changing the Game: the Future of Schools Rugby in England, also highlights fears over head injuries and an image problem of a sport for “posh white boys” as reasons behind the decline in participation numbers.
