I was delighted last week to welcome Steve Phillips, on behalf of the WRU Board, to the position of Group CEO on a permanent basis. In an extremely strong field Steve has shown he has the expertise, an unrivalled in-depth knowledge of Welsh rugby and the insight to find the right solutions to the challenges ahead. We are delighted that he has accepted the challenge of securing the future of Welsh rugby.
2. CEO Comment
More from both chairman Rob Butcher and Steve Phillips, on his permanent appointment to the WRU Group CEO role, here: www.wru.wales/2021/03/phillips-confirmed-as-permanent-wru-ceo/ 3. Pathway to Participation Last week we published our Pathway to Participation for community rugby. This is a detailed plan with an initial focus on a summer of fun formats of the game to help ease players of all ages back into contact rugby. The plan is set to give the national game a much-needed boost following the understandable impact of the COVID pandemic, and to ensure the community game bounces back to full health and strength. Some rugby has already started at U18s level and below, and providing the public health conditions remain favourable, tag and touch rugby fixtures for those players (u18s) could be sanctioned from April 1 within their own districts. Measures around training and matches will remain subject to Welsh Government guidelines but all levels of the game, including youth and senior teams (male and female) can look forward to a phased return of modified, limited contact training from May 1. From mid-June, players of all ages can look forward to a month of summer sevens and tens rugby – under modified laws Further details of the seven step Pathway to Participation can be found here: https://community.wru.wales/2021/03/24/pathway-to-participation/ 4. Community Strategy Our Community Rugby Strategy, which will be officially launched this summer, has produced three current key workstreams: a competitions review; a review of the WRU Hub programme and an increased commitment to ‘volunteer recognition’ in the community game. These are key areas for growth that clubs and stakeholders throughout the game have highlighted to us during extensive consultation over the last 12-18 months and which have been sanctioned at Community Board level. Our Competitions Review will look at the domestic and national leagues of the WRU. As part of the process we will be consulting with member clubs in due course and there will be workshops, meetings and surveys for interested parties to attend over the next few months. The Hub Review, as mentioned in your last WRU Status Update, aims to deliver clear guidance for the next potential phase of the Hub Programme, to ensure that this next phase aligns with the WRU Community Strategy and the needs of Educational and Community landscape in Wales. We believe that since its inception, the innovative Hub Programme has made a huge difference to the lives of the young people in educational settings and in the wider community throughout Wales. The current contractual phase of the Hub Programme is coming to an end, but our ambition remains to grow, develop and enhance the Hub Programme whilst future proofing rugby union participation in Wales and supporting the health of our young people and further updates will follow. We are working hard on volunteer recognition. We know we have so many fantastic people giving up their time to support the club game in many different capacities throughout the country. These individuals are the lifeblood of our game and it is our aim to offer support and engage with all areas of community rugby to best recognise and reward their continuous efforts. This planned support is a particularly important aspect of the Community Strategy which will allow us to continue to grow our game and improve sustainability at this level. 5. Wales Women back in the game Wales Women’s head coach Warren Abrahams is excited to get the Six Nations campaign underway after 12 months in lockdown. He says it has been a tough 12 months, but the squad ‘is ready to go.’ They face France in Vannes on Saturday (Sat 3 April, 8pm BST) before hosting Ireland at Cardiff Arms Park on Saturday 10 April (5pm). The 32-strong squad features four uncapped players – Wasps fly-half Flo Williams, Saracens prop Donna Rose, Exeter scrum-half Megan Davies and Sale Sharks scrum-half Jess Roberts; while Army duo Gemma Rowland and Bethan Dainton return along with Saracens scrum half Jade Knight. Sale Sharks second row Teleri Wyn Davies, who gained one cap against Scotland in 2018 has also been called up, along with Exeter full-back Niamh Terry and prop Gwenllian Jenkins, who won two caps in November 2019. Caryl Thomas and Shona Powell-Hughes are also back again – they were first recalled in the squad for the cancelled Scotland game. The France Test will be the first for Wales Women since they played England in March last year and the excitement within the squad is palpable. Video: https://www.wru.wales/video/wales-women-announce-six-nations-squad/ Full story: https://www.wru.wales/2021/03/wales-women-six-nations-squad/ 6. Wales spoilt for choice on Six Nations shortlist After Wales were crowned 2021 Guinness Six Nations title winners on Saturday and Wayne Pivac’s side has not finished with the accolades yet. Wing Louis Rees-Zammit and No 8 Taulupe Faletau are on the six-man shortlist for the player of the Championship award. At just 20 years old, Rees-Zammit’s first Six Nations finished with four tries, a player of the round award, and a Six Nations title as the Gloucester back had a tournament to remember. Bath No 8 and two-time British & Irish Lion Faletau has now won three Six Nations titles including a Grand Slam in 2012. He put in 19 tackles in a superb defensive effort against Scotland, was player of the match following a supreme display against England in round three and ended the tournament with 66 carries (third on the list) and 77 successful tackles (again third on the list) Competition for the Welsh duo on the shortlist comes from Ireland pair Robbie Henshaw and Tadhg Beirne, France scrum-half Antoine Dupont, and Scotland flanker Hamish Watson. More here: https://www.wru.wales/2021/03/rees-zammit-and-faletau-up-for-coveted-six-nations-award/ 7. Rugby news RAINBOW CUP The Guinness PRO14 Rainbow Cup will kick-off on the weekend of April 24 with fixtures for the first three rounds now confirmed. Three weekends of derby action will be followed by cross-hemisphere fixtures where the existing Guinness PRO14 teams will face the Vodacom Bulls, the Emirates Lions, Cell C Sharks and DHL Stormers for the very first time. Full details and schedule here: https://www.wru.wales/2021/03/rainbow-cup-details-confirmed/ WELSH REFS MAKE MARK In what has been a difficult season for all rugby supporters, players and referees, three Welsh officials have made significant progress in their quest to be the next Test match referee in place of Nigel Owens. Craig Evans, Adam Jones and Ben Whitehouse have all been appointed by World Rugby to officiate in a number of competitions. All three referees have benefitted from a new referee coaching structure, which has seen them being mentored by ex-Irish Test match referee Dave McHugh and former WRU Test match referees Robert Davies, Les Peard, Gareth Simmonds, Clayton Thomas and more recently Nigel Owens. More: https://www.wru.wales/2021/03/welsh-referees-make-their-mark/ LIONS READY TO ROAR IN SA The British & Irish Lions and South African Rugby have confirmed they are aligned on delivering the Castle Lager Lions Series in South Africa in the scheduled playing window this summer. The Lions Board confirmed its preference to SA Rugby on Monday evening prior to follow-up meetings earlier on Tuesday. More: https://www.wru.wales/2021/03/lions-confirm-intention-to-tour-south-africa/
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