RUGBY FOOTBALL UNION



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|CB update – edition 3 | |

|September 21st 2012 | |

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|Activity |Key Information |

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|RugbyFirst |Server Upgrade: Prior to the start of the season we upgraded all the web servers used for RugbyFirst, this |

| |upgrade doubled the processing power (CPU) on the hardware we use. This work has increased the response times |

| |on all the RugbyFirst systems (Clubs Portal, Player Registrations, Competitions etc.) and should provide a |

| |quicker and, therefore, better user experience. |

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| |RugbyFirst Refresh: Work is well underway on the refresh of both the Competitions Portal and Player |

| |Registration System and both will provide a streamlined process to allow easier and quicker data entry. |

| |Usability and the look and feel of the systems have been the key drivers on these projects and will be a vast |

| |improvement on the current systems. The release dates of these will be published when confirmed. |

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| |Fixtures and Results: We have fully redeveloped how fixtures and results entered into RugbyFirst are passed |

| |through to and the fruits of this work will clearly be seen when the new version of Fixtures and |

| |Results on is launched. |

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| |MORE INFORMATION: PaulChorley@ |

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|Presidents XV Awards |Our flagship volunteer awards are coming back!  The 2012/13 President’s XV Awards will be launched at the Rugby|

| |Matters Conference in October.  The awards seek to identify best practice and reward teams of volunteers. To |

| |date, over 250 projects have received recognition for making an outstanding contribution to the development of |

| |grassroots rugby.  This season’s Awards see the introduction of some new categories, hand-picked by RFU |

| |President Paul Murphy.  These link to our core purpose and key drivers.  In line with the President’s theme a |

| |new award will recognise volunteers who support player welfare.  With the profile of volunteers the highest |

| |it’s ever been following this summer’s Olympics and Paralympics we are looking for quality nominations by the |

| |closing date:  February 1 2013. Download the form from  presidentsxv active after the launch. |

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| |MORE INFORMATION: carolethelwall-jones@ |

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|Update on Discipline and Safeguarding|Gerard McEvilly joined us on 28 August 2012 as the RFU Head of Discipline from the General Pharmaceutical |

| |Council where he was Head of Legal Advice and Hearings Management.   He has taken over from Bruce Reece-Russel |

| |as Head of Discipline.    Gerard has played rugby for 30 years and has been involved in rugby discipline since |

| |2008. |

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| |Richard Smallbone joined us on 3 September as the RFU Safeguarding Manager.  He was head of year at City of |

| |London Academy and prior to that spent 18 years in the police force.  He has been involved with London Irish |

| |Amateurs for 14 years and was the head of youth rugby at London Irish Amateurs for the last 10 years. |

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|SSE Rugby Energy |Following the results of the What Clubs Need survey, SSE have teamed up with the energy consultants Utility Aid|

| |to offer you savings on your energy bills through the new scheme SSE Rugby Energy. |

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| |Utility Aid is a full service energy consultancy designed to help make your life easier.  They will help you |

| |make better energy purchasing decisions and will negotiate the best possible energy tariff on your behalf with |

| |SSE. As well as advising individual clubs, Utility Aid will also be working to move all the clubs that are on |

| |supply with SSE to the same buying cycle over the next three years.  This will see clubs strengthen their |

| |buying power as a collective and reduce costs further.  |

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| |Further details will follow over the coming weeks, but if you do have any immediate questions, please contact |

| |your RDO. |

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|Disposal of Olympic Games Medical |Clubs have been notified via RDOs of the scheme to dispose of medical room furniture used during the Olympic |

|Furniture |Games. A discounted RFU Club Rate was made available on the purchase price to support clubs seeking to improve |

| |their facilities. It is hoped that we will be able to run a similar scheme for other medical equipment as it |

| |becomes available. |

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| |MORE INFORMATION: mikeengland@ |

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|Club update on Music Licencing |The RFU renegotiated a Performing Rights Society (PRS) tariff earlier this year on behalf of clubs. PRS |

| |collects and distributes license fees for the use of musical compositions and lyrics on behalf of songwriters, |

| |composers and publishers. |

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| |The new tariff will be based on the size of membership and the use of any social areas. Clubs will now benefit |

| |from a cap on the maximum fee (£250 compared to the current £320 average for all sports clubs) and a lower |

| |basic rate (the minimum fee is down from £91 to £42 in line with the community buildings tariff). There will |

| |also be options for featured music (live music, discos, karaoke etc.) either charged as a bundle or paid for |

| |individually. This tariff has now been approved. |

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| |However, PPL (who collect and distribute licence fees for the use of recorded music on behalf of record |

| |companies and performers) now want to negotiate a joint tariff with PRS. This means that the new PRS charges |

| |won’t come into force until the joint tariff has been agreed.  |

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| |Please pass this information on to your clubs. We will keep you updated. |

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| |MORE INFORMATION: nicolasheldon@ |

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|Sport England Club Leaders |The RFU are linking up with Sport England Club Leaders: Better business skills for sport.  Club Leaders is part|

| |of the Olympic Legacy programme, Places People Play, and provides free training and support to those doing the |

| |day-to-day running of community sport clubs, helping create a robust, economically sustainable and enterprising|

| |club network. |

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| |Club Leaders is being delivered by Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) who are working with Sport England to help |

| |improve business skills in sports clubs by bringing their knowledge and experience to the programme. |

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| |Initially training will be provided in business and financial planning, marketing, governance and facilitates |

| |management.  Further modules are being developed and are scheduled for launch over the course of 2012. |

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| |A Learning Bus will also tour the country (initially following the route of the Olympic Torch Relay) giving |

| |clubs in rural and inner city areas the chance to find out more. This will include the opportunity to speak to |

| |Club Leader trainers about the seminars, use one of the free computers to take an e-learning module or apply |

| |for the mentoring scheme. |

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| |Club Leaders also run a mentoring programme for club volunteers.  Places are limited therefore if you have |

| |someone in mind, please nominate them for 1-2-1 mentoring support and training by contacting Alex Thompson |

| |(alexthompson@ or Tel 07870570627). |

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| |MORE INFORMATION: Please direct clubs to the on-line resources at or contact |

| |Alex Thompson or Dave Stubley to organise a Club Leaders session for your clubs (alexthompson@ or Tel |

| |07870 570627 davestubley@ or Tel 07736 722387) |

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Also find the RFU online:

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