Subject: Important Update: RFU Regulation 19 (Discipline) Review

I hope this message finds you well. I am writing to provide you with an important update regarding RFU Regulation 19 (Discipline), which has undergone a comprehensive review ahead of the 2024/25 season.

As you may know, Regulation 19 applies to all clubs at every level of the game. Over time, it has been updated in a piecemeal fashion, resulting in a regulation that became cumbersome, overly legalistic, and complex in certain areas. Recognizing this, the Regulation 19 Review Group was established to refresh and streamline the regulation, making it easier to understand and more user-friendly for all.

Review Principles

The review was guided by the principles of Accuracy, Brevity, and Clarity (ABC). The primary goal was to create a regulation that is simple, understandable, and consistently applicable. The review also aimed to avoid repetition and incorporate improvements from lessons learned while ensuring the regulation aligns with World Rugby’s core principles.

Key Changes

While the vast majority of Regulation 19’s content has been retained, it has been restructured and rewritten for improved clarity. Below are the key changes:

• Re-ordering and Removal of Duplications: This change enhances the flow of the regulation and makes it more volunteer-friendly.
• Introduction of a Discipline-Specific Definitions Section: New definitions have been added to clarify the discipline process, including an expanded understanding of terms like ‘Judicial Officer’ and ‘Match Official.’
• Explanatory Notes: These have been added alongside the regulations to assist those less familiar with the discipline process.
• Alternative Resolution Process: A new process has been introduced to handle certain cases more efficiently.
• Strengthened Compliance Measures: Measures have been enhanced for addressing non-fulfillment of education and alternative sanctions.
• Whistleblower Protection: New protections have been introduced for whistle-blowers who report incidents in good faith.
• Expedited Discipline Process: In certain cases, an expedited process can be used with the agreement of the CB. A new appendix outlining this process will be written in the first half of the 25/26 season.
• Appeal Review: The Head of Discipline now has the authority to review appeals and dismiss them prior to a hearing if there are no valid grounds for appeal.

Review Group

The review group included representatives from various regions and expertise within the RFU, including:

• Kirsty Marlor (Chair & Council Member Royal Navy)
• John Crate (Council Member Surrey, Discipline Secretary Surrey)
• John Constable (Council Member Dorset & Wilts, Member of ACMSC)
• John Downham (Hon Sec Cheshire CB & CBAGDS Cheshire)
• Kingsley Hyland (Northumberland CB Discipline Sec, Newcastle Falcons Discipline Officer)
• Clive Leek (Representative from Laws Sub-Committee and Member of East Midlands Referee Society)
• David Barnes (RFU Head of Discipline)
• Rebecca Morgan-Scott (RFU Disciplinary Hearings Manager)
• Angus Hetherington (RFU Legal Counsel (Discipline))

I encourage you to familiarise yourself with the updated Regulation 19 ahead of the upcoming season. Should you have any questions or require further clarification, please do not hesitate to reach out.

Please click this link to review the full breakdown which is now held on our website under the Referee Hub – Disciplinary Section

You can find all the forms relevant to disciplinary in one place in this section, marked Disciplinary Forms. Click this link to view them.

Thank you for your continued dedication and commitment to upholding the standards of our game.

---

Availability

The season kicks off a week today so please ensure your availability is updated so we can appoint you to the fixtures, we have a range of games covering:

• Schools & Universities across weekdays
• Mens Adult & School Fixtures on Saturdays
• Junior & Ladies Fixtures on Sundays

Regional Training

New for the 24/25 season are our Regional Hubs, and to kick these off we’ve arranged training for the 3rd September as follows:

Aston Old Edwardians – Greater Birminggham Group led by John kelly

Droitwich Rugby Club – Worcs/Hereford Group led by Damian Hampton

Shropshire/ Shrewsbury Group led by Paul Salisbury

The events will kick off at 7pm

Other Business

At the AGM we notified our new structure along with new board members, over the coming weeks we will update our website and provide a bulletin on the changes and what it means for the society.

I hope you’re all having a great summer!

On Sunday 4 August at Old Hales Rugby Club we will hold our Summer Training session and the AGM.

Please confirm your attendance using the poll below, if you’ve already let us know through the facebook page there is no need to respond.

The agenda for the day is as follows;

10.00 – Arrive 

10.30 – Bronco Bash 

11.30 – AGM 

12.00 – MoA – Steve Biggs / David Stowe 

12.30 – Lunch  (provided) / New Laws

13:00 – Outside Training “On the field positioning, etc.”  

13:45 – Grading / Fitness 

The end of the regular season is upon us and this bulletin looks to celebrate the success we’ve seen in 2023/24, along with updates from the Society.

Celebrating a Successful Season

A Heartfelt Thank You
First and foremost, we extend our deepest gratitude to every member who donned a shirt and officiated for the Society this season. Your dedication and willingness to be available to referee across the North Midlands region have been invaluable. We couldn’t achieve this without your tireless efforts.

Season Stats for 2023/24
Now, let’s dive into the statistics for the 2023/24 season. (All data is sourced from WTR):

	Referees	Assessors / Reviewers
Weekday Appointments	394	2
Saturday Appointments	711	210
Sunday Appointments	617	12
Total	1,722	224

Across the 2023/24 season we had the following number of active referees:.

Total # of Active Refs	133
Total # of Refs >5 Games	65
Total # of Refs 2-5 Games	27
Total # of Refs 1 Game or less	41

Our Top 5 MVP’s

Top 5 Referee MVP’s in terms of games across all fixtures are:

Rank	Referee	Games Refereed
=1	Huw	62
=1	Phil M	62
3	Callum	61
4	David Su	58
5	Kevin P	53

Broken down into fixtures across Midweek, Saturday & Sunday:

Midweek			Sat			Sun
Rank	Referee	Games	Rank	Referee	Games	Rank	Referee	Games
1	Phil M	57	1	Vince	25	1	Callum	33
2	Kevin P	37	=2	Patricia	24	2	Jon H	30
3	Daniel Y	18	=2	Spencer	24	3	Huw	26
4	Neil G	16	=4	Alex N	23	=4	Michael C	25
5	David Su	14	=4	David Su	23	=4	Robert D	25

New Members

This season we have welcomed 41 new members with varying success across appointments, as follows:

	Refereed
5+ Games	8
1-3 Games	9
0 Games	24

For all new referees who have officiated at least 1 game we provide kit, please drop me an email below and I can send details of the process.

AGM – Save the Date

Annual General Meeting Announcement

The AGM is scheduled for August 4th, 2024 at Old Hales Rugby club from 10am to 3pm. This meeting is a crucial opportunity for members to discuss the progress of the Society, review financial statements, and elect new board members. Your participation is highly valued.

An agenda will be published closer to the date, but key topics for discussion will include:

AGM Formal Notice: Official notice will be issued prior to the meeting.
Society Progression: Introduction of a new structure to foster growth within the Society.
Training on New Laws: Updates and training sessions on the latest laws.
Fitness Test: A fitness test for all attendees (optional)

Additional Information
Refreshments: Tea and coffee will be available upon arrival and throughout the day, along with a buffet-style lunch.
Branded Polo Shirts: We plan to offer branded polo shirts for all attendees. To ensure we order the correct sizes, please fill out the form below if you plan to attend.

We look forward to your participation and to another successful season ahead!

England Rugby Match Official Update

Please click on this link to read the Match Official Update from the RFU, covering topics such as news, MOA abuse and other items of interest

Celebrating our Members

On behalf of the Society, we extend our heartfelt congratulations to Olly Robertson for being accepted as an associated member at Level 5 for the next season. This achievement is a testament to Olly’s hard work and development throughout the season.

We also want to give a special mention to everyone who has supported Olly in his journey, including watchers, developers, and fellow referees. Your contributions have been invaluable.

In addition to Olly’s promotion, we are thrilled to announce that many of our referees have progressed within the Society across all levels. Congratulations to each of you for your commitment and dedication to officiating for North Mids. We also extend our gratitude to all the volunteers who have devoted their time to help us improve and develop. Your efforts are greatly appreciated.

Other News

In the upcoming bulletin, we aim to address two primary points:

• New Laws/Law Amendments: We will furnish an update on the new laws being introduced across the game, as well as any amendments received from the RFU.
• Society Progression Update: Over the past season, the board has meticulously reviewed our setup, policies, and structure, exploring both new and existing avenues for improvement and advancement as a society. In the next bulletin, we will delve into further detail regarding these developments in anticipation of the official launch at the AGM in August.

Summer Rugby

To conclude this bulletin, we have a final note regarding Summer Rugby.

As we head into the summer months, we anticipate a flurry of games such as friendlies and sevens tournaments, all seeking referees. These assignments will be managed through WTR, so please ensure your availability is updated accordingly. The only deviation from our usual process is regarding expenses. These must be arranged and handled directly with the clubs, as they will not be processed through WTR.

Furthermore, in addition to fixtures listed on WTR, you may also encounter requests posted on our social media channels. In such cases, please coordinate expenses directly with the event organizer

Hello all, hope the last few weeks have been great for all and you’re looking forward to final games of the season. This year has certainly been interesting and as we near the end of season we will do a round up of the key talking points in a letter bulletin along with key stats.

Autumn International tickets are also available, please see below for the section detailing this.

In this bulletin we have some updates to provide from the RFU as follows:

• Code of Conduct – The RFU have issued a brief to all Societies to share the Code of Conduct for Match Officials. We are already ahead of this with the document on our website under ‘Referee Hub – Useful Documents’, link here for those who would like to read it
• Match Official Abuse – In light of an increase in Match Official Abuse, the RFU has reissued the briefing document as sent out at the start of the season. This can be found on our website and by clicking this link.
• Safeguarding & Child Protection – The RFU have issued a common sense guide relating to safeguarding across the Junior leagues. Please click this link to review the document; this can also be found on our website under ‘Referee Hub – Useful Documents’

Cup Fixtures

With only 2 weeks of the league season remaining, the cup competition starts. Please ensure your availability is up to date on WTR to allow the appointments team to cover these games.

RFU Community Game Update

Please find the link below to read the latest community game update from the RFU.

https://rise.articulate.com/share/orUcaOH7Ar4bxXtLwkTLi26QdaUEs_Z_#

Autumn Internationals

Autumn Internationals 2024

November 2^nd                     England v New Zealand

November 9^th                      England v Australia

November 16^th                   England v South Africa

November 24^th                   England v Japan              

We can apply for tickets as of the 24^th April with a deadline of May 25^th.

Our allocation this year is small so initially members will be limited to two (2) tickets per game. The exception is the Japan fixture where more can be requested, subject to availability. If any more are made available we will let you know or the limit is lifted.

Ticket prices for the New Zealand game are:

£199.00        £169.00        £139.00        £111.00        £91.00

Ticket prices for the Australia and South Africa games are:

£139.00        £129.00        £109.00        £91.00          70.00

Ticket prices for the Japan game are:

£89.00          £75.00          £65.00          £54.00          £44.00

The above prices are cheaper with the society than through general admission.

Any member being allocated tickets by the Society must use them for their own personal use. Under no circumstances are the tickets to be resold.

To request tickets you must be a member of the society, please send Dave an email, dave@yoyomail.co.uk, or use the form below indicating the match and/or matches you wish to attend, 1 or 2 tickets (or more for Japan) and the payment amount chosen.

If you are allocated tickets the RFU will contact you to make payment.

Good afternoon, hope you’ve had a great February in terms of refereeing and watching the six nations.

To kick things off, here are a few shots from social media of our refs in action over the month of Feb. We now have a new Instagram page so if you have any action shots please tag the page and give us a follow.

In this bulletin we have a few items to cover both for awareness, interest and to keep you abreast of what’s coming up across the Society, covering:

• End of Season Meeting
• Match Official Abuse
• Safeguarding Update
• Board vacancy for the Society
• Rosslyn Park 7’s tournament
• Spotlight on 7’s
• New Society Feature

End of Season Meeting

We are looking to hold a Society end of season meeting. We are yet to decide on a location but to aid numbers etc I will put a post on our facebook page with options, to allow us to gauge numbers and venue – the usual choices are clubs in and around the M5/M42 junction but we will also provide an option for other suggestions that, a. can cater for sufficient numbers and b. allow a good spread of referees to attend – please feel free to suggest.

The agenda for the meeting is yet to be finalised but we are hoping to provide food, a special guest speaker and awards on the evening.

Further details to follow…

Match Official Abuse

Unfortunately, we are still seeing an increase in Match Official Abuse. The important part is to report any form of verbal or physical abuse, as whilst some of us across the Society can brush this aside, we need to think of the next referee who officiates the game/team. As a result, I have updated the Match Official Abuse content under ‘Useful Refereeing Documents’ on our website.  

When completing the form please read the information ‘to provide’, as the review process for these incidents follows a similar path to a court of law – it is backed by the evidence presented from both sides. If you require any assistance completing the form, our Disciplinary Sec is more than happy to help. Contact details on the above webpage.

During the latter part of this / off-season we will receive updated material from the RFU to help get the message across. As and when this is received, we will update through the bulletin, pre-season sessions and the website.

Safeguarding Guidance

We received an update from the Safeguarding team relating to speaking with players in their changing rooms. Please read the guidance below, surrounding the Society policy on this.

Match Officials should not visit players or other officials dressing rooms without a clear and obvious invitation. This includes, but not exclusively, rugby players, touch judges, physios and any other relevant person occupying a changing room space.

In the unlikely event that there is a reason to approach the dressing rooms the Match Official must knock the door and wait until called in. They should not enter with the assumption that they will be called/allowed in.

Volunteer Vacancy – Society Secretary

If you are looking to get more involved with the Society and would be willing to volunteer some of your time, then look no further as we have a vacancy. We are recruiting for a new Society Secretary who will be the first point of contact for NMSRFR. The overview of this role is shown below. If you are interested in finding out more, please drop me a note and I can share the full description / set up a chat with the board to discuss further.

Key Tasks:

• Become a Board Member for the North Midlands Referee Society
• To be the first point of contact for:
  • RFU messagesNorth Midlands C.B. and Organisations
  • Other societies
• Arrange Board Meetings / AGM
  • Venue – mix of face to face and online
  • Date / Time
  • Agenda & Notes
  • Circulate follow up actions / decisions
• Attend relevant meetings as the face of the Society
  • North Mids C.B
• Discuss content with other relevant board members for onward communication

To support the role, you will have access to a society email address along with Office 365 suite of products plus other benefits.

If you would like to put your name forward, please drop me an email using this link and we will be in touch.

If you feel this isn’t the right role for you but would be willing to volunteer some of your time to the Society please get in touch as we have a range of roles available to help support our success.

Rosslyn Park 7’s Tournament

Some of our referees have signed up to officiate at the Rosslyn Park 7’s tournament taking place in March 2024. As a society we have agreed to cover the cost of travelling to/from the event for the referees that are taking part.

If you are attending this event, please email our finance team who can discuss the details with you along with the process.

We are also happy to review / support future English based tournaments where our referees are flying the flag for the North Midlands Society. If this applies to you, please get in touch and we can review on a case-by-case basis.

7’s Rugby

This leads on quite nicely as we start to embark on the lovely game of 7’s…now I’m more one for watching than refereeing 7’s these days, but for those that are looking forward to the 7’s season in full flow our Law Expert as kindly provided us with a 7’s briefing document. This is located on our website, which can be found clicking here for those that would like to brush up on their knowledge.

New Feature – Spotlight on our Referees

Over the coming weeks I am looking to run a spotlight on our referees.  I’d like to say this was an original idea, but I saw it following some of the other societies’ social media pages across the UK. If you are happy to participate, please let me know and I can email questions etc across.

The format will be a bunch of questions talking about how you got into refereeing, how you’re doing now, advice for new refs along a couple of quirky questions etc.

Hope you find the above useful and enjoy Refereeing over the coming weeks!