Rugby Football Union Eliminates 104 Grassroots-Focused Positions

The Rugby Football Union "inflicted savage cuts on the grassroots game in England," with every community coach and rugby development officer role to be made redundant as part of the governing body’s "urgent cost-cutting drive." Staff were informed in a video call on Monday that employees in the department responsible for growing rugby and keeping grassroots participation levels up would be cut from 234 to 130. The RFU is facing a loss of revenue of up to £107M ($140M) over the next 12 months. RFU CEO Bill Sweeney predicted the economic impact of coronavirus and the lockdown "would be felt at Twickenham for five years." Given the scale of the crisis, the RFU "had to assess its key priorities as a governing body and concluded that rugby development was discretionary" (LONDON TIMES, 8/5).