No decline in playing numbers? Prove it!

THE anecdotal evidence from community clubs across the length and breadth of England is that the numbers of male adult rugby players has declined alarmingly, and yet the RFU seems more intent in massaging figures than in taking urgent action to arrest the decline. The RFU’s response to our questions about falling participation levels in last week’s edition was that overall they “have remained stable”. This is because the decline is being masked by a substantial increase in the numbers of women and girls playing the game, which the RFU seem to believe provides a secure future for the sport. While the rapid growth in the women’s Rugby Union is good news, the female game is still in its infancy, and it is too soon to know whether the increase upwards will continue or whether it will plateau. What is certain is that it is not a solution to a drop in the number of male players. Former RFU chairman Graeme Cattermole suggests that the RFU’s best course of action is to publish male participation figures at club level in 2020 based on a comparison with those in 2011 at mini level, youth level, and adult level. I share his view that this data would prove that the male adult game has contracted dramatically. It would also make a nonsense of the assertion by the RFU management board chairman, Andy Cosslett, in April 2019 that, “the governing body had seen a five per cent increase in male playing members over the last few years”. Let’s have the evidence, acknowledge the problem, and address it.