Chineham
Verwood were at home to Chineham on Saturday 24th October 2009 losing 27-46. This was a much improved performance from Verwood who trailed 3-22 in the first 20 minutes to pull the score level at half time at 20-20. Chineham scored 4 tries in the second half including an interception in the dying seconds of the game. See  Match Pictures

Other results from Hampshire 2:

• Alresford 13 - 3 Paxton Pumas
• Fawley 38 - 12 Kingsclere
• Isle Of Wight 37 - 15 Nomads
• Lytchett Minster 38 - 22 Stoneham
• Ventnor 39 - 8 Overton

Overton
Verwood were away to Overton on Saturday, 17 October 2009  suffering another heavy defeat 52-5.
Other results from Hampshire 2:

• Chineham 22 - 3 Fawley
• Kingsclere 15 - 16 Paxton Pumas
• Lytchett Minster 10 - 15 Alresford
• Nomads 9 - 22 Ventnor
• Overton 52 - 5 Verwood
• Stoneham 0 - 50 Isle Of Wight

Nomads
Verwood lost at home to Nomads on Saturday 10th October 7-53.

See  Match Pictures
See  Nomads RFC
Other results from Hampshire 2:

• Alresford  29 - 24  Kingsclere
• Fawley  25 - 18  Overton
• Isle Of Wight  61 - 0  Lytchett Minster
• Paxton Pumas  14 - 3  Chineham
• Ventnor  87 - 0  Stoneham

Vote for Rugby World
The Rugby World's December cover has been shortlisted for a national award (The Maggies) alongside 4-4-2, TennisLife, Huck, and Muscle & Fitness. So if you want to help rugby triumph then please click the following link and vote for Rugby World  www.themaggies.co.uk/vote. You'll need to vote in every category and if you do you'll get £2 off a subscription for a magazine, with hundreds to choose from.

Stoneham Park
Verwood were away to Stoneham Park on Saturday 26th September winning 26-29. See  Match Report

See  Match Pictures

Other results from Hampshire 2:

• Chineham 46 - 0 Kingsclere
• Isle Of Wight 45 - 9 Alresford
• Lytchett Minster 17 - 67 Ventnor
• Nomads 15 - 0 Fawley
• Overton 33 - 19 Paxton Pumas

Six Nations 2010 Tickets - Last calling Notice - this is your last chance for tickets
The Club has a small allocation of tickets. The Procedure for ticket applications is the same as in previous seasons and full details are set out in the Club Handbook and as displayed on the Players dressing room noticeboard  Please submit your application and cheque for tickets to the Club Secretary Niall Donnan by no later than 1st October. See  Ticket Application form

Lytchett Minster
Verwood were home to  Lytchett Minster on Saturday 19th September losing 12-24. See Match Pictures

See Lytchett Minster RFC
Other results from Hampshire 2:

• Fawley 79 - 5 Stoneham
• Kingsclere 0 - 22 Overton
• Paxton Pumas 18 - 12 Nomads
• Ventnor 21 - 25 Isle Of Wight

New look for the RFU Online
By Kate Saunders, Digital Media Manager
It’s all change for the RFU’s website, rfu.com. And if you are a regular visitor you should find improvements that will make life a great deal easier. Following feedback from many online followers and rugby supporters, rfu.com has been redesigned to offer: • Greater ease of use, based on tests on participants within the game • Improved functionality • Faster publication of Results • Improved content • Improved accessibility to content through mobile devices • Greater accessibility for people with disabilities • A better online shop front for rugby, to encourage new participants in the game and broader supporter audiences • Improved club finder to encourage those new to the game to get involved All online content has had a thorough spring clean and all your favourite facts, documents and advice will be accessible on the new site. We thought it might help to provide you with the answers to a few frequently asked questions, to assist in navigating the new rfu.com: The website design has changed a lot. Why has this happened and where do I go to find content? We have had a lot of feedback from our website users that content has been very difficult to find on the old website. By working with users and frequently testing the new site during development, we have come up with a design that makes sense to the most users and makes browsing for information easier and more logical. We have also improved our search capabilities. I bookmarked a page I visit regularly and now can’t see it – why? Whilst we are ensuring that frequently used shortcuts like rfu.com/coach will still work and redirect to an appropriate page on the new website, if you have saved a particular page, some bookmarks might not work on the new site. If you use the search functionality with the topic you are looking for you should find the information you need. What happened to the Community Rugby Website? One frequent criticism of the RFU’s web presence has been that it has been disjointed and lacked comprehensiveness and clarity. By bringing together all of the streams of RFU activity into a single website and by labelling categories based on the way our online test users have used the site, we have been able to make a single, clear location for all information about rugby union in England. The new site also separates content relating to direct personal participation in rugby and club and CB management. It might take a little getting used to but we are confident that the new design will help you find the content you need faster. Who can I contact with feedback or questions about the new website? The site launch will be a busy time for our Digital Media team. For the fastest possible response, please send any questions or feedback to webmaster@therfu.com

See the September issue of Touchline for other RFU news
 Touchline

Isle of Wight
Verwood were away to the Isle of Wight on Saturday 12th September losing 36-5.
A match report will appear on IOW County Press on-line. See  IWPC
See also  Isle of Wight RFC
Other results from Hampshire 2:

• Lytchett Minster 7 - 13 Fawley
• Nomads AWO  Kingsclere
• Overton 29 - 36 Chineham
• Stoneham 12 - 23 Paxton Pumas
• Ventnor 24 - 3 Alresford

Old Freemans Pre-season warm up match
Verwood RUFC were pleased to accept the invitation to play Old Freeman's on Saturday 5th September who had toured and played Verwood at Easter this year.

This was  a good run out in advance of the first League game away to the Isle of Wight. See  Old Freemans RFC
See  Match Pictures

HQ Update

1.  The 2009/10 RFU Business Plan and Budget have been prepared on the assumption that the economic downturn will impact the whole of 2009/2010 and will continue into the first half of the 2010/2011 season.

• A principle objective is to ensure that the RFU is profitable over the next two seasons and to ensure that the RFU reserves grow over the Rugby World Cup cycle.
• Corporate hospitality has been materially affected by the downturn and will continue to be for the foreseeable future.
• A series of cost reduction measures have been included in the budget.
• The budget shows a loss before tax of £2.4m, which compares with the latest forecast for 2008/2009 of a profit of £1.4m
• With the opening of the hotel, and the increase in the bank loans, interest payable will increase from £1.1m in 2008/2009 to £2.9m in 2009/2010.
• The final works on the South Stand are budgeted to cost £6.2m.
• £12.5m will be raised by the sale of debentures that are due to expire in 2009/2010.
• The latest forecast shows that the bank loans are expected to be £50m by the year end. If the budget is achieved then £10m will be repaid and the balance outstanding will fall to £40m at the end of 2009/2010.

 All departments have implemented RFU wide cost reduction measures producing savings totalling £5m.  The measures include:

• A pay freeze for all staff in 2009/10 and in 2010/11 if there no improvement in the economy and key revenue streams. No salary regrading.
• No overtime paid to staff other than to those who are hourly paid.
• Payroll will be reduced by natural wastage. No recruitment of any new positions.
• Postponement of major training and development programmes.
• Restriction on marketing and promotion programmes.
• All non essential capital expenditure will be deferred.

2. The Third RFU Strategic Plan 2009-2016 has now been published and is now available online. It openly sets out the strategic objectives and policies for the administration and development of the game at all levels in England. One aim is to continue to grow the community game by creating one new adult team in every club over the next eight years.

3. The RFU’s bid to host the 2015 Rugby World Cup has been accepted.

4. Following the Conference held at the Lensbury at the end of March 2009 the IRB Rugby Council adopted all of the global Experimental Law Variations (ELVs) that were trialled during 2009/2010 with the exception of the ELVs relating to the pulling down of the maul and the ELV removing the right of the throwing in side to determine the maximum numbers in the lineout. The additional ELVs being trialled in the Southern Hemisphere were not recommended for adoption into Law by the IRB Rugby Committee.

• The new laws came into effect on 23rd May 2009.
• There will be no law experimentation prior to the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
• The IRB is reviewing the Law Change Process and has started consulting.

The following Union Specific ELVs were also adopted into Law:

• A Union may implement rolling substitutions at defined levels of the game under its jurisdiction.
• A Union may implement the Under 19 Scrum Law Variations at defined levels of the game within its jurisdiction.
• A Union having jurisdiction for a match below international level may permit an interval of not more than 15 minutes at half time.

 5.  Despite the recession a total of over £20m has been invested from both RFU and Government funded programmes in Community Rugby (Community Rugby Coaches- £2.3m, Approved Coaching Centres - £1.0m) during season 2008/09. The Rugby Football Foundation (RFF) made £0.5m in grants and £1.4m in loans to over 100 clubs. Since inception it has paid out £3m and £8m in grants and loans respectively.

 6. Government funding for sport is now delivered in a single pot via what is known as Whole Sport Plan. The RFU, along with other sports has had to develop a four year Whole Sport Plan defining how it is going to contribute to the Government’s key targets which include reducing the number of 16+ who drop out of sport. As a result the RFU has recently been awarded £31m over a four year period from 2009/11 to 2012/13 which has been split roughly between capital and revenue funding to support the RFU Facilities Strategy and delivery of the RFU’s Community Rugby Critical Success Factors which aim to:

• increase the number of people playing the game at adult, aged 16 -24 and in the women’s game. Nationally increase the number of players in these target areas who participate once a week.
• Increase the number of matches and training sessions being played through better pitches, floodlights and changing rooms resulting in an increase of teams.
• Improving the sustainability of clubs through club planning and accreditation and via links to education
• The number of effective people supporting the playing of the game in the key areas of volunteers, coaches and referees.
• To avoid the need for separate sets of targets (and monitoring and evaluation systems) the objectives and targets set for Community Rugby in the Third RFU Strategic Plan (and D & W RFU’s Action Plans for next season) now reflect Whole Sport Plan targets.

7.  Following extensive consultation by a RFU task group the core values of the game have been identified as:“Teamwork – Discipline – Respect – Sportsmanship – Enjoyment.” These core values and are rightly considered to be Rugby Union’s ‘Crown Jewels’ and clearly define the clearly define the ethos and culture of the game. We need not only to communicate them internally and externally but to challenge those who do not exhibit them. People who hold similar values are drawn to our game and People need to know what Rugby stands for.

8. The key focus for last season has been the Play On campaign following on from the success of Go Play Rugby last season.  The establishment of a national network of over 1,200 Pathfinders in clubs, schools, colleges and universities has produced an increase of 201 adult teams of which 46 are student teams.

• Since July 1st 2008 RugbyFirst data shows that the number of adult players has grown by over 9000, youth players (U13-U18) by over 3000 and Mini/Midi players by nearly 29,000
• Some 407 clubs now have the Mini & Youth Seal of Approval.
• There are over 150 Community Rugby Coaches (CRCs)
• Almost 13,500 coaches have participated in coach development programmes and increase of 1500 on last year. Some 4000 have attended Level 1 courses and 1000 Level 2 courses.
• A pilot coach licensing scheme is being run successfully in the Midlands.
• Over 3500 referees undertook the Entry Level Referee Award (ELRA)
• Hundreds of young volunteers have delivered a wide range of vRugby projects
• 40 young rugby volunteers attended a 3 day inaugural Young Leaders Camp
• 58 candidates from 44 rugby organisations have taken part in the Leadership Academy
• Club Volunteer Coordinators (CVCs) have attended over 30 workshops and forums 900 are registered on RugbyFirst.
• Nearly 300 calls to the RFU legal helpline
• 45 teams of grass roots volunteers were recognised by the President's XV Awards 2009 with 224 entries an 50% increase from 2008

9. The establishment of the RFU Community Game Board (CGB) from the beginning of next season is a significant change in the way in which the RFU will deliver to the Community Game. The CGB will pro actively drive the RFU’s Community Rugby agenda and grow the game by increasing the quantity and quality of players, coaches, referees and administrators hopefully leading to an increase in the number of sustainable Clubs.

10. The four year Community Rugby Planning cycle to grow participation in the game is used to focus activity around the Rugby World Cup. In order to reduce the workload on volunteers the four year planning cycle now works on a two year development focus. For the next two years the emphasis shifts to a single 'People & Places programme which will focus on the volunteers, referees, coaches and facilities needed to create a high quality environment in which to play the game. This programme will be underpinned by a campaign to promote the core values of the game. Investment in the People & Places programme will be made in each of its four 'pillars', volunteers, referees, coaches and facilities.

 11. Local priorities, based on club needs will be determined by the Whole Club Development process. This means that in future, if Clubs wish to be included in the RFU Capital investment Programme, (which includes Sport England Funding), they will have or demonstrate a commitment to work towards a number of key criteria agreed with their local RDO and D & W RFU. This will be developed through a Whole Club Development Plan that is SMART (Specific, Measurable, Realistic and Time related) signed by the RDO, D & W RFU and Club Chairman. The RDOs will be leading this new process of accreditation. Within the Whole Club Development Plan certain areas of work will be mandatory to enable the RFU Regional Delivery Team working in partnership with D & W RFU to prioritise support to your club. The Whole Club Development Plan will focus on Club Management (finance, admin, facilities, etc), People (coaches, officials, volunteers and players), Member Services (playing, training, social activities), Member Welfare (equity and medical) and Community Links.

12. In order to link the Club development programmes within the Community Rugby Department an on-line club development and accreditation tool in RugbyFirst will be launched later this year. This will also provide Clubs with a ‘user friendly’ facility containing the tools and information to develop a short term action plan and/or a longer term strategic development plan and become Club Accredited if appropriate. The work programmes of the RDOs and CRCs are currently recorded in a standalone system which does not allow for the integration and collation of data on the game or the reporting of activity and performance by the field based staff. RDO and CRC work programmes will be integrated with on-line reporting into RugbyFirst.

13.Much progress is being made to establish RugbyFirst as the sole system of choice in the community game through a coordinated programme of activity. It was designed to replace a range of incompatible and poorly documented systems developed over many years and in use across the RFU. RugbyFirst is a comprehensive system and covers all aspects of game administration on a national basis and is unique in sport in the UK. It supports all the operational areas of administering rugby union football as well as providing each club with sophisticated, but user friendly, tools to build and maintain its own website. The functionality developed includes recording key club details (contact information, directions, facilities, teams, etc.), membership, fixtures, results, tables, merit tables, disciplinary hearings (including automatically making banned players unavailable for team selection), referee and coaching qualifications, referee allocation to fixtures, CRB processing, team selection and events. All of these areas are underpinned by a role-based security system, restricting users only to those areas of the system they need access to in order to carry out their role.

14. The significance of The Championship (Level 2 Clubs) has been recognised by creating a new 12 Club Championship which will form a key part of the structure of the game in England, developing players, coaches and referees in a competitive professional environment. Agreement has been reached on the fixture list for both the Championship and the brand new 24 team British & Irish Cup for 2009/2010. Below the Championship, the new National Division One (Level 3) becomes a 16 team league. The new National Division Two (Level 4) becomes two leagues of 16 clubs divided into North and South. The new National Division Three (Level 5) will be based divisionally on four leagues (South West, London, North and Midlands). As a result of these changes both Bournemouth and Chippenham will become National Three Clubs next season.

15. Clubs will shortly be made aware that in future sanctions for breach of RFU Regulations applying to players under 18 may apply to the whole club, the offending team and/or any culpable individual. This is because any breach could have far reaching consequences.

• RFU Regulations state that no player may play adult rugby (or train with adults) until he has reached his 18th birthday except in cases where permission to play has been obtained from the player’s parent, guardian or head teacher
• Players who are 17 may play and train with adults provided they have also been assessed as capable of playing with adults. This exception does not apply to playing in the front row where there is an absolute prohibition on players under 18 playing in adult rugby.
• Players of all sexes and age may play or train together in non contact variations of the game, provided the organiser has assessed the session as safe for all players.

16.  The RFU has become the first national sporting governing body to achieve the NSPCC's gold standard for safeguarding and protecting children. Over 2000 candidates have attended RFU Safeguarding Young People courses and over 150 Club Welfare Officers attended training courses last year. 14,000 CRB checks will have been completed during the past season. The implementation of the ISA registration scheme (a mandatory extension to the CRB programme) in October 2009 has been deferred for 12 months by the Government. From July 2009 the RFU Welfare Programme will be renamed RFU Safeguarding Programme in line with Government and NSPCC terminology.

17. The RFU Injured Players Foundation has now been established as a result of a merger of the former charity SPIRE and the RFU's medical team. The RFU now has the people and framework in place to provide a bespoke and pro-active response to each catastrophic injury in order to maximise each injured player's potential for recovery.

18. The RFU Grand Draw raised £400k of which £356k was retained by clubs. 678 clubs took part in the Draw. In D & W £11k was raised with clubs receiving £10k. The Draw has now raised over £1.75m for clubs over its 5 years in existence.

 Season 2009/10 Fixtures
See the fixtures link for full details of this season's matches.Following a restructuring of the Leagues in Hampshire, Verwood will play in Hampshire 2 this season.
See  League Fixtures

The Ellingham & Ringwood Agricultural Society Annual Show 2009
Ellingham & Ringwood Agricultural Society annually presents a local traditional country show and a guaranteed family day out.
This  years's show was held on Saturday, 8th August 2009 and once again in the beautiful grounds of the Somerley Estate by kind permission of the Earl of Normanton.
Verwood RUFC was once again very happy to lend its support to the Society.
For further details, see  The Ellingham & Ringwood Agricultural Society Annual Show 2009

Verwood RUFC Annual Dinner Dance
The annual dinner was held on the 19th June at the St Leonards Hotel.

Club awards were as follows and congratulations to the worthy recipients:

• Players Player:     Andre Jensen
• Coaches Player:   Karl Jensen
• Captains Player:   Mathew Pike
• Top Try Scorers:  Charlie Cockram & Mark Hutchinson
• Clubman of the Year: Mike Cockram
• Chairman'sAward:  Darren Clarbull

Top Try Scorers, Charlie Cockram & Mark Hutchinson are pictured below:

See Alan Rex's review of Season 2008/9 See  Review