FAQ
The club have put the following list of questions together to help answer the most commonly asked questions about girls and women’s rugby. If the answer to your question is not here please contact Phil Clarke or Malcolm Griffiths and they will be delighted to help.

Q. I’ve not heard of girls or women’s rugby, is it popular?

A. Yes, Women's Rugby is now a well established sport with over 300 clubs and 10,000 participants in England alone. Surprisingly women’s rugby started in the 70’s. Now it played across the world and women’s rugby has a world cup, a six nations tournament, a premiership and regional teams across the UK.

Q. Does Womens rugby have a governing body?

A. Yes, The Rugby Football Union for Women (RFUW) is the official governing body in England. The RFUW is based in Twickenham and is funded jointly by Sport England and private sponsorship. This year the RFUW celebrated its 20^th birthday. The RFUW employ full time and part time Development officers in each region to encourage the participation in the sport through coaching in schools and by working with clubs like Northwich.

Q What age groups can play?

A. Girl teams normally compete in three age categories :-
U12: Girls usually participate in tag or contact rugby in mixed teams at schools or in clubs. *Girls aged 11 may now take part in U14 games.
U14 (Years 7-9) : Girls play tag or contact rugby in ‘all girl’ teams.
U17 (Years 10-11): Girls play tag or contact rugby in ‘all girl’ teams.
*Girls aged 17 may participate in U17 matches.
Over 18 – Women: Once 18 girls can play in senior games.

In time the club hope to run additional age groups i.e. Under 13, Under 14 etc. This will depend upon the numbers of interested players, sufficient coaches and enough opposition clubs. 

Safety

Q. Is rugby safe for girls?

A. While not a traditional game played by girls, the current popularity of girls and women’s rugby speak volumes about both playing safety and the fun in participating in the game.

However, safe and injury free play is not simply a matter of luck and Northwich have a set of clear guidelines and measures in place for all junior teams to ensure the highest level of safety. These guidelines as approved under the club’s Seal of Approval are as follows :-

Coaches
All coaches are fully qualified and as a minimum have a recognised RFU coaching qualification, have attended courses in Child Protection, Equity in Sports, First Aid and have been checked through the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB).

Equipment

Only RFU approved equipment is used during training and play.

Contact

New players must have been given plenty of training in contact (rucks and mauls) and tackling before they are allowed to play in a competitive fixture or training match.

Games

All pitches are checked prior to a game by officials and only RFU qualified referees are used during matches.

In the event that the standard of players in each team is too unbalanced the coach in charge is instructed to request for a reduction in rules e.g. reduced scrums, remove players that may not be ready or revert to non contact (tag) rules.

Q. What safety equipment is required?

A. We advise players to stick to the English Rugby Football Union’s (RFU) guidelines on safety equipment. As a minimum each player should wear a mouth guard for both training and for matches and also wear the correctly studded boots. Football boots are fine but boots should have aluminium studs not moulded studs or blades. Shin guards are not absolutely essential but can help against the odd kick. Other safety equipment such as shoulder padding and head guards are optional.

Q. What happens if I get injured during a match? Am I insured?

A. In the event of an injury to a player the team coach is responsible for immediately assessing the situation. The vast majority of injuries in a game situation are minor, where a player is for example winded or receives a kick. After a short break for rest or treatment a player will often continue playing. To assist in these situations the club provides each coach a first aid box, and ensure all coaches have a recognised basic qualification in first aid. If the injury is more serious staff at the venue will be notified immediately and an ambulance will be arranged from the local Accident & Emergency unit. For away matches the home side coach will be asked to make the arrangements. A coach will always have access to mobile phone in the event access to a land phone is awkward or may take time to reach (e.g. when the pitch is a long distance from the club house).

Mandatory Insurance to cover disability that might occur during matches or training is arranged via the RFU. Accidents caused as a result of the pitch, grounds or facilities at Moss Farm are covered by public liability insurance.  

Rules

Q. Do girl’s teams play the same laws as boys.

A. The RFUW regularly review the laws of the game and have set up rules for each age group, designed in line with the age, size and strength of the players. Where facets of play are first introduced into the rules in an uncontested format so that players get used to idea. The Under 14’s girls team in fact play rules which are similar to those played by mixed teams at Under 11 age group. These are currently the normal rules associated with rugby (passing backwards, oval ball) with the following exceptions :-

• Team of 12 players instead of 15 (5 players in the scrum)
  Uncontested scrums (scrums bind but there is no pushing)
• Line outs with no lifting
• No hand offs
• No fly or hack kicking (kicking from hand only)
• No squeeze ball in rucks or mauls
• Maximum match time of 30 minutes each way with less for tournaments or triangular fixtures.
• The defending scrum half must wait at the scrum centre line until the ball is released from the scrum.
  
  The net result are matches that emphasize ball skills, running and general athleticism rather than strength and fierce tackling.

The Under 17 age group however play normal rules with contested scrums, lineouts etc and with 15 players.