Report: England scrap Sevens programme
England’s Rugby Football Union (RFU) will drop its sevens programme as it tries to cope with the financial impact of COVID-19 , the Telegraph has reported.
The news comes as the RFU is projected to lose £107 million in revenue as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic.
The RFU told players this week that their contracts would not be renewed at the end of the month. The decision comes as a serious blow to the England Sevens players that hoped to compete in the 2021 Japan Olympics.
According to the report, the RFU have said that they can no longer support the sevens team given the current climate. The England sevens team is not funded by UK Sport.
An RFU spokesman told the Telegraph, “We have approached UK Sport for funding and are exploring the option for a Team GB sevens team.”
“We are also in dialogue with World Rugby about the programme for the World Sevens Series and when games are likely to be played. With no current support in funding we are not in a position to sustain the team in its current format.”
The England Sevens team has enjoyed consistent success over the past 3 years.
England ended their 2018/19 campaign by securing Olympic qualification on behalf of Great Britain despite missing a host of key personnel through injury. Youngsters Ben Harris and Jamie Barden shone.
New Zealand was awarded the Sevens Series this year as it was prematurely finished due to the Pandemic.
The decision followed detailed and constructive dialogue with the host and participating unions, and had been taken with the health and wellbeing of the rugby community and the wider public as top priority.
New Zealand were awarded both the women’s and men’s titles courtesy of being top of the standings before the pandemic interrupted the Series with five of the eight women’s rounds and six of the ten men’s rounds successfully completed.
Comments on RugbyPass
Ouch for my team the Bulls but Leinster just in another league in that second half.
1 Go to commentsReally proud to be at last nights game, beating one of our arch rivals Chiefs. Tom Christie did well as captain. He should be the captain when ever Scott Barrett is unavailable. Fine player, Johnny McNicoll was inspirational , he and Sevu Reece compliment each other.
11 Go to commentsConfirmed conclusively that 1. the Chiefs are a one man band 2. DMac is THE vital cog for Robertsons success with the ABs.
1 Go to commentsWrong again Nick! Shoch horror….. This article aged very quickly didnt it.
86 Go to commentsFunny how between 2008-2018 the crusaders did not win the majority of titles… it was spread evenly amongst NZ.
86 Go to commentsThe same might be happening in NZ soon. What is the point of changing the setup to englands Championship?
3 Go to commentsSack the coach.
4 Go to commentsDon’t worry about the Crusaders they have some great talent coming through.
1 Go to commentsThe Crusaders terminally ill team missing 8-9 projected starters at the beginning of the season manhandle a Chiefs team missing just DMac.
86 Go to commentsBig difference from the Crusaders last night. Hotham and McNicoll were sparks but everyone seemed dialed in. Young lock Hannah has no stop and Kellow deserves more game time based on his performance. Being captain seemed to lift Christie’s game and with Strange running the lineout there was a big improvement from Bell (including his brilliant individual try). Good to see Reihana running freely and making a solid contribution from the bench. In the absence of Burke, he makes that backline more potent. Also, good to see Aumua with more of a role. If they can back this up, they could move up the table as some of their “names” return (Barrett, Blackadder, Burke, Taylor, Williams, etc).
11 Go to commentsI think this is unduly harsh. I agree that we must hold them to high standards and that is what they produced in the second half against Italy with 14 men in their first run out for nearly 6 months trying to play an expanded game. Admittedly, the first half was at best disjointed but they worked it out sufficiently to blow Italy out of the water. No other team appears to be able to live with them over 80 minutes at the moment and they still have a huge amount of improvement to make. Their match in France will be the next acid test. That is the next real yardstick.
1 Go to commentsNot sure 700k is worth it. He’ll be coming on for the Hail Mary plays. Cannon fodder.
10 Go to commentsBest situation in the world for the potential of his success in the NFL. Cutthroat, we’ll yeah little buddy, that’s one of the reasons why, at least in the States, it is by far and away the best sports draw. The point is: It’s not only that he’d have Mahomes as his QB, and all the T. Kelce blocking bullshit needs to stop (he’s not a prototypical blocking TE ya numb nuts), it’s that he will have arguably one of the greatest football minds in Andy Reid scheming for him. In the NFL, the most important thing is situation. If the ignoramus Jets signed him, then he’d be screwed from go.
10 Go to commentsWe’re building a bridge but can't agree where the river is.
3 Go to commentsfirst no arms shoulder or helmet tackle into his rib cage is going to be so very painful even to watch. go back to RU mate.
10 Go to commentsBulls by 5. Plus another 50.
4 Go to commentsJohan Goosen avatar. Cute. Surely someone at RP knows how to do a google image search?
4 Go to commentsCan’t these games play a little earlier? Asking for a friend.
4 Go to commentsIt’s impressive that we can see huge stadiums with attendance in the 40 000 to 50 000 region. It shows how popular this competition is becoming. What is even more impressive is the massive growth in broadcast viewership. The URC is one of the two best leagues in the World, the other being the Top14.
7 Go to commentsChristie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to comments