National 10s is dead... Long Live the National 10s!

The RFUW have now pretty much confirmed that they will not be running the National 10s next season - but that does not mean there will no National 10s because, while you've all been writing into RFUW, we've been working on an back-up plan - and pretty exciting it is too!

Remember the article about Gloucester Girls Rugby? Well, we've been talking and GGR, Gloucester RFC and Premier Rugby Ltd are very interested indeed in running a national finals for the 10s next spring. At this early stage dates and venues have yet to be fixed, but a likely date would be in March after the inter-regional festivals. The finals might be held at Hartpury College - or even at Kingsholm, home of Gloucester RFC. There is also a good chance of some sponsorship. It might be stretching a fantasy a bit, but can you imagine it if - say - the final was played before a Guinness Premiership game - girls' rugby in front of 10,000 fans..? That would be something!

Regional tournaments would also need to be set up, but once the National Final is in place that should be easier. Armed with that the details of that carrot (and it could be a big one!) we'll be contacting clubs across the country telling them about what is being planned and encouraging them to take part. At least one of the venues from last season has already said they'd be interested in doing it again, and there could well be more tournaments than last year - maybe spread across several weekends - which would (in theory) allow clubs to enter more than one (which would be fun).

This is made more possible because the RFUW have thrown the tournament at least one lifeline as well - whether due to your pressure or not who can say - but...

"The RFUW through their local WRDM's will be looking at donating some money for clubs to run a local 7's or 10's tournament in their region. If your club is interested in hosting a tournament drop your WRDM a line as this could be good to promote your section. The 10s were obviously a success in/around your area and we are giving you the chance to repeat that success at an appropriate time with the help and support of your WRDM."

And before you ask, in theory we would be interested in running an event - the only riders to that would be finding a date... and making sure that anything we ran did not clash with other tournaments in nearby regions or counties.

Anyway.. exciting times ahead!