Playing rugby beneficial to school children’s futures

Two thirds (65%) of participating schools find pupils are more confident since playing Rugby

While England are out of the world cup, the rugby legacy can live on in the country. Participation in rugby has a significant positive impact on young people, according to evaluation of England Rugby’s leading participation legacy programme, All Schools, with its principal partner CBRE.

Research has found that almost three in five (59%) of schools reported an improvement in pupils’ attitudes and behaviour towards school and/or sport since taking part in All Schools, an RFU scheme to increase the number of state secondary schools in England playing rugby. The research, carried out by Sheffield Hallam University’s Sport Industry Research Centre during the spring term of 2015, was based on a sample of 232 secondary schools with over 35,000 children who have taken part in All Schools. As a result these children had the opportunity to play rugby both in school and at local community clubs.

Many of the schools in the sample referred to pupils who had previously been disengaged with sport and PE because of body confidence issues and low self-esteem. According to the research, two thirds of schools (65%) said their pupils were more confident since playing rugby.

Taking part in rugby and experiencing its core values including teamwork, respect, discipline and sportsmanship translated into positive pupil behaviour with almost half (46%) of schools who took part in All Schools saying they believed it made students more aspirational for the future.

Launched in 2012, All Schools aims to leave a positive legacy for one million children through rugby and its core values by taking rugby to 750 state secondary schools by the next world cup in 2019.

Prior to kick off at the current tournament, All Schools has already ensured that 400 more state secondary schools are now playing rugby, with over 130,000 students taking part in rugby last season. Four out of five (82%) schools participating said it had enabled pupils to experience, then continue to play in rugby union at school.

Ciaran Bird, UK MD of CBRE, the principal partner of All Schools, said: “As an employer I know how important sport is to an individual’s outlook, confidence and teamwork, skills crucial in the workplace. This important research from Sheffield Hallam demonstrates the impact that All Schools is already having through increasing access and participation in rugby within schools that may not have been able to offer it to pupils otherwise.”

“We are proud to have been able to partner with England Rugby and support the roll out of All Schools. Who knows, maybe one of the pupils taking part today will pull on an England shirt in years to come.”

Mark Saltmarsh, Head of Education Development at the RFU said: “All Schools is hugely important for us. It’s one of the RFU’s key legacy programmes to increase participation in rugby across the nation, so it’s about bringing the game to new groups and new areas. This research shows that it’s really having a great effect across England and we look forward to continuing our work, with CBRE, to take rugby to even more secondary state schools over the next four years.”