How does the Age Criteria work for Junior Rugby?

A question asked of me by a few TMs and many parents is 'What age group should my child play in?'

The simple answer is, if your child is at an age on August 31st, then they play under that age + 1 for the next season.

e.g.

• Fast Jimmy is 13 on Aug 31 - he plays in the u14s for the next season
• Skillful Mary turns 13 on September 1st, then Mary plays for the u13s for that season as she was 12 on Aug 31st.

There is some flexibility where children can play either an age group up or an age group down. There are processes that the club has to follow for this to happen and these are covered by RFU regulation 15 (see page 187 of the full regulations linked on our Age Grade Rugby page).

Generally, this allows for players who are not as physically developed as their peers, or new to the sport to ease into the game by playing down an age group, or those players who would like a more challenging environment or are physically well developed and experienced in rugby to play up an age group.

If you have a child in your squad that needs to play up or down a level, then contact a Senior Member of the Junior Committee to discuss as soon as possible.

HRFC has teams for u7 to u17 for the 19/20 season, and partners with Ruggerbugs for u6 age groups.