Hope Stuart Lancaster got the memo…..

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2546273/Rugby-Union-accused-going-soft-tells-childrens-sides-lose-focus-winning-BANS-trophies.html

Perfect timing of the announcement just a week before Le Crunch contre Les Bleus

I really had hoped rugby would escape this neo liberal paternalist rubbish but it seems not

At least Mr Lancaster won't be able to suspend any of his pupils if they don't perform in class.

Apologies for reading/linking the Fail.

Just moved this to the general rugby union section.

The IRFU did something very similar about 4 or 5 years ago. My initial reaction was the same as Halliday's but I very quickly changed my mind.

Young kids are competitive no doubt but they actually just want to play. The problem with having trophies etc is that is leads to coaches only picking the kids who they think will win the trophy for them. In Mini rugby, that tends to be the biggest kids.

This is not good for anyone as the smaller kids give up because they don't get picked and the bigger kids do not develop their skills because they can already win by just knocking everyone out of their way.

Five years down the line when everyone else has grown they are lost as they only had one trick.

This move is probably intended to change the behaviour of the coaches. The kids will play each game in just as competitive a way regardless of whether there is a trophy or not.

It moves the focus onto the players and their development.

Good thing.