Internal League Clubs Player Movement

SmilingD wrote: In leagues where lower teams are currently playing the issue is not so much player safety as teams being of unexpected strength due to not being a genuine 2nd, 3rd or whatever XV. The solution we have tried to use for this in Eastern Counties has been to ensure that lower XV fixtures are always scheduled on days when higher XVs also have games - the fixture matrices are set up to make that the case. But on days when there are exceptions to this - due to a fixture being postponed, the higher XVs opposition calling off or an odd number of teams in the league so a team being left without them, then we often find that what purports to be a 2nd XV is in fact made up largely of 1st XV players. This is unfair on both the opposition and the own clubs 2nd XV who might find themselves without a game or with limited game time. There is nothing that we are aware of being proposed in regulations to manage this within the RFU leagues. I await with interest the first time a club swaps their 1st XV and 2nd XV over in a pair of league matches to secure league position for the 2nds when the 1sts supposedly have 'nothing to play for'. Given that we see examples of teams bending the rules this way to gain an edge in a level 10 or 11 league, I think it's only a matter of time before it happens at Level 7.

The Sussex Cricket league has rules covering thiis - when the first team game is cancelled only 2 players who played in the previous 1st team game can play in the 2nd team. This filters its way down a club's playing teams. This works well but doesn't stop a first team being weakened to strengthen a 2nd team who might have an important game when both play.

Unfortunately, this is difficult to legislate against as who can say players being dropped are not on merit?

Also if 4 players are missing from the first team one week, the four players who get elevated from the second team for that week cannot be stopped from returning to the 2nd team the following week.

In leagues where lower teams are currently playing the issue is not so much player safety as teams being of unexpected strength due to not being a genuine 2nd, 3rd or whatever XV. The solution we have tried to use for this in Eastern Counties has been to ensure that lower XV fixtures are always scheduled on days when higher XVs also have games - the fixture matrices are set up to make that the case. But on days when there are exceptions to this - due to a fixture being postponed, the higher XVs opposition calling off or an odd number of teams in the league so a team being left without them, then we often find that what purports to be a 2nd XV is in fact made up largely of 1st XV players. This is unfair on both the opposition and the own clubs 2nd XV who might find themselves without a game or with limited game time. There is nothing that we are aware of being proposed in regulations to manage this within the RFU leagues. I await with interest the first time a club swaps their 1st XV and 2nd XV over in a pair of league matches to secure league position for the 2nds when the 1sts supposedly have 'nothing to play for'. Given that we see examples of teams bending the rules this way to gain an edge in a level 10 or 11 league, I think it's only a matter of time before it happens at Level 7.

It would appear that the 'policing' of player movement within a single club running several league sides, is to be left to internal coaching decisions, with any issues being monitored by the RFU for review, under new proposals being considered by our governing body, unless of course I'm mistaken ?