England are thriving at youth level but governing body has been urged to act to save rugby from irrelevance elsewhere

The damning report on schools rugby released by the Rugby Football Union this week leaves little open to interpretation. The verdict is unequivocal, the warning stark: act now or the sport will drift into irrelevance. Whatever you think about the non-contact or reduced contact initiatives aimed at tackling the issue, at least the RFU has admitted it has a problem.

It is a societal problem as much as anything else. Parents are being turned off rugby in a more risk-averse atmosphere where football is king. Rugby is complicated, seen as dangerous, it can be perceived as a sport for “posh white boys”, according to the report, and is a foreign concept in most state schools.