Aye

Lets face it, our players play in far too few 'intense' games. We've tried playing the Franch, home nations, yorks v lancs, but these just don't cut it.

So, IMO, the RFL would be better helping provide a consistent challenge for the youngsters who are coming through. Something like a championship against NRL sides each season, maybe our top 4 v their top 4. (I know they tried something like it in the 90's, but SL had only just gone pro then).

It's impossible to do both of the things you suggest in your opening two paragraphs.

If we're going to push the game in schools then youth RL has to stay a Winter game; no school over the summer = no RL.

One way around this may be to play schools RL through the Winter and Amatuer youth RL through the summer, thus giving school kids year round RL.

I agree with your sentiments though, the only way we're going to get a stronger side is increasing the player base. To that end, the RFL are to be applauded for their recent in-roads into London's schools.

Speaking as a teacher, I know that the perception of many is that there's no school during summer. But actually we're only talking 6 weeks, in the hottest months, when a lot of kids go on holidays anyway. In addition, clubs (as opposed to schools) can keep going throughout the summer holidays. So moving kids' rugby to a spring/summer/autumn, rather than an autumn/winter/spring season, is perfectly feasible.

Speaking as a London teacher currently responsible for the best girls' team in the south of England (can you tell I'm proud of that ?) I can also say that while the RFL is offering coaching in patches of London and the SE (it's a big place for a few blokes to cover), what isn't yet available is any form of organised competition outside of the Carnegie schools, which doesn't begin for a while yet. All our fixtures have to be friendlies organised between schools bilaterally. I'm happy trying to do that, as I'm a RL nut, but most PE Departments are not run by RL nuts, and if you want them to engage in your sport, you have to make it easy for them. RU, by contrast, has well-established and well-administered schools' competitions which schools simply sign up to at the start of the year and then they have a goal and a structure to go along with.

Obviously as a girls' coach, I'm aware there's a real lack of teams out there, so I'm not being critical of the RFL, who understandably make boys' RL their top priority. But I'm not aware of any particular non-Carnegie competitive league competition for boys in London schools either.

Anyway, I digress. Getting youth rugby into summer is probably the single biggest short-term thing we could do to start helping youth development.

The trouble is that take out November, December and January then take out half of May, June, July and August for exams and holidays and you don't have a great deal left.

Do kids season's (in terms of games) need to mirror those at open age level?

What would be wrong with having (for example) a split junior season starting mid-March and running until the back end of May, then starting again early September until the end of October?

Kids who weren't away or taking exams could continue to train, maybe run some sevens tournaments over the summer so there isn't the same pressure to raise numbers during the holiday season.

No, but you run into age category problems where children in the same school year maybe playing at different levels, mind there is nothing to stop that changing to reflect that.

Only issue you do get is that when they move up into a club structure they will have to play in the times of the year when the weather isn't as good, if all you have is top of the ground players you have that to over come.