Last season, discipline incidents across the country reduced overall. However, two Constituent Bodies reported an increase, with Essex being one of them. A particular concern has been the rise in coaches, parents, and replacement players entering the field of play without the referee's permission. While this has been most prevalent in the youth game, we have also dealt with incidents in adult rugby.

Please ensure that all players, coaches, parents, and spectators are aware that entering the field of play without the referee's permission is a disciplinary offence. Any individual reported for doing so will be required to appear before the CB Discipline Panel and, if the charge is proven, the entry point for sanction is a 20-week suspension.

We are also seeing an increasing number of clubs deferring their responsibility to deal with disciplinary matters involving their members, instead waiting for cases to be referred to a hearing and relying on the outcome of the Discipline Panel.

This is both disappointing and frustrating for Panel members, as a number of recent hearings could have been avoided had clubs dealt with matters promptly and applied the sanctions set out in the RFU Sanction Table, particularly where the charge had already been accepted by the individual concerned.

Clubs have a clear responsibility to manage disciplinary matters appropriately and at the earliest opportunity. In light of this trend, clubs should consider this formal notice that where a Discipline Panel determines that a club has failed to take its disciplinary responsibilities seriously, or has unreasonably delayed taking appropriate action, the club itself may be subject to significant sanctions. RFU regulation 5.12 gives the Discipline panel to take disciplinary action against a person, club, constituent body or other rugby body for conduct prejudicial to the interest of the Union of the game. The sanctions available can include:

• Reprimands or warnings.
• Suspensions.
• Expulsion from league or cup competitions.
• Deduction of League Points.
• Financial Penalties (fines).
• Any other sanction considered appropriate by the disciplinary panel or RFU authority dealing with the matter.

Clubs should be aware that breaches of RFU Rule 5.12 may result in disciplinary proceedings and sanctions, including significant financial penalties and costs, at the discretion of the Discipline Panel. However, if summons to appear then a starting fee of £125 will be issued to be paid before the hearing takes place, this can rise at the discretion of the discipline panel.