October 5th 2018
Parents will be aware that Moulsford has a long tradition of touring to South Africa on a biennial basis in the summer holidays. July 2018 saw the 10th such tour, with 67 boys enjoying a wonderful mix of rugby, culture, charity work and tourism. The school sees such a tour as having huge benefits for the boys in so many different areas, and the recent take-up of the 2018 tour suggests that boys and parents feel the same. 67 boys toured out of a possible 94 boys who were eligible, and feedback after the tour from all parties was extremely positive.
The English Rugby Football Union (RFU) has recently revised its regulations for U12s & U13s (Years 7 and 8) relating to contact rugby and tours. Specifically, the RFU will no longer permit either to take place in the off-season (May to August inclusive). The 2018 tour was granted permission to proceed because planning for the trip was significantly advanced prior to this new RFU regulation. We have now had confirmation from the RFU that there would be no such dispensation for future tours.
This means that Moulsford will have to change the structure of any future rugby tour, as touring in the summer holidays will no longer be an option. We are currently exploring all options, across different sports, countries and timings. We are very keen to keep the flagship tour inclusive and open to all boys and for it to be non-selective in terms of ability. (This year we ran four teams in South Africa each playing five matches). If Moulsford was to continue to run a rugby tour for our Year 7s and 8s to South Africa, the only feasible timing would be the Easter holidays, with the next tour departing in 2020. We appreciate that many parents will have views on this development, and we will conduct a survey among parents of current Year 6 and 7 boys, once we are clearer on potential paths forward.
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