Competitions - Community Cup & Shield Rules
Season 2009-2010

Revised: 14 September 2009

References:

1. IRB web site at: www.irb.com/lawregulations/laws/index.html
2. The RFU Handbook - Game Regulations, Section A General Game Regulations and Appendix 4, Cup Competitions (other than Senior Cup) www.rfu.com/regulations
3. The ARU website www.aru.org.uk
4. The ARU handbook
5. 2008DIN10-034

Introduction

1. The Army Rugby Union Community Cup and Shield Competitions will be organised and played on an annual basis during the regular rugby season . The competition shall be limited to teams representing units of the Regular Army Participation in the Community Cup and Shield shall be open to all Regular Army units who meet this criteria. There is no differentiation between Major and Minor units in the Competition. An additional competition will be held in British Army (Germany) (BA(G)), and the Cup quarter finals shall incorporate the finalists of this competition.

2. The Competition will follow the format of a knockout cup competition; those teams who are knocked out in the first round shall be permitted to play in the Shield knock out competition.

3. Trophies will be awarded to the winners of the competitions. Trophies may not be taken outside the confines of the UK or BA(G). If necessary a trophy may be returned to the Secretary ARU or to the BA(G) Secretary for safe custody. No trophy may be won outright. The holding unit is responsible for obtaining insurance against loss or damage whilst in possession of a trophy, from the point of presentation after the final.

4. An appropriate memento such as a commemorative medal will be presented to all players and replacements who participate. Match officials will also be awarded a medal.

Laws, Rules and Regulations

5. The competitions will be played under the Laws of Rugby Union as promulgated by the International Rugby Board (IRB). These can be found at Reference A.

6. The rules of the Competition follow the RFU regulations detailed in Reference B. The ARU reserve the right to amend the regulations to take account of the services environment, culture and ethos. Teams are to note and adhere strictly to the regulations regarding replacements.

7. The Director of Community Rugby (with the organising committee) under whose auspices the competition is organised will adjudicate on any matter that falls outside of these regulations, or where a breach of the regulations has alleged to have occurred, his decision will be binding.

8. Units may enter the competitions by returning the relevant proforma issued to the unit rugby officer by the ARU Secretary prior to the start of the season. These can also be found at Reference C. Units who cannot access the relevant proforma are to contact the Secretary ARU.

The Draw

9. The draw for the first round will take into account the geographical location of units to ensure that travel is not onerous. The winner of each match will be informed by the ARU of their opponents in the following round and will be provided with contact details for the rugby officer so they may arrange the fixture.

10. The location for Quarter-Finals will be decided by the ARU Secretary by the toss of a coin. Semi-finals and finals of the Cup Competitions will be played at Aldershot upon dates specified within the ARU structured season.

The Playing of Matches

11. Fixture dates promulgated by the ARU conform to the ARU Structured season, the dates are 'set in stone' and show which competition or representative team has priority over players during any particular week. Teams may play outside of the structured season framework if agreed but must understand that they will not have first call over players who are required to play for a representative team be that at Army or Corps level.

12. The preliminary rounds (Pre quarter final) are to be played if possible during the week of the date detailed in the annual Structured Season for that particular round. Units are reminded that it is feasible to play matches outside of the window of the normal Wednesday 'sports afternoon' and if convenient games may be played throughout the week and in the evenings when floodlights are available. The ARU will allow a degree of flexibility in the playing of the preliminary rounds and take into account the demands placed on units by their chain of command but will reserve the right to expel teams who are unable to play upon or before a date specified or otherwise rearranged and agreed by the ARU. Teams who have difficulty in meeting a fixture deadline are in the first instance contact the ARU office.

Eligibility

13. Only eligible players may represent a unit. These are defined as players who are on the unit establishment of that unit and occupy a JPA position ID at the time the match is played.

14. Post match the Officer in Charge of each team is required to send their match team sheet to the ARU and also annotate upon it the match score. This must be signed by a responsible Officer to the effect that each player in the team, plus the permitted number of replacements, are eligible. In the event of an objection over the eligibility of a player from the opposition or other third party, the team sheet will be consulted to ascertain such eligibility; failure to present the team sheet to defend against an objection may lead to disqualification from the competition. A copy of the team sheet is shown on page 5 of this document.

15. Any team playing an ineligible player shall be disqualified. All questions as to qualification of players or interpretation of the rules or disputes during the match (retrospectively) shall be referred to the Director of Community Rugby whose decision shall be binding.

Notification of Results

16. Notification of the result of each match, accompanied by the appropriate team sheet, is to be sent to the Secretary Army Rugby Union (ARU) preferably by email within 24 hours of the end of the match.

Referees and Touch Judges

17. The home team is responsible for ensuring that they have a referee for the match, a referee may be booked through the Appointments Secretary relevant to the area where the match is being played. A full list of appointment secretaries can be found at both References C & D. The home team must contact the Area Referees Appointment Secretary a minimum of 7 days prior to the scheduled Kick off date.

18. Each team will supply a competent touch judge to assist the Referee who will provide a brief prior to kick off, they will not normally be required to assist the referee on matters of Law whilst the ball is in play. The touch judge may be a match replacement but must himself be replaced if he is called onto the field of play. For quarter finals, semi-finals and finals the CSRR Appointments Secretary will appoint all officials.

Discipline

18. The ARU requests that an Officer representing his Commanding Officer should be present throughout the match. He or she should be responsible for the good behaviour of their players and spectators.

19. The Director of Community Rugby shall have the power to recommend to the ARU Management Board the expulsion of any unit from the competition or impose such other penalty as is considered appropriate.

20. All units should be aware of the ARU’s zero tolerance towards abuse of match officials. It is the responsibility of all personnel and particularly the organising officer at the match that all spectators, players and team staff are made aware that abuse of officials will not be tolerated whatsoever.

Complaints and Appeals

20. Any complaint shall be notified to the Secretary ARU 48 hrs and thereafter submitted in writing under the signatures of the Chairman of the complaining Unit. The complaining unit must also inform the unit against who the complaint is being made at this point.

21. Any official complaint will be reviewed by the Director of Community Rugby (in conjunction with the Organising Committee) and a ruling will be made. This ruling will be binding. Units may appeal to the ARU Management Board who can,

1. Uphold the Director of Rugby's Decision.



2. Call a hearing of selected members under the auspices of the ARU Chairman of Discipline to discuss and provide a ruling on the case. Both the complaining and complained against units will be required to make presentations to the hearing. Any decision reached at this hearing will be final and no further appeals will be permitted.

Travel

22. Teams and Officials are permitted to travel at public expense to all cup matches. Preliminary rounds must be paid for from the Unit Travel Budget. Teams travelling to quarter finals, semi finals and finals are permitted to charge travel against the Representational Sports Travel Budget (RSTB). Further information regarding travel for sport at public expense can be found at Reference E.

Download - Community Cup & Shield Rules (pdf 44kb)

Download - Certified Team Sheet (doc 40kb)
Download - Certified Team Sheet (pdf 45kb)