Drought forces RFU to delay England's community rugby season start
England's community rugby season will start more than two weeks late after the Rugby Football Union postponed kick-off because drought has left pitches too hard and dangerous to play on.
The RFU pushed the opening back from Saturday, 5 September to the week commencing Monday, 21 September, citing player welfare and the state of grounds across the country. According to RFU officials, 71.3% of England is now in drought, and the nation recorded its driest July since records began in 1836. With no lengthy spells of rain forecast before the original start date, many rugby grounds were deemed unsuitable for safe full-contact activity. (BBC Sport)
In the weeks before the decision, the RFU had already reminded member clubs of existing guidance on managing pitches in drought conditions and carrying out risk assessments to determine whether surfaces were safe. The union's own definitions, updated under Regulation 1 and effective from 1 August 2026, define "Pitch Conditions" as the state of a pitch rendering it unplayable or unsafe. (England Rugby)
The problem was acute enough in Kent that the RFU gave the county's clubs specific permission to postpone opening-day fixtures after extended dry weather left pitches unsafe even for training. (Kent Online)
RFU president Sir Bill Beaumont acknowledged the frustration. He said the decision would be disappointing for clubs, schools, colleges, players, volunteers and fans, but stressed that player welfare and readiness were central to the union's thinking. (BBC Sport)
Community rugby is the grassroots lifeblood of the English game — thousands of clubs across the country where adults, teenagers and children play every weekend from September through to spring. A delayed start ripples through fixture lists, sponsorship arrangements and social calendars that clubs spend the summer preparing for. It also means weeks of pre-season training with limited or no contact work, which raises its own readiness concerns once matches do begin.
For players and volunteers, the delay is an unwanted disruption but not an unprecedented one. Winter postponements for waterlogged pitches are routine in community rugby; postponements for bone-dry ground are far less common. The RFU's existing regulations already cover the procedure for fixtures called off because a pitch is unplayable, including the awkward scenario where the away team have already arrived. (England Rugby)
What makes this situation different is the scale. A whole season's start being pushed back nationally, rather than individual matches here and there, reflects how widespread the drought has become. Clubs will now use the extra fortnight hoping for rain — a sentence rarely written with such urgency in English sport.
