Rugby Rules

Touch, tag and full contact are effectively three different sports in terms of injury risk, squad size and insurance requirements. Most new leagues should start at touch or tag, which need eight to ten a side and attract players who would never sign up for contact.

Whichever you choose, define it precisely and enforce it from the first fixture. A tag league that quietly drifts into something more physical because two competitive sides decided it should is the fastest way to lose half your players.

Contact rugby needs insurance, a qualified first aider on the touchline and a stocked kit, and most pitch owners will ask for proof of public liability cover before confirming a booking. Affiliating with the national governing body is the usual route to all of it.

Head injury protocol matters most: any suspected concussion means the player comes off and does not return that day. Write it into the league rules so it is never a judgement call made by someone who wants to keep playing.