English Rugby Union: Governance

Jim Shannon Excerpts

Tuesday 11th March 2025 Westminster Hall

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Desmond. I thank the hon. Member for Camborne and Redruth (Perran Moon) for leading today’s debate. It is fantastic to listen to Members’ representations on the governance of English rugby union. The hon. Gentleman has close ties with the game, and I think he has been a poacher and a gamekeeper, both a referee and a player—well done.

It is important that we do more to protect local sport and listen to local perspectives. The hon. Member for Hinckley and Bosworth (Dr Evans) referred to the ambitions of Bath and Leicester. I have a Leicester Tigers rugby shirt. I was given it many years ago. Believe it or not, I sent away for a Leicester City football shirt and received a Leicester Tigers one. I was not quite sure—I knew the colour scheme was not quite right. I still treasure it, even though it was not what I originally wished to have.

There is an ongoing debate in England about how rugby clubs are regulated and sustained. The game has faced financial challenges, and some clubs in England have gone into administration or have been on the brink of doing so. We must ensure that provisions are in place so that does not occur.

Rugby union in Northern Ireland is governed by Ulster Rugby, which has responsibility for the sport’s oversight and development. It is doing a fairly good job, and I give it credit for its work. Ulster Rugby is responsible for all levels of rugby in Northern Ireland, from schools and the grassroots level to professional rugby.

I went to boarding school for five years, and the school game was rugby. We could not play football—well, we could play football, but we had to play it down the bottom, near the river, where nobody could see. That was the way it was. It was a long time ago, in the ’60s and early ’70s. It is probably very different today, and pupils can probably play football or any other sport they want. Rugby was the game. I played out-half or wing forward, and I enjoyed it. It is quite a physical game, and maybe that was the attraction.

Ulster Rugby oversees the Ulster rugby team, which competes in the United Rugby Championship and European competitions such as the champions cup. Rugby is incredibly popular in Northern Ireland, and its following is incredible. It is promoted through schools and clubs across Northern Ireland. So many schools in my constituency play rugby regularly—High School Ballynahinch, in particular, and Regent House school have done incredibly well in the schools competition and still play great games of rugby. Glastry college is another example, and I sit on its board of governors. Although it was not originally a rugby school, a couple of teachers came in and rugby has become one of the college’s games.

We have Ballynahinch rugby football club and Ards rugby football club, and what they do for the participation of children and people of all ages is ginormous. Some 300 children take part in rugby every Saturday morning, and sometimes on Tuesdays and Wednesdays too. Women’s rugby is also promoted, and it is gathering speed in Northern Ireland. The Ulster schools’ cup fosters competition for so many young men, and their love for rugby stays with them all their lives. Northern Ireland’s many rugby league clubs are enjoyed by people of all ages, and Ulster Rugby’s women’s team is going from strength to strength, which is wonderful and tells us that the sport is reaching beyond its previous parameters.

As with any sport, finances are an issue. There are many cases where the sport’s financial sustainability has been brought into question, and it is clear that effective regulation is needed to protect the clubs, the players and the supporters, and to ensure the future success of rugby unions across the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. We must ensure that, for all rugby unions, there is an even spread of finances from the top tier of United Kingdom rugby right down to local teams and schools. There must be better regulation and support to ensure that we do not witness more well-known clubs going into administration.

The hon. Member for Camborne and Redruth and other hon. Members have called on the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to engage further with counterparts across the United Kingdom. I always ask these questions of Ministers, but I ask because it is important to do so. We want to continue the tradition of great rugby in Northern Ireland, but this debate has raised some of the challenges to rugby and what needs to be done. Does the Minister intend to engage with Gordon Lyons, the responsible Minister in the Northern Ireland Executive, to relay the outcomes of our discussions so that we can go forward together?

[Dr Luke Evans]

I thank the hon. Member who, as always, is making a fantastic speech. He is always a champion for the Union, and rugby union is also suffering in Wales and Scotland. Does he have a view on whether we should have a sit-down discussion? Rugby union is devolved, but it is important to ensure sustainability across all four nations so that there is an abundance for future generations.

[Jim Shannon]

Rugby is loved everywhere, across Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and England. It is unfortunate that Ireland did not do better against the French on Saturday. It was a bad game, but we look forward to better games ahead. The hon. Member is right that we need to work together to share those experiences.

Again, will the Minister engage with the Minister in Northern Ireland on the proposals and recommendations raised by this debate so that we can all learn together? Our love for the game brings us all together, and as we love the game, we want to make it better for everyone.