A surprising stat, and a poll

[Beasties]

What am I missing here? How is 36 the average age of that poll?

[Rifleman Harris]

It's not, but apparently that is the average age of a rugby supporter.  I think this poll was to see how we compared on this board. Clearly we are a load of codgers.

[BG]

What am I missing here? How is 36 the average age of that poll?

Vesp said that a worldwide poll revealed the age of a rugby supporter was 36 and wanted to see what the average would be for posters on this forum.. which appears to be mid to late 40's.. whether that is representative of England/UK or just people on this site is unknown. I suspect (from seeing crowds at the Ricoh and a few other grounds) that the average here probably reflects across the country.

Is that because non fee schools have predominatly abandoned rugby as a school sport? When I was 18, lads being awarded national honours were normally associated with which school they went to, but now it appears, their quoted allegiance seems to be tied to which club academy they are at.

For most parents who don't have a background in rugby I suspect most view rugby as a dangerous sport for their teenage children to participate in.

Is this where the RFU are failing in one of their core raison d'etre.. to develop the game on a broader base at grass roots level. Are they more interested in stocking their wine/gin cellars and packing out Twickers?

[Vespula Vulgaris]

Thanks to everyone who has taken part, I think the numbers seem to show UK rugby is a lot older than world rugby...

[matelot22]

I suspect another factor in this being that older people tend to have greater amounts of disposable income and are therefore more likely to spend on hobbies, supporting UK rugby is probably more expensive than many other areas in the world.

[baldpaul101]

Is this where the RFU are failing in one of their core raison d'etre.. to develop the game on a broader base at grass roots level. Are they more interested in stocking their wine/gin cellars and packing out Twickers?

Yet again on this board I find myself in the uncomfortable position of defending the RFU.
They are a non profit making organisation so the money they get from packing out Twickers gets spent on rugby & nothing else. For years they have pumped money into grass roots clubs, I know its been interrupted a bit at the moment but given the numbers of people that shell out upwards of £90 for a ticket to England games & part with £70 for a shirt, they will be back in profit again soon.

As a former club secretary for a small struggling amateur club, I can confirm that the RFU give away a LOT of money to help with things like flood lights, building improvements, flooded pitch damage (we had a visit from the Twickenham, head groundsman, he almost had a heart attack when he saw our pitch!) etc. All they require is a reasoned business case & degree of accountability from the receiving clubs.

Do they get it right all the time? No of course not, like any governing body in any sport anywhere in the world they make mistakes, sadly they get slagged off as incompetent, out of touch, only in it for their own gain etc etc, like every other governing body!

The sporting landscape has changed & so has the social one. There is plenty of young players coming through & contrary to popular opinion they don't only play for posh fee paying schools, plenty of state schools play rugby in Kent & South London for example.
However once lads get to 17 or 18 & have to work, sometimes at weekends & have other sporting & social options, they tend to drift away a bit. Clubs that once put out 4 or 5 squads on a Saturday, now get out 2 or 3 & that can be a struggle. However the Ladies & Girls game is growing at a huge rate and it had a very much younger demographic so the death of rugby is not imminent (all IMO of course)

[Lwasp]

Reasoned post BP101. I do wonder if Rugby clubs have fully embraced the changing nature of British youth too. We read that the young drink a lot less than they used to and fitting in to the "rugby club fraternity" may not be in keeping with modern lifestyle choices.

I stopped playing when I went to Uni. I took one look at the b-ends cavorting round the Union and decided they weren't for me. And if you didn't play with them you didn't play for them. Wasps run in with the decency police on that end of season boat trip suggests things haven't really changed.

[baldpaul101]

LWasp, I've seen quite a few lads shy away from Uni teams due to the initiation ceremonies etc ( not all the stories are factual but they do still happen). I Don't think that necessarily translates into the club game, at a lower level I see some players going straight home after a game, some having a few sensible beers and some fully tieing one on & ending up in a gutter at 1 am!!  It is usually the older lads, and especially those who no longer play for the 1st team, or at all!

I have heard the "boat trip" mentioned before but don't know what is supposed to, or actually did, happen, but I suspect you are correct in that some players don't always know where to draw the line. However I would say that happens in all walks of life. How many office parties end up with things happening that the company wouldn't like advertised