Men's Community Cup ceases after lack of engagement

The Men’s Community Cup will not be running from the 2026/27 season onwards. The RFU explains why

The competition was introduced following the Future Competition Structure review to give players a more varied diet of rugby and to provide meaningful matches for teams outside of promotion and relegation battles. We're grateful to every club that took part and to Papa Johns for their early sponsorship of the competition.

However, feedback gathered through our competitions engagement programme this autumn, including six webinars, four face-to-face workshops, and an RFU Council session, made clear that demand for cup rugby outside of the league programme has been consistently low. Clubs told us that players tend to make themselves unavailable when they see a break in league fixtures, and that the cost of travelling to non-league away games has made it increasingly difficult to commit to and fulfil fixtures.

At the Regional level, the introduction of playoffs for the 25/26 season has already replaced the Community Cup, with the aim of keeping meaningful rugby right to the end of the season. For clubs in Counties 1 and below, we consulted on delivery options at the end of 24/25 and structured the current season around the hybrid model clubs preferred, but the underlying challenges around player availability and engagement have remained.

We'll continue to look for ways to make the competitive calendar work for clubs at every level, and further detail on the 26/27 season structure will follow in due course.