COBRA RUGBY CLUB

Mid Wales District Fixtures 2012-13

September 22nd – Rhayader v Welshpool 2nds
Llanidloes 2nds v Newtown 2nds

September 29th – Welshpool 2nds v Aber Uni 2nds
COBRA 2nds v Llanidloes 2nds
Newtown 2nds v Rhayader 2nds

October 6th – COBRA 2nds v Welshpool 2nds
Aber Uni 2nds v Newtown 2nds
Llanidloes 2nds v Rhayader

October 13th – Cup 1st Round

October 20th – Newtown 2nds v Welshpool 2nds
Llanidloes 2nds v Aber Uni 2nds
Rhayader v COBRA 2nds

October 27th – Welshpool 2nds v Llanidloes 2nds
Aber Uni 2nds v Rhayader
COBRA 2nds v Newtown 2nds

November 3rd – Welshpool 2nds v Rhayader
COBRA 2nds v Aber Uni 2nds
Newtown 2nds v Llanidloes 2nds

November 10th – Wales v Argentina

November 16th – Wales v Samoa

November 17th – Aber Uni 2nds v Welshpool 2nds
Llanidloes 2nds v COBRA 2nds
Rhayader v Newtown 2nds

November 24th – Wales v New Zealand

December 1st – Wales v Australia

December 8th – Cup 2nd Round

December 15th – Welshpool 2nds v COBRA 2nds
Newtown 2nds v Aber Uni 2nds
Rhayader v Llanidloes 2nds

December 22nd – Welshpool 2nds v Newtown 2nds
COBRA 2nds v Rhayader 2nds

January 12th – Rhayader v Aber Uni 2nds

January 19th – Shield 1st Round

January 26th – Aber Uni 2nds v Llanidloes 2nds
Newtown 2nds v COBRA 2nds

February 2nd – Wales v Ireland

February 9th – France v Wales

February 16th - Llanidloes 2nds v Welshpool 2nds
Aber Uni 2nds v COBRA 2nds

February 23rd – Italy v Wales

March 2nd – Cup & Shield Semi Finals

March 9th – Scotland v Wales

March 16th – Wales v England

March 30th – League Play-off Semi Finals

April 13th – League Play-off Final

April 27th – Cup & Shield Finals

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MID WALES DISTRICT RUGBY UNION

LEAGUE RULES as at JULY 2012

STRUCTURE
1. The League shall consist of one or more divisions or as determined by the Mid Wales District Rugby Union Committee.
2. Participation in the League will be restricted to the teams of WDRU clubs, the 2nd and 3rd teams of WRU clubs, and any WRU teams who are relegated from the WRU league structure.
3. In the event of any WDRU club gaining WRU status or participating in WRU leagues, that club’s second team will replace their 1st team in the Mid Wales District league.

COMPETITION
4. Teams will play one another at home and away according to the published league programme.
5. Clubs can play matches midweek (normally a Wednesday)
6. League points will be awarded on the basis of 4 points for a win and 2 points to each team in a drawn game. 1 point will be awarded to a losing team, no points will be awarded to a team that forfeits a game.
7. League table will be based on average points scored per match played. A play-off series of games (depending on size of league) will be played during the latter half of the season to decide final league positions.
8. League fixtures will be planned so as to complete routine league games in the first half of a season. This will enable the latter half to be used for cup, shield and play-off games.
9. Matches can be played with 12 to15 equal numbers of players if teams have less than a full complement of players.
10. Opposition extra players or subs. can play for teams with less than 15 players, and can be exchanged at half time if necessary.
11. No penalties will be imposed for non-competitive scrums, team-sheets MUST identify all front-row players to enable monitoring of this rule.
12. Matches will last for 80 minutes (40 minutes each half) plus any time permitted by the referee for delays (Laws of the game 5(iv)). At half time an interval of not more than 10 minutes is allowed.
13. League matches must be played on the dates allocated unless otherwise agreed by the competition secretary. These dates will be decided by the competition secretary and circulated to the club as soon as is practicable.
14. Match results MUST be telephoned or emailed to the competition secretary within 5 days of the match being played. It is the HOME club’s responsibility to telephone or email the result. Failure to do so will result in 3 points being deducted from the responsible club.

POSTPONED, REARRANGED AND ABANDONED MATCHES
15. Rearranged or Postponed Matches – League matches should be played on the allocated dates unless a match is postponed because of ground or weather conditions or the Clubs concerned have mutually agreed to postponement and have received the prior consent of the competition secretary. If the ground of the Home Club is not fit because of weather conditions, or for any other reason unavailable and the away fixture has not yet been played clubs should endeavour to switch the venue to the away club so that the fixture is played on that date.
16. Any postponed league fixture must be rearranged by the clubs, who are required to have rescheduled the fixture date within 14 days of the postponement date. The Competition Secretary must be notified of the rescheduled fixture at least four days prior to the fixture taking place. Failure to do so will result in deduction of 3 league points from possibly both teams. No fixture is to be postponed more than once, otherwise a 3 point league penalty could be imposed on both teams – unless exceptional weather conditions occur.
17. If a team gives 48 hours or more notification of a fixture postponement, then the fixture can be rearranged on a mutually agreeable date. If disagreement on the date, the competition secretary will arbitrate. If a team gives less than 48 hours notice of postponement, that team forfeits points and the game to planned opposition. The postponing team is liable for any costs incurred by the opposing team for food/travel etc that may be imposed. Any dispute in respect of such cancellation, postponement or rearrangement shall be immediately referred to the League Management Committee.
18. Postponed Mid Wales District Cup matches will take precedence over league matches when postponed or abandoned matches are rearranged.
19. When ground or weather demand, and if requested to do so, an opportunity MUST be given to an official representative of the visiting club, a WRU or WDRU referee living locally or an officer of the MWDRU to view the situation in sufficient time to allow matches to be postponed to prevent unnecessary travelling. Clubs should undertake ground inspections no earlier than three hours before the scheduled kick off time except in cases where an earlier inspection is required to prevent an away club undertaking a long journey or in cases where the match referee is travelling from a long distance.
20. Should the clubs disagree on the condition of the ground, the matter must be referred to the referee whose decision will be binding on both clubs.
21. The ONLY exception to rules 15 and 16 will be when a Club’s ground is council owned and the game has been postponed by the Council.
22. Abandoned matches – Once 60 minutes has been played the result will stand if a match has to be abandoned. The referee is to be the sole judge of the amount of time to be played.
23. Official notification of the match postponed or abandoned before full-time must be communicated to the competition secretary by 11.00am on the following Sunday morning. All such matches may be played at the original venue or at a venue determined by the home club. Any league fixture which has been abandoned must be rearranged by the clubs and a rearranged date must be agreed within 14 days of the original date. The clubs must notify the competition secretary of the new fixture date at least four days prior to the match being played.

PROTESTS AND DISPUTES
24. Protests or disputes arising out of these MWDRU League competition or the rules relating thereto must be made in writing to the Secretary of the Mid Wales District Rugby Union. No protest or dispute relating to matches played in the competition will be entertained if made more than 10 days after the match in question has taken place.
25. The League Management Committee shall have discretion to investigate any breach of rules at any time and to take such action as it shall deem appropriate.
26. Any club dissatisfied with a decision of the League Management Committee shall have the right to appeal to a sub committee appointed by the MWDRU General Committee provided that the club’s appeal is lodged in writing with the Secretary of MWDRU within 14 days of the League Management Committee’s decision being received in writing by the Secretary of the Club.

PENALTIES
27. Any club failing to comply with the rules of the Mid Wales District League shall, if found by the League Management Committee to be in default, be penalised by the deduction of three league points.
28. Where any club has been found to have included an ineligible player(s), that is a player who is not registered with a club, the League Management Committee shall have the power to penalise the offending side further by the loss of any league points and scores it may have accrued during the match, and expunge the result from the league table.
29. An official representative of both home and visiting teams will hand to the referee a team and replacement sheet prior to the kick off. Only those players named on the list will be eligible to play in the match. An official representative of each Club has the right to examine their opponents team sheet before the match. A club wishing to make an objection will bring it to the notice of the referee who will record the same. The club raising the objection will bring it to the notice of the MWDRU within 10 days.
30. Any club breaking above rules or found to be acting against the spirit and aim of these changes will be asked to explain itself before a full M.W.D.R.U. Committee hearing and face an appropriate penalty.

MATCH OFFICIALS
31. Shall be appointed by the MWDRU Referees’ Appointments Secretary for all matches. In the event of a referee shortage, it is the home club’s responsibility to appoint an official for the game. Both teams must agree to the appointed official in the event of a referee shortage.

ADJUDICATION
32. The League Management Committee shall have discretion in dealing with any protest or dispute relating to the MWDRU League, whether or not provided for in this scheme or rules.
33. The League Management Committee of the MWDRU shall comprise of the Chairman, Vice-Chairman, District Union Secretary and District Competition Secretary. In the case of a dispute between teams the League Management Committee shall have the right to co-opt additional members as appropriate.
34. The League Management Committee shall have the power to recommend sanctions against clubs but such sanctions shall be approved by the MWDRU General Committee before becoming effective.

ELIGIBILITY OF PLAYERS
35. No player may represent a club in the league unless he is a registered playing member of that club, he is on loan to the club, or a permit has been granted for him to play.
36. A player has to be registered with a club and his registration must be notified to the MWDRU and named on the team sheet submitted by the Club to the referee prior to the match before he is eligible to play for a club in the MWDRU league.
37. A club may register two overseas players who will be eligible to play in the MWDRU league (an overseas player will be one who has no right to work in the UK other than by application for a work permit, and is not qualified to play for Wales).
38. Clubs will be required to register all players likely to represent them in league fixtures by 1st of September each year. Any subsequent registrations for individual players must reach the Competition Secretary, in writing or fax, prior to the player concerned taking part in a league game.
39. Up to Three 1st team players will be allowed to play in M.W.D.R.U. League games for a 2nds. team provided no other eligible players are available. This will be closely monitored by an insistence that ALL CLUBS submit a team-sheet to the referee before the start of a game. Referees will forward these sheets, which will also include the final score, to the M.W.D.R.U. Competition Secretary.
40. No player is eligible to play for a club in the MWDRU league if he transfers or registers after 31st January in any year, unless he is a member of the club’s youth team who has attained the age of 18.
41. A player who transfers in the period between the beginning of the season and 31st January will be eligible immediately to play for his new club in the MWDRU league provided a properly completed transfer form is received by the competition secretary at least seven days prior to match kick-off time.
42. A club with which a player is registered may loan that player to another club on the agreement of the clubs concerned and the player. The loan scheme will operate as follows:
a. When the loan has been registered with the competition secretary the player will be eligible to play in MWDRU league matches for the club which has taken him on loan provided the competition secretary was notified five days before the match in which he is first required by that club.
b. A player may be loaned for a minimum of one month and a maximum period of three months.
c. A player may be loaned to only one club a season.
d. A club may take no more than two players on loan at any one time.
e. The club to which a player is loaned will have responsibility to insure the player in case of injury to cover loss of earnings and medical expenses.
f. No overseas player may be loaned.

PERMITS
43. In any MWDRU league match a club may play two players on permit in any position, if a club requires a third or fourth player on permit, they may be used if those players are recognised front row players. No overseas player may play on permit.
44. A permit must be sought for each match in which a player plays and such permit may be granted for a match at any time in the season but must be notified to the competition secretary prior to the match in which the player is required.
45. No loan player may be allowed to play for another club on permit.


REPLACEMENTS
46. In the MWDRU league, no more than four replacements may be named. If a club does name four replacements, five of the 19 players and replacements must be capable of playing in front row positions. A club may play without named replacements.
47. For the Cup and Shield FINALS only, SIX replacements will be allowed.


MID WALES DISTRICT XV
48. No league fixtures will be played on dates when the MWDRU representative side are playing in competition.

CUP MATCHES
49. If at the end of normal time in a cup match the teams are level on scores, the following will decide the outcome:-
50. An extra 10 minutes of added time will be played each way
51. If still level scores, the team who has scored most tries will win
52. If still level, the team who has scored most converted tries will win
53. If still level, 5 different players from each team take part in a penalty kick out from the mid-point of the 22 meter line.
54. If still level, different players from each team take part in a penalty kick out from the mid-point of the 22 meter line in turn, the first team to miss will lose the game.