Who we are and how to contact us

www.englandrugby.com is a website operated by the Rugby Football Union (RFU, we, us). We are a society established under the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014 with registered number IP27981R whose registered office is at Rugby House, Twickenham Stadium, 200 Whitton Road, Twickenham, Middlesex TW2 7BA, United Kingdom.

To contact us, please email legal@rfu.com.

By using our website you accept these terms

By using our website, you confirm that you accept these terms of use and that you agree to comply with them.
If you do not agree to these terms of use, you must not use our website.
We recommend that you print a copy of these terms for reference.

There are other terms that may apply to you

These terms of use refer to the following additional terms, which also apply to your use of our website:

• Our Privacy Policies, which can be found here: https://www.englandrugby.com/about-rfu/rfu-policies/privacy-policy.
• Our Acceptable Use Policy, which can be found below as part of these terms of use. This sets out the permitted uses and prohibited uses of our website. When using our website, you must also comply with the Acceptable Use Policy.
• Our Cookies Policy, which can be found here: https://www.englandrugby.com/about-rfu/rfu-policies/cookie-policy. This sets out information about the cookies on our website.

We may make changes to these terms

We may amend these terms from time to time. Every time you wish to use our website, please check these terms to ensure you understand the terms that apply at that time. These terms were most recently updated in January 2022.

We may make changes to our website

We may update and change our website from time to time to reflect changes to our users' needs and the RFU’s priorities.

We may suspend or withdraw our website

Our website is made available free of charge.
We do not guarantee that our website, or any content on it, will always be available or be uninterrupted. We may suspend or withdraw or restrict the availability of all or any part of our website for business and operational reasons.
You are also responsible for ensuring that all persons who access our website through your internet connection are aware of these terms of use and other applicable terms and conditions, and that they comply with them.

We may transfer this agreement to someone else

We may transfer our rights and obligations under these terms to another organisation. We will always tell you if this happens and we will ensure that the transfer will not affect your rights under these terms.

How you may use material on our website

We are the owner or the licensee of all intellectual property rights in our website, and in the material published on it. Those works are protected by copyright laws and treaties around the world. All such rights are reserved.
You may print off one copy, and may download extracts, of any page(s) from our website for your personal use and you may draw the attention of others within your organisation to content posted on our website.
You must not modify the paper or digital copies of any materials you have printed off or downloaded in any way, and you must not use any illustrations, photographs, video or audio sequences or any graphics separately from any accompanying text.
Our status (and that of any identified contributors) as the authors of content on our website must always be acknowledged (except where the content is user-generated).
You must not use any part of the content on our website for commercial purposes without obtaining a licence to do so from us or our licensors.
If you print off, copy, download, share or repost any part of our website in breach of these terms of use, your right to use our website will cease immediately and you must, at our option, return or destroy any copies of the materials you have made.

No text or data mining, or web scraping

You shall not conduct, facilitate, authorise or permit any text or data mining or web scraping in relation to our website or any services provided via, or in relation to, our website. This includes using (or permitting, authorising or attempting the use of):

• Any "robot", "bot", "spider", "scraper" or other automated device, program, tool, algorithm, code, process or methodology to access, obtain, copy, monitor or republish any portion of the website or any data, content, information or services accessed via the same.
• Any automated analytical technique aimed at analysing text and data in digital form to generate information which includes but is not limited to patterns, trends and correlations.

The provisions in this clause should be treated as an express reservation of our rights in this regard, including for the purposes of Article 4(3) of Digital Copyright Directive ((EU) 2019/790).
This clause shall not apply insofar as (but only to the extent that) we are unable to exclude or limit text or data mining or web scraping activity by contract under the laws which are applicable to us.

Do not rely on information on this website

The content on our website is provided for general information only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our website.
Although we make reasonable efforts to update the information on our website, we make no representations, warranties or guarantees, whether express or implied, that the content on our website is accurate, complete or up to date.

We are not responsible for websites we link to

Where our website contains links to other sites and resources provided by third parties, these links are provided for your information only. Such links should not be interpreted as approval by us of those linked websites or information you may obtain from them.
We have no control over the contents of those sites or resources.

User-generated content is not approved by us

This website may include information and materials uploaded by other users of the website. This information and these materials have not been verified or approved by us. The views expressed by other users on our website do not represent our views or values.

How to complain about content uploaded by other users

If you wish to complain about content uploaded by other users, please contact us at legal@rfu.com.

Our responsibility for loss or damage suffered by you

Whether you are a consumer or a business user:

• We do not exclude or limit in any way our liability to you where it would be unlawful to do so. This includes liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence or the negligence of our employees, agents or subcontractors and for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation.

If you are a business user:

• We exclude all implied conditions, warranties, representations or other terms that may apply to our website or any content on it.
• We will not be liable to you for any loss or damage, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), breach of statutory duty, or otherwise, even if foreseeable, arising under or in connection with:
• use of, or inability to use, our website; or
• use of or reliance on any content displayed on our website.
• In particular, we will not be liable for:
• loss of profits, sales, business, or revenue;
• business interruption;
• loss of anticipated savings;
• loss of business opportunity, goodwill or reputation; or
• any indirect or consequential loss or damage.

If you are a consumer user:

• Please note that we only provide our website for domestic and private use. You agree not to use our website for any commercial or business purposes, and we have no liability to you for any loss of profit, loss of business, business interruption, or loss of business opportunity.
• If defective digital content that we have supplied, damages a device or digital content belonging to you and this is caused by our failure to use reasonable care and skill, we will either repair the damage or pay you compensation.

How we may use your personal information

We will only use your personal information as set out in our Privacy Policies, which can be found here: https://www.englandrugby.com/about-rfu/rfu-policies/privacy-policy.

Uploading content to our website

Whenever you make use of a feature that allows you to upload content to our website, or to make contact with other users of our website, you must comply with the content standards set out in our Acceptable Use Policy, which can be found below.

You warrant that any such contribution does comply with those standards, and you will be liable to us and indemnify us for any breach of that warranty. This means you will be responsible for any loss or damage we suffer as a result of your breach of warranty.

Any content you upload to our website will be considered non-confidential and non-proprietary. You retain all of your ownership rights in your content, but you are required to grant us a limited licence to use, store and copy that content and to distribute and make it available to third parties as required. The rights you license to us are described below in Rights you are giving us to use material you upload.

We also have the right to disclose your identity to any third party who is claiming that any content posted or uploaded by you to our website constitutes a violation of their intellectual property rights, or of their right to privacy.

We have the right to remove any posting you make on our website if, in our opinion, your post does not comply with the content standards set out in our Acceptable Use Policy.
You are solely responsible for securing and backing up your content.

We do not store terrorist content.

Rights you are giving us to use material you upload

When you upload or post content to our website, you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, transferable licence to use, reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works of, display, and perform that user-generated content in connection with the services provided by the website and across different media including to promote the website or the service indefinitely.

We are not responsible for viruses and you must not introduce them

We do not guarantee that our website will be secure or free from bugs or viruses.
You are responsible for configuring your information technology, computer programmes and platform to access our website. You should use your own virus protection software.

You must not misuse our website by knowingly introducing viruses, trojans, worms, logic bombs or other material that is malicious or technologically harmful. You must not attempt to gain unauthorised access to our website, the server on which our website is stored or any server, computer or database connected to our website. You must not attack our website via a denial-of-service attack or a distributed denial-of service attack. By breaching this provision, you would commit a criminal offence under the Computer Misuse Act 1990. We will report any such breach to the relevant law enforcement authorities and we will co-operate with those authorities by disclosing your identity to them. In the event of such a breach, your right to use our website will cease immediately.

Rules about linking to our website

You may link to our home page, provided you do so in a way that is fair and legal and does not damage our reputation or take advantage of it.

You must not establish a link in such a way as to suggest any form of association, approval or endorsement on our part where none exists.

You must not establish a link to our website in any website that is not owned by you.

Our website must not be framed on any other website, nor may you create a link to any part of our website other than the home page.

We reserve the right to withdraw linking permission without notice.

The website in which you are linking must comply in all respects with the content standards set out in our Acceptable Use.

Which country's laws apply to any disputes?

If you are a consumer, please note that these terms of use, their subject matter and their formation, are governed by English law. You and we both agree that the courts of England and Wales will have exclusive jurisdiction except that if you are a resident of Northern Ireland you may also bring proceedings in Northern Ireland, and if you are resident of Scotland, you may also bring proceedings in Scotland.

If you are a business, these terms of use, their subject matter and their formation (and any non-contractual disputes or claims) are governed by English law. We both agree to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.

Acceptable Use Policy

Prohibited uses

You may not use our website:

• In any way that breaches any applicable local, national or international law or regulation.
• In any way that is unlawful or fraudulent or has any unlawful or fraudulent purpose or effect.
• For the purpose of harming or attempting to harm minors in any way.
• To bully, insult, intimidate or humiliate any person.
• To send, knowingly receive, upload, download, use or re-use any material which does not comply with our content standards below.
• To transmit, or procure the sending of, any unsolicited or unauthorised advertising or promotional material or any other form of similar solicitation (spam).
• To knowingly transmit any data, send or upload any material that contains viruses, Trojan horses, worms, time-bombs, keystroke loggers, spyware, adware or any other harmful programs or similar computer code designed to adversely affect the operation of any computer software or hardware.
• To upload terrorist content.

You also agree not to access without authority, interfere with, damage or disrupt:
 any part of our website;

• any equipment or network on which our website is stored; 
• any software used in the provision of our website; or 
• any equipment or network or software owned or used by any third party.

Interactive services

We may from time to time provide interactive services on our website, including without limitation feedback tools and services (interactive services).

Where we do provide any interactive service, we will provide clear information to you about the kind of service offered, if it is moderated and what form of moderation is used (including whether it is human or technical).

We will do our best to assess any possible risks for users (and in particular, for children) from third parties when they use any interactive service provided on our website, and we will decide in each case whether it is appropriate to use moderation of the relevant service (including what kind of moderation to use) in the light of those risks. However, we are under no obligation to oversee, monitor or moderate any interactive service we provide on our website, and we expressly exclude our liability for any loss or damage arising from the use of any interactive service by a user in contravention of our content standards, whether the service is moderated or not. 

The use of any of our interactive services by a minor is subject to the consent of their parent or guardian. We advise parents who permit their children to use an interactive service that it is important that they communicate with their children about their safety online, as moderation is not fool proof. Minors who are using any interactive service should be made aware of the potential risks to them. 

Where we do moderate an interactive service, we will normally provide you with a means of contacting the moderator, should a concern or difficulty arise.

Content standards

These content standards apply to any and all material which you contribute to our website (Contribution), and to any interactive services associated with it. 

The Content Standards must be complied with in spirit as well as to the letter. The standards apply to each part of any Contribution as well as to its whole. The RFU will determine, in its discretion, whether a Contribution breaches the Content Standards.

A Contribution must:

• Be accurate (where it states facts).
• Be genuinely held (where it states opinions).
• Comply with the law applicable in England and Wales and in any country from which it is posted.

A Contribution must not:

• Be defamatory of any person.
• Be obscene, offensive, hateful or inflammatory.
• Bully, insult, intimidate or humiliate.
• Promote sexually explicit material.
• Include child sexual abuse material.
• Promote violence.
• Promote discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age.
• Infringe any copyright, database right or trade mark of any other person.
• Be likely to deceive any person.
• Breach any legal duty owed to a third party, such as a contractual duty or a duty of confidence.
• Promote any illegal content or activity.
• Be in contempt of court.
• Be threatening, abuse or invade another's privacy, or cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety.
• Be likely to harass, upset, embarrass, alarm or annoy any other person.
• Impersonate any person or misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person.
• Give the impression that the Contribution emanates from the RFU, if this is not the case.
• Advocate, promote, incite any party to commit, or assist any unlawful or criminal act such as (by way of example only) copyright infringement or computer misuse.
• Contain a statement which you know or believe, or have reasonable grounds for believing, that members of the public to whom the statement is, or is to be, published are likely to understand as a direct or indirect encouragement or other inducement to the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism.
• Contain any advertising or promote any services or web links to other sites.

Breach of this Acceptable Use Policy

When we consider that a breach of this acceptable use policy has occurred, we may take such action as we deem appropriate.  

Failure to comply with this acceptable use policy constitutes a material breach of our terms of use upon which you are permitted to use our website, and may result in our taking all or any of the following actions:

• Immediate, temporary or permanent withdrawal of your right to use our website.
• Immediate, temporary or permanent removal of any Contribution uploaded by you to our website.
• Issue of a warning to you.
• Legal proceedings against you for reimbursement of all costs on an indemnity basis (including, but not limited to, reasonable administrative and legal costs) resulting from the breach.
• Further legal action against you.
• Disclosure of such information to law enforcement authorities as we reasonably feel is necessary or as required by law.

We exclude our liability for all action we may take in response to breaches of this acceptable use policy. The actions we may take are not limited to those described above, and we may take any other action we reasonably deem appropriate.