BUCS Rules & Regulations

The BUCS University Rugby League competition is managed by BUCS on behalf of the RFL. 

For a full list of BUCS Competition rules and regulations and sports specific rules please click here. 

Registration/Match Day Process

Please refer to the University RL 2026/27 Registration Process document at the bottom of this page.

Match Officials

A new system will be introduced for appointing referees to BUCS Rugby League fixtures. All appointments will be made through Gameday, the RFL’s matchday administration system. Teams must ensure they have at least one registered GameDay Administrator. Guidance on how to gain access can be found here - Access to GameDay. Teams will be responsible for checking Gameday and making direct contact with their appointed Match Official to confirm the venue and kick off time.

Discipline Process

Any dismissals will be dealt with through the RFL disciplinary process. Where a Penalty Notice is issued, the club will receive the match official’s report and details of the sanction, together with information on how to accept or challenge the notice. Any challenge will be considered by an RFL Disciplinary Panel. Suspensions will also apply to any community club rugby the player participates.

Affiliation Fees

Invoices for affiliation fees will be issued by the RFL Finance Team. The deadline for making payment is the 12th October 2026 so please ensure payment is received by that point, as failure to do so may result in sanctions being imposed by BUCS.

Insurance

Insurance cover is provided via the RFL’s central policy and includes Public Liability, Personal Accident and Death by Natural Causes. Further details of what the policy covers can be found here.

Teams should seek to rearrange any postponed fixture as soon as possible following its original scheduled date.

Leaving postponed fixtures until the end of the season may mean that there is insufficient time to play them, which could result in the fixtures being forfeited.

Your RFL Competition Administrator is Joanne Phelan (Joanne.Phelan@rfl.co.uk)