The behaviour charter outlines expectations for institutions, staff, players and spectators to prevent incidents of poor behaviour ©BUCS

A behaviour charter has been established for university rugby union in Britain in a bid to stamp out bullying and anti-social activity in the sport.

British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) has announced the launch of the "Higher Education Behaviours Charter - Protect Our Game" initiative before the start of the 2023-2024 rugby union season.

The charter has been created to outline expectations for institutions, staff, players and spectators to prevent incidents of poor behaviour and give those affected a platform to confidential report any issues.

It comes after BUCS found that there had been "several unacceptable instances" last season that "hastened the need for action".

BUCS said that the charter aimed to "highlight the unacceptable nature of the likes of bullying and coercion in the name of initiations, anti-social activity by higher education rugby union clubs and abuse of match officials, spectators and opponents".

Webinars were hosted by BUCS on September 14 and 21 where the charter was outlined to members.

BUCS said that there had been
BUCS said that there had been "several unacceptable instances" last season that had led to the charter being created ©BUCS

"It has been excellent working collaboratively with all partners to be able to implement the behaviour charter," said Sam-Bell Minogue, director of delivery for BUCS.

"Our collective aim to improve the experience of rugby union for all, both on and off the pitch is one of passion and importance and we hope this will absolutely have impact both in the short and long term."

The charter has been launched in collaboration with the Rugby Football Union (RFU), Scottish Rugby, the Students' Rugby Football Union and the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU).

The expectations for players include recognising that "banter can become bullying behaviour", accepting victory and defeat with "dignity" and challenging negative language and behaviours.

Spectators are also expected to adhere to the BUCS guidelines including reporting any anti-social behaviour and being respectful towards all players and coaching staff.

"Rugby union is a game to be enjoyed by all and Scottish Rugby is pleased to be supporting BUCS alongside the RFU and WRU in the delivery of protect our game campaign," said Vicky Cox, head of competitions and compliance at Scottish Rugby.

"The values and behaviours shown by those involved in our game reflect on our sport as a whole.

"It is important that we work together to uphold these values to positively influence the culture in student sport to stamp out negative behaviours."

The behaviour charter can be found here.