Your February Touchline has good new stories galore, with the RFU launching the first Artificial Grass Pitches at Preston Grasshoppers, Aylesbury and Hornets RFCs and Sport England investing £12.6m of National Lottery and Government funding in the RFU’s rugby programmes.

More than 1,000 women also joined Inner Warrior Camps, aimed at encouraging more women and girls to take up the game. And company Managing Director Chris Ross presents a £10,000 cheque to the RFU’s Injured Player Foundation after the charity “appeared like magic and couldn’t do enough for us” when son Alex suffered a serious head injury.

Artificial Grass Pitches unveiled
Lancashire, Buckinghamshire and Somerset are the first three locations to benefit from a RFU Rugby 365 floodlit artificial grass pitch (AGP).
The pitches are part of the RFU’s commitment to invest £47m over four years into 100 AGPs across England.

Sport England investment
England Rugby has been awarded £12.6 million Sport England funding to help grow rugby participation.
Sport England acknowledged the RFU’s successful CBRE All Schools programme which has, to date, worked with 500 state schools without a tradition of playing rugby.

1,000 women become Warriors
Over 1,000 women have taken part in Warrior Camps as part of the Meet Your Inner Warrior campaign aimed at introducing more women to the game.
Ambassador Chloe Madeley attended one of the sessions, trying her hand at rugby for the first time.

Mitsubishi Motors' Heroes
England Rugby and Mitsubishi Motors UK have launched the Mitsubishi Motors Volunteer of the Year Awards, forming part of the new Volunteer Recognition Programme. The programme provides opportunities to recognise and reward the volunteers who make up an integral part of the game.