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The Black Rugby Community

To mark the start of Black History Month, the co-founder of The Black Rugby Community talks about how this year's theme directly applies to their teams' aims both on and off the pitch.

1st October 2026

by Frank Sackey
Co-founder, The Black Rugby Community

Rugby is a sport that has historically divided the classes. 

While rugby league was forced into professionalism in 1895 due to the need for workers to be compensated for losing work while participating, rugby union remained an amateur sport and became exclusive to those who could afford to participate. 

This continues to shape the culture today, with rugby union being a sport predominantly played in England by the white middle classes and by those who had the liberty to traditionally shape the sporting heritage in this country. 

A group of people smile while on an indoors event.

But the aim of The Black Rugby Community (BRC) is to change that. 

We are made of people from two different teams – Black Girls Ruck (BGR) and the Old Downbadians (ODB) – coming together to achieve something bigger than ourselves.

Our joint aim is to reshape the culture in rugby and, through that, to open doors and opportunities to the Black community who may not see themselves within the sport. 

BGR is a community built from a podcast about the Black experience, while ODB is a group chat-turned-rugby team, and we both realised the mutual benefits that collaboration between the two organisations would bring.

Together we help to support the entire community regardless of class, gender or location, by increasing the footprint of the Black community throughout all facets of the game, and by building a larger platform of people that share both a culture and a love for the sport.

This is achieved by providing role models, relatability and support, all of which allows people to not only see, but also feel, that their culture is welcome in the sport. 

Our joint aim is to reshape the culture in rugby and through that, to open doors and opportunities to the Black community who may not see themselves within the sport.

Historical personal experiences influence our work too. I’m talking about things like being the only Black player on our team, feeling outside of the social norms when it came to the music in the changing rooms, the post-match food, or the experience of having to withdraw from your true self to fit into the club you play for.

These are the kinds of experiences that resonate with many of our members.

But in reality they go beyond the ‘anecdote categories’ and truly highlight the need for a space where people feel free to be themselves while also feeling welcome both on and around the rugby fields. 

The aim of the The Black Rugby Community is to truly honour our Black rugby players and to take up space within the sport, showing Black players that they are welcome within it.

We also want to show the world that the Black culture can exist within the sport, breaking the mould of traditionalism that rugby represents. 

Players from the Black Girls Ruck rugby team pose together on an outdoors pitch

When we think of culture, we think of the way that people interact, the way that people dress and the lens through which people experience the world. 

In our case, it begins on arrival, with an on-field and off-field kit that’s bright and colourful, showcasing representations and references of Afro-Caribbean culture throughout, and with an environment that welcomes new and current players and spectators alike. 

We bring music so players and supporters can dance and feel involved in the atmosphere the group creates around the playing field. 

It continues with ethics, furthering the RFU’s values of ‘teamwork, respect, enjoyment, discipline and sportsmanship’. 

The value of ‘Enjoyment’ particularly resonates with the Black Rugby Community and encompasses everything that we do, from the food, to the camaraderie, all the way to the way we play the sport. 

Through this, we show appreciation to our heritage and use it to express ourselves through rugby, challenging the cultural norms and using the sport as a platform for building bridges and creating acceptance within it, as well as beyond.

There are no current statistics to study the numbers of Black players within England Rugby’s community game, but Black Girls Ruck and the Old Downbadians fill a gap that we feel was needed. 

We strive to represent, honour and celebrate the Black community, and we want to provide visibility for the outside world to see that there is a Black community in the rugby world who just want to be a part of the sport like everyone else, but that also want to be accepted as they are. 

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