RFU have investigated 141 cases of adult misconduct, including ‘serious, harmful sexual behaviour’

A total of 141 cases involving adults and children were investigated by the RFU’s safeguarding team during the course of last season in England.

It is not known how many of the incidents involved London clubs though some of the cases nationwide were reported to be cases of “serious, harmful sexual behaviour”, the number of which was not revealed.

The issue was discussed in an RFU Council meeting in October but only came to light in a report in The Guardian newspaper today.

In the wake of a growing number of abuse cases in football, it shows rugby is not without its own problems although its chief executive Ian Ritchie said that no one had yet come forward with instances of historical abuse in the sport.

Ritchie said: “It comes down to openness and accessibility and have we got a system and process that is open for people bringing their concerns to us, as we should? I hope nobody would be discouraged from bringing those forward — quite the opposite.”

The RFU said in a statement: “The RFU are committed to safeguarding the welfare of children in rugby.

“Typically we deal with around 140 incidents per year, of which a very small number relate to allegations concerning sexual incidents.”