ENGLAND rugby star Mark Cueto spent an afternoon getting muddy with police officers and community support officers from north Worcestershire as he helped train them to teach tag rugby sessions to children.

West Mercia Police is a leading organisation in the Rugby Football Union’s (RFU) far-reaching community tag rugby programme, which is delivered across England in conjunction with YAZOO and The Child Victims of Crime (CVOC).

Tag rugby is West Mercia Police’s youth diversion and engagement activity of choice and is widening the programme even further – CVOC has paid for 47 staff to be trained.

Officers from Wyre Forest, Redditch and Bromsgrove joined others from across the force to spend a wet afternoon at King’s Norton Rugby Club getting tips from Mark Cueto RFU officials.

The England winger said: “Kids see big hits and collisions in rugby on TV and that can be frightening. Tag rugby takes that element out of it but they still learn the fundamentals of the game which are essential if they are going to carry on with the sport. It’s also a fun way of learning some very important messages.”

The scheme encourages children to participate in sport, pursue healthier lifestyles and in particular prevent them from becoming victims of crime through the ‘Tackle Safety’ programme.

West Mercia Police deputy chief constable David Shaw, who attended the session, said: “If through the efforts of the RFU, CVOC and our officers, we can make even a few children safer – turn them away from crime when they might otherwise have gone in that direction – or inspire them to join the police or become role models themselves, then this is time well invested.”