Age Band for Age Grade (Playing Up) Dispensation (NZ)

Q: How does the New Zealand Rugby Age Band for Age Grade (Playing Up) Dispensation procedure work in Rugby Xplorer?


Age Bands for Age Grade (Playing Up) Dispensation Process 

  1. Player registers to their club
  2. Club admin can send player an email to start the process
  3. Player submits consent form through their Rugby Xplorer Portal
  4. Club admins approve/decline the consent form request
    • If approved, Provincial Unions receive email confirmation and can assign assessing coach
    • If declined, process stops and the player is notified
  5. Assessing Coach completes online assessment form through their Rugby Xplorer Portal and “submits” to the Provincial Union
  6. Provincial Union looks at recommendation and adds appropriate dispensation to Players member record
    • If dispensation = yes, player can be added to squads outside of their eligible age.
    • If dispensation = no, player can only be added to squads of their eligible age.

Club Admin

Club admins should download their Registration Report to compare the age grade requested and the player’s actual age and/or weight.

  1. Club Admin > Members > Member Assessments & Consent Forms
  2. Click “Start Dispensation”
  3. Search for registered member by ID or name
  4. Select member, click “next”
  5. Select required dispensation from dropdown
  6. Click “Send Email”

Player receives the email, Dispensation Request for Rugby Participation.

Dear [player name],


Your club admin has identified that you require a dispensation to participate in rugby activities this season.


You are required to submit a [dispensation type] consent form and begin the process, found here.


Once the consent form is received by your Competition Manager, an assessing coach will be assigned to you and/or dispensation record updated to reflect participating grade.


For additional information regarding New Zealand Rugby policies please visit our Policies webpage https://www.nzrugby.co.nz/privacy-policy.


Rugby Xplorer Team

Your Rugby Connection


Player submits consent form through Rugby Xplorer Portal

  1. Rugby Xplorer Portal > Consent Forms > Age Bands for Age Grade (Playing Up) Dispensation
  2. Registered members who meet the age requirements will appear
  3. Click “Submit”
  4. Read and complete the consent form
  5. Click “Submit”

Club admins review Consent Form

Club admins will receive an email notification once a consent form has been submitted, Age Bands for Age Grade (Playing Up) Dispensation – Club Approval. 


The following player has requested an Age Bands for Age Grade (Playing Up) Dispensation. 


NZ ID: XX

Player Name: XX

Player DOB: XX

Club: XX


Please log into the admin portal to update the status of this Age Bands for Age Grade (Playing Up) Dispensation request.


This notification has been generated from Rugby Xplorer. Please do not reply to this email.


Rugby Xplorer Team

Your Rugby Connection


Club admins have the option of approving or declining the consent form.

  1. If the consent form is approved, the process continues through to the provincial unions.
  2. If the consent form is declined, the process stops.

Process for review:

  1. Club Admin > Members > Member Assessments & Consent Forms
  2. Click into request
  3. Select ‘Approved’ or ‘Declined’ from status dropdown
  4. Click “Update Consent Status”

Provincial Unions

Provincial Unions will receive an email if the club approves the consent form, Age Bands for Age Grade (Playing Up) Dispensation – Club Approval.


The following player has requested an Age Grade dispensation and club admins have reviewed the request.

NZ ID: XX

Player Name: XX

Player DOB: XX

Consent Status: approved

Club: XX, approved


Please log into the admin portal to assign assessing coach if approved. This request has been finalised if declined.


This notification has been generated from Rugby Xplorer. Please do not reply to this email.


Rugby Xplorer Team

Your Rugby Connection


Provincial Union admins can assign assessing coaches.

  1. Provincial Union admin > Members > Member Assessments & Consent Forms
  2. Click into request
  3. Search for assessing coach
  4. Click on coach

Note, coaches must be registered in the current season.


Assessing Coaches

Assessing Coaches receive an email notification they have been assigned to a player assessment, Member Assessment.


Dear [assessing coach name],


You have been assigned as the assessing coach for [player name]  request for [dispensation].


If there is not a scheduled time to complete this assessment, please contact the parent/ guardian to arrange a suitable time.


Please complete the Assessing Coach form here.


Club contact details

Name: XX

Email: XX


Rugby Xplorer Team

Your Rugby Connection


Assessing coach needs to complete their assessment via their Rugby Xplorer Portal

  1. Rugby Xplorer Portal > Assessing Coach Forms > Age Bands for Age Grade (Playing Up) Dispensation
  2. Select player from dropdown list
  3. Complete assessment
  4. Options to:
    • “Save”, option to complete later
    • “Submit”, finalises the assessment

Provincial Union

Provincial Unions will receive an email once the assessing coach has submitted their assessment, Member Assessment.


An [Dispensation] assessment form has been submitted


Player Name: XX

NZ ID: XX

Club: Allandale XX

Coach Assessor: XX


Please review and add dispensations against the member’s record.


Rugby Xplorer Team

Your Rugby Connection


If the assessing coach has not recommended the dispensation, the member assessment status changes to “Completed”.

If the assessing coach has recommended the dispensation, the member assessment status changes to “Pending medical”.

  • Provincial Unions can “request medical certificate” and this will send an email to the player, Dispensation - Medical Certificate.
  • Once Provincial Unions have received the medical certificate, they can tick “medical clearance sighted”. This changes the member assessment status to “completed”.

Dear [player name],


An [Dispensation] Assessment for [player name] at [club name] is pending a medical certificate.


Please seek medical advice and provide a completed medical certificate to your Provincial Union admin, form available here www.rugby.com.au/medical-form.


If you have any questions, please contact your Competition Manager directly.


Yours in Rugby,

Rugby Xplorer Team


Provincial Unions will also need to add the dispensation to the member’s record. For more information on this process click here. 

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