Rugby clubs recruiting players in United Kingdom
43 clubs in United Kingdom are recruiting through Rugby Unlocked, with 7 open vacancies right now. 26 offer housing, 12 help with visas and 37 help players find work. Every club below has a public profile you can read before you apply. Applying is free for players.
Playing club rugby in the United Kingdom
- Season
- Club rugby runs from early September to the end of April in England, Wales and Scotland. The RFU's regulations for 2026/27 took effect on 1 August 2026.
- Leagues
- England: Prem Rugby (10 clubs), Champ Rugby (14), National 1 (14), three National 2 leagues, six Regional 1 leagues, twelve Regional 2 leagues, then Counties leagues. Wales: the semi-professional Super Rygbi Cymru (10 clubs) above a 29-division National League. Clubs on this page that list "United Kingdom" as their country sit at every one of those levels.
- Visa
- A Standard Visitor (£135, up to six months) may join an amateur club to gain experience in a sport but cannot be paid or take work. Australians, New Zealanders and Canadians aged 18 to 30, or 35 for some countries, can use the Youth Mobility Scheme (£340 plus the health surcharge) to live and work for up to 24 months, though not as a professional sportsperson. Paid rugby needs the International Sportsperson route and a governing body endorsement.
- Registration
- The RFU sets no cap on overseas players. It requires a Clearance from the player's current union, and at National 2 and above a player not born in the UK who is paid must show a visa that permits payment; a visa that allows only amateur sport is not enough. At Regional 1 and below an amateur player needs no immigration documents unless the registrar asks.
- Clearance
- World Rugby Regulation 4: a player leaving one union to play in another cannot be registered or play until the new union has received a Clearance from the old one. Ask your current club and union for it before you travel; it stays valid until replaced by a later one.
Most players arriving from Australia, New Zealand, Canada or South Africa come on the Youth Mobility Scheme, which allows work but not professional sport. That fits the game below National 2, where the RFU expects amateurs and does not ask for immigration papers. Above that line a club paying a player has to show the registrar a visa that allows it, and a match fee on a visitor visa ends the registration.
Clubs describe their country in their own words, so some English and Welsh clubs appear on this page and others on the England and Wales pages. Check all three before you decide where to apply.
Read on from RFU, Regulation 6 Appendix 2: men's competition structure (updated 30 July 2026), RFU, Regulation 14: adult player registration (effective 1 August 2026), GOV.UK, Standard Visitor visa, GOV.UK, Immigration Rules Appendix Visitor: permitted activities, GOV.UK, Youth Mobility Scheme visa, GOV.UK, Immigration Rules Appendix International Sportsperson, World Rugby, Regulation 4 (player movement and clearances).