The Rugby Football Union have announced that Prince Harry has joined their bid to encourage children to play the game by becoming a patron of the All Schools campaign.

The initiative, which has teamed up with Canterbury, who make England's shirts, will try to get 750 more schools to play rugby by the time the 2019 World Cup comes around.

"We are delighted that Prince Harry and Canterbury have pledged their support for All Schools," the Daily Mail quotes chief executive Ian Ritchie as saying. "It's an extremely important initiative for the RFU, and is already having a significant impact up and down the country.

"We know that both Prince Harry and the team at Canterbury share our aims to encourage more young people to play rugby and I look forward to us growing the game together."

Rugby union, which is traditionally played in private schools, is taught in 1,500 secondary schools.