professional (and subsequently amateur) participants.
All we need is tohave a repeat of the unfortunate
scene that played out inCardiff during the opening
game of the RBS 6Nations at the RugbyWorldCup in
6months’ time and it coulddomaterial damage to
the sport at a timewhen theWorld iswatching.
I recall as a player watching the tragic accident to
Max Britowho suffered a catastrophic spinal injury
at the 1995 ‘RainbowNation’ RugbyWorldCup in
SouthAfrica, andwho receiveddisgracefully scant
support from the Tournament. Given themuch
documented explosion in size, strength, power and
collision in themodernprofessional game, the provision
of pitch side care for ALL competing teamsmust
be faultless or the ramifications could see themost
profitable RWC crumble andwither before our very
eyes.WorldRugbymust invest into this area or forever
lament themissed opportunity.
THANKYOU
Enjoy this edition of the revamped
Players’ Room
andmay I take this opportunity to thank all of our
Members, Partners and long term supporters for all
of your ongoing support at this hugely exciting time
for the Rugby Players’ Association.
Best wishes
DamianHopley
GroupCEO
The Rugby Players’ Association
COLLECTIVEBARGAININGAGREEMENT
The first quarter of 2015 has been extremely busy
for the RPA team aswe seek to agree a newmulti-
year rolling funding deal with our industry partners,
PRL and the RFU. The core purpose of this funding
deal is toprovide greater certainty and guaranteed
funding for the successful PlayerWelfare and Personal
Development Programmeswe have been running
nationwide across the various elite professional 15’s
and 7’s teams in England over the past two seasons.
Our collective vision is simple: wewant the game
to invest into development andwelfare programmes
that lead to themost effective and enviedwork
environments in European rugby.Whilst we cannot
(and I suspect never will) have centrally contracted
players, our domesticmodel is far removed from the
Welsh, Irish, New Zealand andAustralianmodels.
What we are seeking to adapt from the highly
successful antipodeanmodel is the introduction
of aCollective BargainingAgreement that delivers
guaranteed investment intoour players to ensure
that we can collectivelywork to deliver the following
universal objective: Better People; Better Players; Better
Game. A relativelyminuscule investment into this area
will bring a significant reward in looking after our
players and keeping them in England.Watch
this space.
CONCUSSION
At a timewhen player welfare and concussion have
never had a greater profile, it is imperative thatWorld
Rugby through its foundingNations, the global
Clubs and Provinces and the International Rugby
Players Association (IRPA) urgently seeks to address
howwe can deliver the ultimate player welfare to all
Welcome to the latest editionof
ThePlayers’ Room
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Welcome
Intro
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