IRPA is the world representative body for professional rugby players on international issues of importance to the players and the game; comprising of National Rugby Player Associations and Groupings worldwide - including the WRPA.
In November rugby player associations throughout the world were invited to the Irish Rugby Players Association (now Rugby Players Ireland) offices to partake in the IRPA conference.
Over 40 representatives were in attendance for the duration of the meeting in Dublin.
Two items were predominant on the agenda. Firstly, the Executive Board of IRPA officially signed the agreement recently secured with World Rugby. The other important aspect was in linking the various Player Development Programmes together. This proved to be an ideal forum to share and learn how the respective associations support both their current and former players in areas of mental wellbeing and education, while insights were provided as to the management of databases and how players are tracked once they move abroad.
Over three days the workforce of the WRPA met with PDMs and staff from other National Associations (New Zealand, Australia, Ireland, England, France, Pacific Islands) to tackle integrity and operational elements of support aimed towards the professional players of the game. The opportunity to work with overseas colleagues opened doors for a collective and central pool of strategic directions and industry leading processes to be set.
The WRPA would like to thank IRPA and Rugby Players Ireland (RPI) for hosting the event.
