Rugby Ready, the IRB’s online best-practice coaching and Rugby preparation resource has proven a global hit with Rugby players, coaches and administrators around the world.

Since its launch in October 2007, IRB Rugby Ready has been accessed by over 129,000 separate users in 196 countries worldwide with registrations coming from every corner of the globe.

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"Everybody involved in organising and playing Rugby worldwide has a duty of care in relation to the welfare of players. The IRB Rugby Ready programme is intended to raise awareness of good practice and help stakeholders manage the inherent risks of a contact sport by putting appropriate safeguards in place," said IRB Training Manager Mark Harrington.

"The aim of the multilingual IRB Rugby Ready programme is to support individual coaches, players, referees, administrators and Unions in preparing to play the Game with the best possible practice models for physical conditioning, technique, injury prevention and injury management."

"Aside from widespread use in traditional Rugby playing nations, the IRB Rugby Ready resource has proven extremely popular at reaching out to growing Rugby markets such as Spain, Chile, Colombia, Chinese Taipei, Belgium and Russia with the number of users in Brazil increasing from a little under 20 in May 2008 to well over 500 by March 2009," added Harrington.

IRB Rugby Ready features in-depth information sections on all aspects of preparing for and playing the Game, while practical advice and embedded video of best-practice techniques enhance the resource. Free registration also allows the user access to extended content, including the Rugby Ready quiz.

Aside from the online resource, the IRB Rugby Ready programme is also delivered by IRB Member Unions with the RFU delivering the programme to over 4,000 Community level coaches at regional workshops, while in Japan completion of the Rugby Ready course is a necessary step for all aspiring coaches wishing to coach the contact version of the Game. Face-to-face Rugby Ready courses can be delivered by licensed IRB Educators around the world.

"IRB Rugby Ready is the flagship programme for an ever expanding suite of free-to-access multilingual online resources delivered by the IRB. In addition to www.irbrugbyready.com, www.irbcoaching.com is a key resource for developing coaching skills. Later this year www.irblaws.com will be launched giving users an interactive platform to learn the Laws of the Game," added Harrington.

For further information:

Dominic Rumbles, IRB Head of Communications, +353 (0) 86-852-0826, email: dominic.rumbles@irb.com