1
Damian Hopley to stand down as RPA chief executive after 24 years
By PA
Damian Hopley is to step down as Rugby Players’ Association chief executive ahead of next season.
The RPA announced Hopley’s departure from the role after 24 years with an organisation that he founded.
“As the face of the RPA since founding the organisation in 1998, he has led us through a remarkable period of development, establishing and growing the RPA as a leading player representation organisation in global sport,” the RPA said.
“During this time, the RPA has successfully represented and supported thousands of female and male, current and former players.
“The RPA has delivered some momentous welfare wins for the membership over the years, not least securing millions of pounds of investment into player welfare, insurance and our world-leading personal development programmes.”
Hopley, 52, won three caps for England, and was a member of the 1995 World Cup squad in South Africa.
“We are all indebted to Damian for his outstanding contribution to the sport in England and around the world over the years,” the RPA added.
“The RPA will be conducting a strategic review in order to ensure that as an organisation we move forward fit for the future and prepared for the challenges and opportunities that our players will face, so that we can support and represent them in the most effective way possible.”
Trending on RugbyPass
2
All Blacks XV player ratings vs Munster
3
Suaalii strikes awe as Wallabies lose midfielder
4
Scott Robertson responds about handling errors
5
Latest Comments
Nah, that just needs some more variation. Chip kicks, grubber stabs, all those. Will Jordan showed a pretty good reason why the rush was bad for his link up with BB.
If you have an overlap on a rush defense, they naturally cover out and out and leave a huge gap near the ruck.
It also helps if both teams play the same rules. ARs set the offside line 1m past where the last mans feet were😅
Go to commentsYeah nar, should work for sure. I was just asking why would you do it that way?
It could be achieved by outsourcing all your IP and players to New Zealand, Japan, and America, with a big Super competition between those countries raking it in with all of Australia's best talent to help them at a club level. When there is enough of a following and players coming through internally, and from other international countries (starting out like Australia/without a pro scene), for these high profile clubs to compete without a heavy australian base, then RA could use all the money they'd saved over the decades to turn things around at home and fund 4 super sides of their own that would be good enough to compete.
That sounds like a great model to reset the game in Aus. Take a couple of decades to invest in youth and community networks before trying to become professional again. I just suggest most aussies would be a bit more optimistic they can make it work without the two decades without any pro club rugby bit.
Go to comments