Rugby Players' Association

English trade union

The Rugby Players Association (RPA) is a trade union representing athletes who currently play or have played rugby union in England at a professional or semi-professional level. The RPA is the representative body and collective voice of professional rugby players in England and represents more than 800 male and female current rugby players, as well as more than 400 former players.

Overview

RPA members qualify for a wide range of benefits, including: independent representation; legal advice; personal and professional development; playing insurance; education; confidential counselling; transition support; and more. Members can also access the support of a charity, Restart, in the event of serious illness, injury or hardship.

The RPA has also acted as the exclusive commercial representative of the England Team since 2004 and performs the following duties on behalf of Team England: Negotiation of the Elite Players Squad Contract, England and Saxons match fees, England team win bonuses and Image Rights payments with the RFU. In August 2021, it was announced that the RPA would also act as exclusive commercial representatives for the England Women.[1]

The RPA was founded by professional player Damian Hopley, who was forced to early retirement after an injury.[2]

The RPA announced that Hopley was to leave the organisation after 24 years in charge of the company. His last day was on Monday 15 August, with a visit to Wasps.[3]

On Monday 16th January 2023, it was announced that Christian Day, was elected the new General Secretary of the RPA, following an election to the membership.[4]

Awards

The following players have been recognised at the annual RPA Awards, as voted for by professional players in England, since 2010:[5]

Players' Player of the Year
Year Player Team Ref
2010 South Africa Schalk Brits Saracens [6]
2011 England Thomas Waldrom Leicester [7]
2012 New Zealand Nick Evans Harlequins [8]
2013 England Christian Wade Wasps [9]
2014 Fiji Vereniki Goneva Leicester [10]
2015 England Jonathan Joseph Bath [11]
2016 Australia George Smith Wasps [12]
2017 New Zealand Jimmy Gopperth Wasps [13]
2018 Tonga Telusa Veainu Leicester [14]
2019 England Danny Cipriani Gloucester [15]
2020 England Jack Willis Wasps [16]
2021 England Sam Simmonds Exeter [17]
2022 South Africa André Esterhuizen Harlequins [18]
2023 South Africa Jasper Wiese Leicester [19]
Young Player of the Year
Year Player Team Ref
2010 England Ben Youngs Leicester [6]
2011 England Manu Tuilagi Leicester [7]
2012 England Owen Farrell Saracens [8]
2013 England Christian Wade Wasps [9]
2014 England George Ford Bath [10]
2015 England Henry Slade Exeter [11]
2016 England Maro Itoje Saracens [12]
2017 England Zach Mercer Bath [13]
2018 England Marcus Smith Harlequins [14]
2019 England Ollie Thorley Gloucester [15]
2020 Wales Louis Rees-Zammit Gloucester [16]
2021 England Marcus Smith Harlequins [17]
2022 England Freddie Steward Leicester [18]
2023 England Tom Pearson London Irish [19]

15 Under 23

The following teams represent the 15 Under 23, consisting of the top players in England aged 23 and under, as selected by RPA representatives, each year since 2022:[20]

2021–22 2022–23
No. Player Team Player Team
1. England Bevan Rodd Sale England Bevan Rodd Sale
2. England Nic Dolly Leicester England Theo Dan Saracens
3. England Joe Heyes Leicester England Joe Heyes Leicester
4. England Nick Isiekwe Saracens England George Martin Leicester
5. England Ollie Chessum Leicester England Hugh Tizard Saracens
6. England Ben Earl Saracens England Ted Hill Bath
7. England Tom Pearson London Irish England Tom Pearson London Irish
8. England Fitz Harding Bristol England Fitz Harding Bristol
9. England Harry Randall Bristol England Gus Warr Sale
10. England Marcus Smith Harlequins England Fin Smith Northampton
11. England Ollie Hassell-Collins London Irish England Cadan Murley Harlequins
12. England Dan Kelly Leicester England Seb Atkinson Gloucester
13. England Fraser Dingwall Northampton England Ollie Lawrence Bath
14. Wales Louis Rees-Zammit Gloucester Argentina Mateo Carreras Newcastle
15. England Freddie Steward Leicester England Joe Carpenter Sale

Hall of Fame

The following players, coaches, officials, administrators and commentators have been inducted into the RPA Hall of Fame:[21]

Year Inductee
1999 Australia Michael Lynagh
2000 Wales Cliff Morgan
England Peter Winterbottom
2001 Ireland Willie John McBride
France Philippe Sella
2002 England Dean Richards
Scotland John Rutherford
2003 Wales Gerald Davies
Australia Tim Horan
England Peter Wheeler
Year Inductee
2004 New Zealand Zinzan Brooke
Scotland Gavin Hastings
2005 Wales Sir Gareth Edwards
New Zealand Sean Fitzpatrick
2006 England David Duckham
Ireland Mike Gibson
Scotland Sir Ian McGeechan
2007 England Martin Johnson
2008 England Richard Hill
England Jason Leonard
Year Inductee
2009 England Fran Cotton
England Jeremy Guscott
2010 Scotland Bill McLaren
2011 England Lawrence Dallaglio
2012 England Jason Robinson
2013 Wales Ieuan Evans
2014 Wales Jonathan Davies
2015 England Jonny Wilkinson
2016 Ireland Brian O'Driscoll
2017 New Zealand Dan Carter
Year Inductee
2018 England Sir Clive Woodward
2020 England Sir Bill Beaumont
2021 England Rocky Clark
Wales Alun Wyn Jones
2022 England Katy Daley-McLean
2023 England Sarah Hunter
Scotland Doddie Weir
2024 England Courtney Lawes

See also

References

  1. ^ "RPA APPOINTED AS EXCLUSIVE COMMERCIAL AND WELFARE REPRESENTATIVES FOR THE RED ROSES". The RPA Website. RPA. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  2. ^ Hopley continues as players' boss BBC 2006-10-30 Retrieved on 2009-02-13.
  3. ^ "The RPA on Twitter". Twitter. The RPA. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  4. ^ "Christian Day Elected General Secretary of the RPA". The RPA. The RPA.
  5. ^ "The RPA Awards". therpa.co.uk. Rugby Players' Association. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  6. ^ a b "The RPA Awards 2010". therpa.co.uk. Rugby Players' Association. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  7. ^ a b "The RPA Awards 2011". therpa.co.uk. Rugby Players' Association. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  8. ^ a b "The RPA Awards 2012". therpa.co.uk. Rugby Players' Association. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  9. ^ a b "The RPA Awards 2013". therpa.co.uk. Rugby Players' Association. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  10. ^ a b "The RPA Awards 2014". therpa.co.uk. Rugby Players' Association. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  11. ^ a b "The RPA Awards 2015". therpa.co.uk. Rugby Players' Association. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  12. ^ a b "The RPA Awards 2016". therpa.co.uk. Rugby Players' Association. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  13. ^ a b "The RPA Awards 2017". therpa.co.uk. Rugby Players' Association. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  14. ^ a b "The RPA Awards 2018". therpa.co.uk. Rugby Players' Association. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  15. ^ a b "The RPA Awards 2019". therpa.co.uk. Rugby Players' Association. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  16. ^ a b "The RPA Awards 2020". therpa.co.uk. Rugby Players' Association. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  17. ^ a b "The RPA Awards 2021". therpa.co.uk. Rugby Players' Association. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  18. ^ a b "The RPA Awards 2022". therpa.co.uk. Rugby Players' Association. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  19. ^ a b "The RPA Awards 2023". therpa.co.uk. Rugby Players' Association. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  20. ^ "RPA 15 Under 23". therpa.co.uk. Rugby Players' Association. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  21. ^ "RPA Hall of Fame". therpa.co.uk. Rugby Players' Association. Retrieved 30 December 2023.