Creating A Rugby Cultural Revolution
The technical staff from all four provinces as well as the IRFU National technical staff gathered in Enfield, County Meath recently for a landmark workshop that marked the unveiling of a new IRFU Technical Model.
The model, unveiled by IRFU Technical Development Manager Stephen Aboud, will reinforce a collective approach to the technical development of rugby in Ireland.
The first IRFU National Technical workshop took place over two days (14th -15th April) in Enfield at the Johnstown House Hotel.
Technical staff all have a hands on role in coach or player development and include the Community Rugby Officers, Coach Development Managers, Provincial Academy Managers and Elite Player Managers spanning all the phases of the IRFU Long Term Development Plan (LTPD)
This was the first time all technical staff (62 participants pictured below) from the four Provinces & National office have been gathered together and was driven by Stephen Aboud the IRFU Technical Development Manager.
The aims of the workshop were to:
Facilitate a greater knowledge on specific core-aspects of the new IRFU Technical Model among all technical rugby staff operating in Elite Player & Coach Development programmes.
Reinforce a collective unified direction for rugby technical development for the next 3-5 years.
There were key deliveries from Allen Clarke (High Performance Manager & Ireland U20 Coach) and Colin Moran (IRFU Training Manager) both of whom played key roles in the design of the IRFU Technical Model with Aboud.
IRFU Director of Rugby Eddie Wigglesworth commented “The key to delivering better rugby development programmes in the future is through continuously improving the knowledge and ability of our technical staff.”
Francesco Ascione ,Technical Director, Italian Federation, who attended and made a presentation, described the event as ‘Creating a Rugby Cultural Revolution’.
Aboud commented “The intention is to integrate the IRFU Technical Model throughout Coaching & Elite Player Programmes in the coming months, thus creating a common direction & vision.”
” First we must induct all our technical rugby staff and gain full support. This has been ongoing over the last few months culminating in this Technical workshop thanks to the efforts of the Academy Managers and Provincial Domestic Rugby Managers.
“It is the beginning of an interesting albeit challenging journey”.