CASE STUDY: UL Bohs Utilise IRFU ENGAGE Programme

UL Bohemians RFC is one of the many clubs around the country that are utilising the IRFU’s Engage programme – a structured rugby readiness warm-up aimed at enhancing rugby performance and reducing the risk of injury.

This IRFU resource supports all levels of the club and school game and is freely available on the IRFU website.

Recently IrishRugbyTV visited UL Bohs and spoke to Club Physio Rory O’Donnell, Munster and UL player Sarah Quin and Women’s Head Coach Niamh Briggs to hear how they have integrated the programme into their training regime.

The programme’s content has been informed by the Irish Rugby Injury Surveillance (IRIS) project, the IRFU’s long term injury surveillance research partnership with the University of Limerick.  It contains rugby components, can be delivered by coaches at all levels and has been designed to be completed in a short period of time to support rugby activity.

ENGAGE is presented in three phases

1. Readiness – dynamic movements to help players warm up for training or match activity
2. Robustness – muscle activation exercises to help create long-term strength and endurance
3. Performance – primers to get players performance ready for rugby specific activities

The ENGAGE programme can be delivered by a coach in approximately 15mins ahead of training or games. The resource contains 37 instructional videos which provide guidance on how to deliver exercises that support readiness, robustness and performance.

ENGAGE is available to everyone involved in the game and can be found in the Level Up section of IrishRugby.ie.   An ENGAGE module has also been added to the GAINLINE system for coach education and coaches can achieve an active coaching badge upon its completion.