World Rugby marks Play True Day by announcing new Keep Rugby Clean education approach

World Rugby an active and committed member of the global anti-doping movement, delivering an intelligent, targeted testing detection and deterrence programme

Values-based education at the heart of the strategy – education on food-first nutrition and the promotion of safe supplementation key focus in an era of social-media driven focus on body image

Dedicated Keep Rugby Clean day at Rugby World Cup 2019 will provide record awareness platform for the sport

World Rugby is joining WADA and the global sporting and anti-doping community in supporting Play True Day and underlining its commitment to Keep Rugby Clean, harnessing Rugby World Cup 2019 as a major vehicle for awareness, education and engagement.

World Rugby and its national member federations are active and committed members of the global anti-doping movement, operating an intelligent and targeted testing and values-based education programme in partnership with national and regional anti-doping organisations to inform, deter and maintain a level playing field for all.

Harnessing the opportunity and power of Rugby World Cup 2019 – one of the world’s biggest and most widely-viewed sports events, the world’s top players will play their part in inspiring the next generation of stars commit to a level playing field on a dedicated Keep Rugby Clean weekend on 5 and 6 October 2019.

With increasing evidence of links between body image, supplementation and doping and 60 per cent of World Rugby’s nine million social media community under the age of 18, the international federation is enhancing face-to-face education to elite athletes and stepping-up its engaging social and digital media approach to wider community awareness and education.

World Rugby Anti-Doping Advisory Committee Chairman John O’Driscoll said: “As a sport, we must always be alive to the threat of doping and we remain committed to protecting clean athletes and maintaining a level playing field through intelligent testing and innovative values-based education.”

World Rugby Anti-Doping Manager Mike Earl added: “World Rugby is an active and committed member of the global anti-doping movement and to mark Play True Day we are confirming a new programme of anti-doping education initiatives, with a focus on optimising food-first nutrition and advice on safe supplementation. The target audience is not just players, its support staff, parents, future parents and wider fans.”

The programme has three main pillars:

New supplements awareness films for players designed to promote food-first nutrition, reduce reliance on supplements and tackle the facts on identifying ineffective and high-risk supplements

Revamped e-learning for players and support staff, designed at engaging audiences through compelling content and simple messages

New values and skills-based learning content aimed at enhancing face-to-face education at every level of the sport.

World Rugby will announce details of its 2018 testing programme in the coming weeks. Complementing the testing programme, World Rugby delivered face-to-face Keep Rugby Clean education to 1,500 players at World Rugby events in 2018, while a further 3,318 players and support staff completed the mandatory e-learning modules delivered in addition to national union programmes.

Find out more about World Rugby’s anti-doping programme, including Keep Rugby Clean at www.keeprugbyclean.com