Oct 6, 2025
As our pilot programmes reach the 12-month milestone, we are immensely proud of the progress achieved. Across all four programmes, we have witnessed a profoundly positive impact on players’ lives. By offering a supportive environment alongside peers navigating similar transitions, participants have been able to adapt, grow, and confidently embrace life beyond the game.
Ireland
In its last quarter, Beyond the Game Ireland supported over 150 players across a variety of support areas ranging from career advice, education and social engagement. In-person connection remains one of the strongest ways to engage players so Rugby Players Ireland (RPI) have hosted a Padel tournament and also a Golf Day, allowing players to connect in a social setting.
The Ireland Sports Fund was launched this quarter by former Irish 7s player Billy Dardis, offering education bursaries to support current and transitioning players. This is an inspiring example of players giving back to the community.
Feedback from players remains hugely positive, with a strong appreciation for the increasing range and accessibility of services. A key learning has been recognising that tailored approaches are needed when supporting female players as their needs often differ from their male counterparts. By using social initiatives, like the Padel tournament that was held in July, awareness has been raised amongst female players that this support is for them too.
New Zealand
Maree, the Player Development Manager in New Zealand, is now working with 100 former players through the programme. These players have also gone on to seek further advice and guidance from more specialised support services such as career coaching which is really encouraging to see.
The Rugby Club has been launched this quarter, an online hub for current and former players based in New Zealand and abroad who are members of the New Zealand Rugby Players Association (NZRPA). The Aftermatch programme services are prompted on the site which is quickly becoming a valuable touchpoint. The team at NZRPA have created a series of videos featuring former rugby players sharing positive, practical insights for members of the Rugby Club. They recognise that these videos are a fantastic way to raise awareness and they have received strong engagement from players. By being a member of the Rugby Club you can access these videos but there are also a few on the NZRPA Instagram.
Nikita Hall, General Manager of People Development at the NZRPA sums up the last quarter by saying “We’re incredibly grateful to the Foundation for enabling us to supercharge the support available to professional players as they transition into life beyond the game… we’re seeing players develop a genuine sense of optimism and confidence in their identity and value.”
Pacific Islands
In the final quarter of the year, two agricultural workshops were held in Tonga and Fiji. Both sessions were well attended and generated strong engagement, with participants showing real enthusiasm for the discussions and activities. The feedback has been that it was a very welcome and productive environment.
Pacific Rugby Players are keen to develop the work being done in the Pacific Islands so more workshops and other similar activities can take place; with the support of GRPF there can exist co-created initiatives that are both effective and culturally relevant.
Players have shared that they wish to receive educational support for personal and business needs. Shared challenges amongst the group include cost of living, raising families and cultural responsibilities, so any further assistance and guidance that this programme can give will have a positive impact on these individuals.
South Africa
The MyPlayers team in South Africa have focused on three key areas of support: Optimising Wellbeing, Career Design and Transition Support. These three unique offerings have each helped participants in different ways and it’s brilliant to see participants making use of all of these resources. The career design pathway has been hugely popular with over 400 sessions taking place, roughly 14 sessions per participant. This highly personalised and holistic approach has helped many former players.
Participants have shared how transformative the programme has been in their personal and professional lives. Several former players have reached out to express interest in applying to be part of the next intake of players, demonstrating the growing reputation and appeal of the programme. Former players have also returned to give back to the player community which is heartwarming to see.
Overall, it has been a hugely successful final quarter and indeed initial 12 months for our pilot programmes. We are overwhelmingly proud of the impact made so far and are extremely grateful to our fantastic delivery partners for facilitating such impactful programmes and to the players who have participated.
