Concussion education driving surge in World Rugby course completions to 1.8m

World Rugby online learning course completions have surged in 2021 with more people per month engaging with the educational materials in the first three months of the year than in any other three-month period.

Already in 2021, online module completions by the worldwide community of players, coaches, match officials, medics and members of the public has topped 200,000, driven by a strong increase in concussion and medical course completions, reflecting World Rugby’s mission to educate everyone in the game.

The total number of completions of the international federation’s online modules now stands at 1.6 million. When combined with the total face-to-face courses, over 1.8 million completions have been achieved, while millions more have engaged with national union delivered education, expanding the global network of people who have been upskilled in basic first aid, rugby-specific care and concussion identification and management.

1,651291 online modules have been completed, including 123,555 completions of dedicated COVID-19 return-to-play education as community rugby prepares to return around the world.

With rugby united in its commitment to best-practice concussion education, prevention and management, completions of all concussion modules to date have reached 143,091. Further to this, there have been 52,825 completions of First Aid and Immediate Care in Rugby online modules and more than 50,000 downloads of World Rugby’s concussion education app.

The course completions have taken place in addition to the global roll-out of the Activate injury-prevention warm-up programme across 120 unions. The programme can reduce the risk of concussion by 29-60 per cent in youth and adult players.

World Rugby’s training and education portfolio features 32 online learning modules and 28 face-to-face courses across seven dedicated strands. This includes 366,712 completions of the flagship Rugby Ready programme since inception (317022 online/49,690 face-to-face), which is designed to help everyone involved in the game to manage risk effectively.

World Rugby has also launched additional child and youth specific programmes across the globe aimed at furthering injury-prevention by best-practice technique learning:

· Age and stage specific Strength and Conditioning Coaching Courses with accompanying online modules launched (Children, Youth and Adult) in 2020 with a further updated advanced course for Adult coaches to come in 2021

· Coaching Children face-to-face Workshop launched in Jan 2021 to build on the content of the Online Learning Module currently available.

Tackle Ready and Administrators Academy set to launch

This year will see World Rugby launch two new global programmes aimed at furthering injury-prevention best-practice – Tackle Ready and the Administrator’s Academy.In addition to the above, World Rugby’s online learning platform – World Rugby Passport – will soon move to an updated responsive platform which will allow users to complete online learning more easily on mobile devices.

World Rugby’s General Manager, Training and Education, Jock Peggie said: “A growing global sport requires a strong network of trainers, educators, face-to-face courses and online resources to support the welfare and development of every player around the world.

“The rate of completion of our online courses in particular, especially in the priority area of injury prevention and concussion education and management, has seen a surge since the middle of last year which demonstrates just how seriously the sport takes this priority area.

“Programmes such as Activate and Tackle Ready have the ability to be game-changers for the community game, reducing the risk of injury through best-technique promotion.