Rugby Player Global Workload Guidelines & Shape of the Game 2025 Outcomes

rugbyasia247 Posted On March 11, 2025

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The IRP (International Rugby Players) has reaffirmed its drive for global workload guidelines, while World Rugby has released some key outcomes from the Shape of the Game 2025 conference. We also heard from Springbok Head Coach Rassie Erasmus on his views of the law changes and wanting to see physicality remain in the sport.

Shape of the Game 2025 Outcomes

World Rugby said that a collaborative approach is needed to “sustain rugby’s long-term vitality” and World Rugby Chair Brett Robinson said: “A year on from agreement on a set of principles that led to the current law trials, we have seen some fabulous rugby being played at both the community and elite game around the world in recent months. All of which stems back to the progression of the laws of the game and the way players and coaches adapt and build their styles around them. There is no point in making change just for change’s sake.”

World Rugby’s Shape of the Game 2025 conference united representatives of five rugby-focused committees:

High-performance men’s rugby
High-performance women’s rugby
Professional game
Professional leagues advisory
Community committees

Key Actions – Rugby Shape of the Game 2025

World Rugby will collaborate with competitions to continue to progress minimum standards for game technology to support match official decision-making with consistency.
The dedicated working group will continue to explore streamlining off-field sanctions to advance clarity, consistency and efficiency, as per the agreed recommendation from SOTG 2024.
Unions considered the positive tackle height data from both the elite game and the community lower tackle height trials. Representatives discussed their preferred next steps for the community trials.
The Player Load Working Group (see more below).

Unions also covered the progress being made on player welfare across the game and the use of smart mouthguard technology in elite rugby, as well as the evolution of match officiating pathways and programmes.

Robinson added, “As World Rugby begins the strategic planning process for beyond 2025, we challenged delegates to think long-term and consider the success factors for a thriving sport in 10 years time? How do we attract and retain new fans and participants, and how can the on-field product help secure the financial stability of the sport?”

Springbok Head Coach Rassie Erasmus On The Shape of the Game

Springbok Head Coach Rassie Erasmus On The State Of The Game – March 2025

In a media conference in March 2025, Springbok Head Coach Rassie Erasmus was asked whether he was happy with the shape of the game at the moment, and to comment on the law changes.

“We obviously chat about the Shape Of The Game on our side but I think if you get tense Test matches and there’s not a lot of tries, but it has got that Test match atmosphere that’s what we want – and we have seen a few which were brilliant matches for me and they were not high-scoring…

It’s difficult to judge what is beautiful and what is not nice and who enjoys what, and maybe a purist likes the scrums or enjoy the defence and the attack and the kicking game, so it’s difficult to please everybody.

I would love to see the physical confrontation stay physical and not become too technical and then like we will all be trying to adapt to not just relying on physicality but also make it clearer for the referee not to always decide who was right in the scrum and we do try to adapt to make the picture a bit easier for referees.

Overall, we are pretty happy with the channels that they (World Rugby) follow and the way that they include us in the discussions.”

IRP – Global Workload Guidelines (Player Load Project Group)

International Rugby Players is the global representative body on issues of importance to professional Rugby players, and on 11th March 2024, said they “vowed to continue its drive towards better match and training load guidelines, as demands increase on professional players.”

This was an outcome of the World Rugby “Shape of the Game” conference held in London in February 2025. The IRP along with coaches, match officials and rugby authorities gave the green light to the Player Load Project Group to continue exploring measures aimed at reducing the load on players over the course of a season.

Head of Rugby Operations, (former Rugby World Cup winning All Black) Conrad Smith, said, “We’ve been working very hard in the last year to reach consensus on this very important area. Proper player load guidelines are crucial to both injury prevention and ensuring the best performance. Many countries already have guidelines like these in place, but we want to ensure that, as a minimum standard, they are available to every professional player.”

The Player Load Project Group was established in 2023 where it developed:

A five-week (consecutive) off-season with no rugby
A maximum 30-match season or a one-week break after every 6 games
Communication protocols between clubs and countries to ensure players aren’t overloaded with excessive matches and training

Other areas still being discussed relate to:

Players rest following international competition blocs
Non-contact periods during the season

The guidelines will respect local arrangements already in place and are focused on the significant number of players who either aren’t covered by local guidelines or play in competitions where guidelines do not exist.

Head of Women’s Rugby, Rachael Burford, commented: “As the demands on professional players continue to grow, it’s crucial that we have these standards in place so that players aren’t overloaded. Just like other industries, rugby has a duty of care to its employees and while the developments so far have been positive, we will continue to work hard to ensure that players are protected as much as possible.

Of women’s rugby, she added, “This includes understanding our female players better and being prepared to differentiate the guidelines as our understanding of the female athlete develops.”