20 players and 13 coaches attending Rugby Academy

Media Release – May 29

20 players and 13 coaches attending International Rugby Academy from Sunday

A total of 20 players will attend the International Rugby Academy’s coaching school in at Palmerston North, starting Sunday.

The players from New Zealand, USA, Fiji, England and Scotland will assemble for team building on Sunday, assessments begin next month and the course goes through to June 21.

Thirteen top coaches including Grant Fox, Laurie Mains, Nick Farr-Jones, Graham Henry, Richard Loe, Sean Fitzpatrick, Ian Jones, Mark Shaw, Graham Mourie, Dave Loveridge, Jeff Wilson and David Campese begin coaching the players from June 9.

The USA Rugby Foundation, Philips NZ Ltd and the NZ Rugby Football Union have provided scholarship for promising players.

Managing director Murray Mexted said the academy’s world-wide reputation is growing.

``We are so fortunate to have probably the best array of coaches in the world anyone has assembled at one time for the June and July schools,’’ Mexted said.

``The key to the academy’s success is its concept of running the high performance players’ and coaches’ courses in tandem, which enables Laurie Mains to implement and analyse his blueprint with the academy team.’’

The academy was formed three years ago and is in its second year of operation. It receives full support from the New Zealand Rugby Union which can see benefits of identification and the development of elite players and coaches in New Zealand.

Six of the top eight clubs from the English Zurich premiership are utilising the International Rugby Academy by identifying and sending their most promising talent - both coaches and players. They are Wasps, Sale, Leeds, Leicester, Harlequins and Bristol.

Ends

Media advisory: For photo opportunities or further information please contact Murray Mexted or operations manager Johanna Murray at the International Rugby Academy 04 382 9119 or Kip Brook at Word of Mouth Media NZ 03 3745426 or 021 0338455

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