The International Rugby Players group have warned the new World Rugby proposals for a new calendar and welfare issues need "further improvement" ©IRP

The new men’s and women’s global calendar being adopted by the World Rugby Council, incorporating for the first time at elite level international player welfare guidelines, needs "further improvement" according to International Rugby Players (IRP).

The global professional players’ association says the model is “not perfect” and that “further improvement needs to be made in key areas.”

World Rugby announced last Tuesday (October 24) that the men's Rugby World Cup will expand from 20 to 24 teams in 2027 and that a new annual tournament for Pacific and North American countries will launch next year.

The Pacific Nations Cup will feature Canada, Fiji, Japan, Samoa, Tonga and the United States.

In a statement the IRP revealed it had been a key stakeholder over the past four years in negotiating an international calendar that provided "meaningful competition that grows the game and promotes player rest and recovery."

The global professional players' association says more competitive opportunities need to be provided by World Rugby for teams ranked between 13th and 24th place ©IRB
The global professional players' association says more competitive opportunities need to be provided by World Rugby for teams ranked between 13th and 24th place ©IRB

The IRP claims to be the "voice of the game" with a a membership made up of the national professional player associations from South Africa, England, Australia, Ireland, Wales, France, Japan, Scotland, Romania, Pacific representing Fiji, Tonga and Samoa) US, Italy and New Zealand.

It added, "Within the package, the IRP welcomes particular advancements, including alignment of regional and global windows for the women’s game, as well as offering more certainty around release periods in the men’s game.

"Equally, the introduction of a guaranteed fixture list for emerging nations in the men’s game allows for performance opportunities and commercial sustainability.

"New player load guidelines, driven by International Rugby Players, will also come into effect as part of the new regulations.

"However, the global players’ body believes the model is not perfect and that further improvement needs to be made in key areas to ensure the game’s two primary objectives - growing the game via emerging nations and raising player welfare standards "are met."

The International Rugby Players have welcomed many of the plans unveiled by World Rugby but do not think the reforms go far enough ©Getty Images
The International Rugby Players have welcomed many of the plans unveiled by World Rugby but do not think the reforms go far enough ©Getty Images

The IRP chief executive Omar Hassanein said: "We must recognise that the newly proposed model is better than the status quo and represents progress in the game.

"Having said this, we feel that more detail needs to be provided in relation to the increased opportunities for teams ranked 13 to 24 to pitch themselves against tier one opposition."

Conrad Smith, head of player welfare and high performance, at the IRP added: "To have reached a global agreement on player welfare and load management standards is an important development for the game.

"While there are still some details to be worked through, minimum rest periods and restrictions around the number of matches played in a season will be beneficial to players as a means of combating the number of player welfare challenges in the game."