Irish Rugby Injury Surveillance (IRIS): Continued Professional Development Evening for Participating Schools and Clubs – Laura Power, Kilian Bibby, Lauren Guilfoyle and Tabby Billingham

Continued Professional Development (CPD) is a large component of many sectors, including sports science. CPD events allow for opportunities for progressive learning, alongside networking with experts in the field and like-minded individuals. In a world where a multitude of information is instantly accessible, having important aspects of research clarified by experts helps to improve both your knowledge and understanding of the topic, and your confidence in interpreting the research.

The Irish Rugby Injury Surveillance (IRIS) research group, alongside those involved in N-Pro research, joined forces for a superb CPD evening at the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) High Performance Centre Dublin on April 2^nd, 2025. Attendees were drawn from schools and clubs that so generously participate in our ongoing research projects. The evening, hosted by Dr Rod McLoughlin (IRFU Medical Director) and Dr Caithríona Yeomans (IRFU Medical Manager Developmental Game), acted as an opportunity to provide valuable insight and share knowledge from some of those working in the IRFU’s athletic performance and sports medicine departments. Dr Rod McLoughlin begun by thanking all of those that complete data collection for IRIS and N-Pro, emphasising the value of these data to inform and support the IRFU in their mission to improve and maintain player health and welfare.

To kick off the evening, Hugh Hogan (National Women’s Assistant Coach (Defence and Contact Area Skills)), inspired contemplation around the structure of coaching plans, as well as offering valuable insight into the coaching of contact components of the game, inclusive of a focus on performance and return-to-play following injury. This confidence in contact session offered practical implementation strategies to be used with players, alongside a deeper understanding into the thought-processes involved with contact skill development.

This was followed by Dr Nick Winkelman (Head of Athletic Performance and Science) who shared the in-depth framework and rationale behind the national squad’s athletic development; why they do it, how often they do it, how it’s measured and how it is managed. This evidence-driven approach provided valuable education to all attendees on the ‘why’ behind high-level training programs and highlighted key physiological areas to be targeted when developing athleticism in rugby players.

Dr Siobhain McArdle (Head of Psychology) finished the evening with some expert insights into the use of psychological strategies and techniques to enhance sports performance and return-from-injury contexts. Dr McArdle provided practical, adolescent-specific advice for implementing these psychological strategies within this cohort.

The IRIS team are grateful to everybody who took the time to attend the event, and those IRFU staff who made it feasible. It is fantastic to see so many rugby stakeholders take an interest in evidence-based practice. As the IRIS research group continues to strive to enhance player welfare in amateur rugby union, the prospects of rugby science’s impact on the game is ever growing.