Page 44

ABOVESouth Africa players join the fight against doping on Keep Rugby Clean dayFORCE FOR CHANGERWC 2015 A FORCE FOR CHANGEFor six weeks in September and October, Rugby World Cup 2015 put the sport front and centre across the world. The world’s top players thrilled the throngs of fans at each of the 13 match venues as well as hundreds of millions of television viewers in more than 200 territories in six continents.And with that level of access comes a rare opportunity to inform people about what the sport is doing through key initiatives to promote best practice and protect players at all levels of the sport.On 26 September, the players united to promote clean sport on rugby’s biggest Keep Rugby Clean day to date. A feature of all World Rugby tournaments, this anti-doping education initiative aims to educate and inform of the importance of maintaining a level playing field in the sport and demonstrate the commitment of the teams and the sport to Keep Rugby Clean.All 620 players, along with team management and officials, wore Keep Rugby Clean t-shirts across playing, training and media activities in what was the largest educational campaign at any rugby event to date. The programme aims to help players and support staff understand their responsibilities when it comes to competing clean and highlight the health and career dangers of taking shortcuts to make it to the top. 44 WORLD RUGBY YEAR IN REVIEW 2015