Mental health crisis for retired rugby union players

Statistics published by the Rugby Players’ Association (RPA) has revealed that 62% of retired players have suffered from mental health issues.

Described as “shocking” by The Daily Telegraph, the RPA survey exposes the “true scale of rugby’s mental health crisis”.

According to the RPA data, mental wellbeing and finances are two of the major issues that retired players face. Approximately 200 retired players were surveyed, says the Telegraph, with 46% of them being former internationals and 77% who had either played 100 matches at club level or international level.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The RPA survey revealed:

• 62% of retired players have had a mental health issue
• 52% said that two years after retiring they did not feel in control of their lives
• 50% of players have had financial issues in the first five years of retirement
• 46% of players were unhappy with the preparation for life after sport

Omar Hassanein, chief executive of global representative body International Rugby Players, was shocked by the RPA’s findings.

“That 62% figure is very alarming,” said Hassanein. “That is almost two in three players suffering mental health issues. If that is not a major issue that requires focus then I do not know what is.

“There is no point in looking at that figure and simply saying it is alarming. As the game grows, and the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France is going to be the most lucrative [World Cup in history], no doubt, then the game needs to find a way to look after the personal side of the athletes, otherwise it is only going to get worse.”