New Ghana Rugby President interacts with international body

The President of the Ghana Rugby Football Union, Mr. Herbert Mensah has met with officials of the International Rugby Board (IRB) in Dublin to discuss issues relating to the development of the game in Ghana. Present at the meeting held at Huguenot House in Dublin were Mr. David Carrigy, Head of Development and International Relations; Mr. Morgan Buckley, General Manager Development; and Mr. Colum Lavery, Member Services Manager.

According to Mr. Herbert Mensah, the primary objective of the meeting was to introduce himself on a personal level to the people in charge of rugby development internationally and to seek guidance on the priorities for the development of rugby in Ghana.

Mr. Carrigy congratulated Mr. Mensah and his Executive Members on their election as the people to grow the “Rugby Family” in Ghana and assured him that the IRB was fully behind the development programme and would assist and support Ghana Rugby to achieve its objectives.

Mr. Morgan Buckley explained the development priorities of the IRB and congratulated Ghana Rugby with its participation in its core development programme “Get Into Rugby”. The training and orientation for implementation of this programme was done in Accra early on this year.

The IRB Get Into Rugby programme is part of the IRB strategy to grow the game globally in partnership with member regions and unions. The programme is a central part of the IRB initiative to grow Rugby as it rejoins the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

It seeks to encourage players of all ages to Try, Play and Stay in Rugby. Get Into Rugby will promote the values of the Game and ensure children are encouraged to try Rugby in a safe and progressive environment.

Mr. Buckley further encouraged Ghana Rugby to evolve from Associate Membership to Full Membership of the IRB as soon as possible in order to also get access to further IRB Development Grant funding in addition to current support provided by the IRB.

The Ghana Rugby Association (GRA) operating as the Ghana Rugby Football Union (GRFU) was established in 2003 and forms part of the IRB’s African development region CAR (Confédération Africaine de Rugby). In order to progress from Associate Member status to Full Member status Ghana Rugby needs to comply with certain IRB criteria.

Mr. Mensah emphasised that the Board of Ghana Rugby is in the process of assessing the state of rugby in Ghana in order to come up with a revised strategic development blueprint that will also ensure speedy compliance with the requirements of becoming a Full Member of the IRB.