RUGBY:BRIAN O'DRISCOLL is the new chairman of the Irish Rugby Players' Union (Irupa). The national team captain will be working closely with Omar Hassanein, who has replaced Niall Woods as chief executive.
Hassanein is expected to take up the role in April, when he and his wife arrive in Ireland, pending the granting of a work permit, from Australia where he is deputy chief executive of their Rugby Players Association (Rupa).
New Zealander Hamish Adams, Irupa’s player services advisor, will act as interim executive while Woods, who departs to set up a sports management company, continues to assist the transition.
“I am one 100 per cent behind the continued success of our players’ association and know full well the importance of having a collective body to represent us,” said O’Driscoll, who succeeds Marcus Horan.
“I understand that I have a responsibility as Ireland captain to all players, not just myself, and that is why I wanted to take on this role. To be able to work with Hamish and Omar is an exciting challenge. I intend to make a valuable contribution to Irupa to ensure the players’ voice continues to be heard.”
Woods added: “Brian is a great appointment for Irupa. To have the most successful player and captain this country has ever had want to take up this role shows what a complete person Brian is. He has the total respect of players all over the world and I was delighted when he agreed to take on the role.”
Hassanein (34), is the latest in a long line of exports to Ireland from the famous Randwick club in Sydney, where he was coached by and played lock in a team with Michael Cheika.
He also represented Australia A and played Super rugby for the New South Wales Waratahs before stints in Japan, Italy and France.
However, his appointment does highlight the lack of a suitable home-grown candidate.
“We conducted an extensive search to fill this unique role,” Woods explained. “As there are very few player associations in Ireland there are very few people who have the necessary skill set to take on the role.
“Omar has current experience of running a players’ association (even filling the role of acting chief executive last year) which was a crucial element in the selection process as it was vital the new CEO would not need any bedding in period, particularly in a World Cup year.”
Hassanein has had a significant role in Rupa’s ground-breaking “agent accreditation scheme,” which Irupa intend to introduce to monitor the actions of agents and the ever-expanding role they have in player’s careers.
“Omar also has the experience of negotiating with the Australian Rugby Union, which was a key factor in his appointment,” Woods continued.
The Irupa board consists of O’Driscoll (chairman), Paul O’Connell (Munster), Shane Jennings (Leinster), Rory Best (Ulster) and Conor O’Loughlin (Connacht), while businessman Denis O’Brien will shortly be joined by another non-executive member.
Woods also paid tribute to outgoing chairman Horan for his four-year term.
“Marcus has been instrumental in Irupa developing over the last number of years due to his unselfish nature and genuine care for the welfare of all players.
“I would like to thank him immensely for his time and commitment to Irupa.”
