S5: Episode 2: Damian Hopley

What a man! This week I was lucky enough to be joined by the founder of the Rugby Players Association, Mr Damian Hopley. Damian joined us very kindly on the morning before he flew off to the Alps to begin a charity challenge for his own charity Restart Rugby. We finish this episode by chatting all about Restart and the amazing job it has done for rugby players in the last few years. I also get the chance to pick Damian's brains about his career, and how he ended up doing what he did for 24 years. Having started as a player and captaining England at sevens, Damian was an excellent player. Sadly, however, his career was cut short by injury. After a lot of operations he was told that it wasn't the right decision to keep playing, and so he decided to from the RPA. Originally without funding, Damian wanted to help the players and look after them. This was the start of what would be the creation of one of the most important organisations involved with rugby today. I talk to Damian a lot about player welfare and two stores in particular which have dominated the press in the last few years. The story of Steve Thompson is one which is known all over due to the severity of it. Luther Burrell's is not far behind. Damian spoke incredibly about both of these two situations and if you're at all interested tune into the podcast and hear what he has to say. You won't regret it! From everyone at The Tap and Go, we'd like to say a big thank you to Damian for coming on and we wish him the best of luck on his travels and hope that he completes the challenge safely and successfully. The link is below for anyone who can spare any money at all to support this wonderful charity. See you next week! https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/damian-hopley6?utm_source=whatsapp Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices