RugbySmart

RugbySmart is New Zealand Rugby’s (NZR) national coach and referee education programme focused on player safety, injury prevention, and safe coaching and officiating practices. It is a mandatory annual requirement for all coaches and referees involved in rugby, helping them understand the key principles that keep players safe and the responsibilities they carry in the game. RugbySmart 2026 programme combines a face-to-face workshop with a series of supplementary online learning modules that reinforce important safety knowledge and law awareness.
The face-to-face RugbySmart session focuses on practical areas including:

• Safe tackle techniques – Helping coaches teach players how to tackle safely and within the laws of the game.
• Injury prevention through preparation – Using structured warm-ups and safe training practices to reduce common injuries.
• Safe scrum technique – Coaching and officiating safe, strong body positions and managing movement and collapse scenarios.
• Coach and referee responsibilities – Reinforcing the role of coaches and match officials in creating safe training and playing environments.

Alongside this, supplementary learning modules provide short online learning on key safety topics including:

• Concussion – Recognising the signs and symptoms of concussion and applying the 4R’s approach: Recognise, Remove, Recover, Return.
• Blue Card – Understanding when referees should issue a Blue Card and the required stand-down and return-to-play protocols.
• Boot checks – Identifying unsafe or illegal studs and reinforcing the importance of pre-match equipment checks.
• Mouthguards – Reinforcing the requirement for mouthguards in training and matches and their role in protecting players from dental and facial injuries.
• Experimental Domestic Safety Law Variations (EDSLVs) – Providing awareness of safety-focused law changes and how they apply in the game.