Sports Institue Northern Ireland

Entry Standards

All players selected to the SINI Rugby Squad must be Ireland qualified and have the potential to play for Ireland.

Player potential will be assessed under four main categories:

Skills and positional elements of competence
Fitness
Tactical and game awareness
Personal attitude

Selection will not guarantee a young player’s future. The individual player’s development and progress will be assessed on a regular basis.

Retention will be based on individual player progress, particularly in the context of the needs of the provincial and national squads/teams.

Selection for the programme will be based upon criteria, which, as must be the case in Rugby Union, be a balance between objective tests and measures and subjective assessment of:

Attitude
‘Potential’
Leadership
Fitness
Skills
Tactics and game awareness

The ethics of the sport of rugby union will play an integral role at all levels. In particular the use of prohibited substances, as detailed in the Governing body’s anti-doping policy, will result in exclusion from the programme.