More than 1,000 current and former rugby players are to have access to specialist legal advice and services as a result of a new partnership between national law firm Clarke Willmott and the Rugby Players Association (RPA).
Clarke Willmott, which has an office in Bristol, will also assist the RPA with any legal issues as well as its members, which are made up of 800 current rugby players and 400 former players.
The RPA is the representative body and collective voice of professional rugby players in England. It was established in 1998 to support, promote and protect professional players and has also acted as the exclusive commercial representative of the England team since 2004.
Members benefit from independent representation, legal and financial advice, playing insurance, personal and professional development, counselling, education and transition support.
The partnership was agreed with Clarke Willmott’s sports sector team, which is led by partner and sports employment lawyer Tim Copplestone, pictured, who works in the firm’s Bristol and London offices. 
He said: “We are delighted to have formed a partnership with the RPA, which does such important work with professional rugby players, both during and after their careers.
“We have worked with the team and their members for many years now and we are proud to provide legal advice as part of the first-class support that players receive from the RPA.
“The modern professional game is bringing increasing challenges for the players, and we have significant experience providing strategic legal advice across all areas of our leading national practice.”
RPA group CEO Damian Hopley added: “This new partnership with Clarke Willmott is hugely exciting and we look forward to building on our work with their expert team to deliver the very best legal support and advice for our membership.
“We are confident this partnership will deliver outstanding resources and support for our players.”
Clarke Willmott also has offices in Birmingham, Cardiff, Manchester, Southampton and Taunton.
