Sport Rehabilitation Students at St Mary’s Work with International Rugby Teams

Students and Staff from the Sport Rehabilitation Programme at St Mary’s University, Twickenham have been working with the Argentinian Rugby team ahead of their match against The Barbarians this weekend in Twickenham. The students provided the players with deep tissue massages, giving them the unique opportunity to be involved in sport at an elite level. The St Mary’s Sport Rehabilitation staff has a long-standing relationship with the Rugby Football Union and has supported a number of international teams for more than 13 years. During the recent Rugby World Cup, in which St Mary’s was a Team Base for New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa, staff and students also provided pre and post-match sports massages to the New Zealand team as they went on to win the competition. Sport Rehabilitation Programme Director Claire McLoughlin commented, “It was an amazing opportunity for our students to be involved in the Rugby World Cup by providing sport rehabilitation services to the future World Champions. This type of opportunity is a once in a lifetime experience for our students and one that you could not buy. “Our students always want to be involved in these events and our location helps make this possible. The students, along with staff, have thoroughly enjoyed the experience of working with the Argentinian team, who came fourth in the recent World Cup. It allows our students to put into practice the skills that they have developed during their studies, but also gives them an unique insight to the inner workings of a professional elite sports team. These types of work experience enhance the student’s employability and the staff on the programme are always looking for opportunities to support this.”