Builds on long association to ensure a safer future

London, 10 November 2010 – Marsh, the world’s leading insurance broker and risk adviser, has broadened its already close association rugby in England by becoming the official insurance broker of the Rugby Football Union (RFU) and a sponsor of the RFU’s extensive Community Rugby programme.

From this season, Marsh will endorse and support key programmes developed for grassroots rugby and England’s 2,100 clubs. These include the RFU’s medical programmes, including its Emergency First Aid Course, Concussion Awareness Programme and Injury Surveillance Project; its Leadership Academy, which develops and promotes skills in club management; and its Scrum Factory, which encourages and trains front row forwards.

Marsh’s connections with English rugby extends over many years. It has been the official insurance broker to the RFU for at least 15 years and it provides risk management and insurance services for 180 of the RFU’s rugby clubs and its authorised tours. It sponsored the famous Varsity Match between Oxford and Cambridge universities at Twickenham Stadium for over 25 years.

Martin South, CEO Marsh UK, said: “We are delighted to strengthen further our excellent relationship with the RFU in this way. We particularly welcome the opportunity to support these key programmes for grassroots rugby and its 2,000 plus member clubs. We look forward to a highly successful association with the RFU to the benefit of rugby in the community.”

Joe Grogan, CEO of Marsh’s National Corporate Practice, said: “We see this sponsorship as being not just good news for the RFU and Marsh; it is an excellent opportunity for everyone involved in rugby at the community level to access information, products and services which are tailored to improve the health and wellbeing of clubs, players, officials and many others connected with community rugby.”

Andrew Scoular, RFU Director of Community Rugby, said: “This partnership with Marsh is excellent news for community rugby in England. Combining in this way with a global leader in providing insurance services and risk management will be tremendously beneficial in supporting a cross-section of our medical, volunteering and coaching programmes. It will also create other opportunities for Community Rugby and our clubs, which are at the heart of rugby in England. We look forward to working with Marsh and building on their long-established association with our sport.”

The programmes
RFU’s Emergency First Aid Course
To provide a safe environment in which the game can be enjoyed by all, the course is open to clubs to encourage members, coaches and volunteers to attend a first aid training course so they can respond to basic first aid situations with confidence. This unique first aid qualification ensures that a nominated individual can take charge of any first aid need and incident, calling in the emergency services when required.

Concussion Awareness
To raise awareness and the dangers associated with concussion via an education programme for coaches, players, and parents of youth players.

Injury Surveillance
In association with the Sport and Exercise Science Research Group at the University of Bath, the project is funded by the RFU Injured Players Foundation and is designed to monitor trends in injury over time, gain the necessary insight into the possible causes and patterns of injury to enable more detailed research into these and to enable implementation of measures to prevent injury. The study, now in its second season of full data capture, records physiotherapist interactions with players on match days from around 90 grassroots clubs in England.

Leadership Academy
The RFU Leadership Academy aims to identify, support and develop the next generation of talented, enthusiastic and skilled leaders for clubs, referee societies and constituent bodies. It compliments existing club and constituent body succession plans by helping potential leaders develop the skills and confidence to step up to the next level of leadership. The programme seeks to use best practice in leadership development in the context of the voluntary rugby environment including facilitating networking opportunities to allow participants to share experiences and solutions on similar rugby issues.

Scrum Factory
The scrum is unique to rugby union, as are the players who play in it. The sport needs to continually produce capable and skilled players particularly in the front row and second row to participate safely in the scrum. By developing the numbers of front row players, we will also ensure fewer games become cancelled. The Scrum Factory is a coach and player development programme running nationwide and incorporate some of the best know ‘scrummagers’ in the country. A new scrum coaching DVD resource will be developed to run alongside the programme.

About Marsh
Marsh has over 24,000 employees and provides advice and transactional capabilities to clients in over 100 countries. Marsh is a unit of Marsh & McLennan Companies (MMC), a global professional services firm with over 50,000 employees worldwide and annual revenue of $10 billion. MMC also is the parent company of Guy Carpenter, the risk and reinsurance specialist; Mercer, the provider of HR and related financial advice and services; and Oliver Wyman, the management consultancy. Its stock (ticker symbol: MMC) is listed on the New York, Chicago and London stock exchanges. MMC’s website address is www.mmc.com. Marsh’s Web site is www.marsh.com. You are subscribed to receive Marsh press releases. However, should you no longer wish to receive these, please e-mail Jason Groves at jason.groves@marsh.com.

About the RFU
The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the National Governing Body for rugby union in England and supports participants and fans from the grassroots to the national team.