Episode
World Rugby CEO Alan Gilpin on Rugby’s Global Calendar, the Strategic Plan + RWC USA 2031
- Podcast
- Rugby Unity
- Published
- Mar 26, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 3561
- Processing state
not_requested
Actions
POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/rugby-unity-7315104/episodes/world-rugby-ceo-alan-gilpin-on-rugby-s-global-calendar-the-strategic-plan-rwc-usa-2031/transcription-requests
Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/rugby-unity-7315104/world-rugby-ceo-alan-gilpin-on-rugby-s-global-calendar-the-strategic-plan-rwc-usa-2031.md
Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.
Summary
World Rugby CEO Alan Gilpin joins David Pembroke to discuss the real hard questions facing our sport at the moment – rugby’s global calendar, player safety and cashflow are just the tip of the iceberg. Gilpin breaks down the real tension World Rugby is trying to solve: accuracy and flow, without treating it as a trade-off, and why too many law tweaks make life harder for officials moving between competitions. He explains the Mark Robinson match officiating review, what “shape of the game” stakeholders are pushing for, and why the strategic plan (targeting an early May launch) is centred on fans, player welfare, and growing the sport’s commercial engine. There’s also a big look ahead: strong early Rugby World Cup 2027 ticket demand in Australia, the long runway to USA 2031 and 2033, and how rugby can win in a brutal “attention economy”. ● Alan Gilpin’s rugby journey from Gloucestershire to World Rugby ● Six Nations weekend: Scotland v France, Italy’s big moments ● Match officiating: accuracy versus flow is not a trade-off ● Law trials across comps make consistency harder for referees ● Mark Robinson review: TMO use, philosophy, elite officiating model ● World Rugby strategy: fans, player welfare, commercial growth, USA 2031 PLUS: Gilpin argues rugby’s future is more fans consuming more rugby, more often. SIGN UP TO THE BIG 3 HERE: https://tinyurl.com/big3rugbyunity 👈👈 Ask Eddie Jones and Ewen McKenzie anything! Fill out the form below 👇 https://tinyurl.com/rugbyunityquestions 👈👈 👉 Want more from Rugby Unity? Subscribe to our Substack for exclusive content, blogs, behind-the-scenes insights, and full podcast access — all in one place: Rugby Unity | Substack 📧 Get in touch: [email protected] Thanks to Eleven labs for providing a grant to Rugby Unity so t…