From the creator · May 2026
We're going fully live
on 1st June.
A thank you to every player, club, coach and team manager who got us here. And a tour of what we shipped because you told us to.
We're live
Welcome to Rugby Unlocked. The gates are open.
Drew Musa · Creator
Before the gates open
Thank you. Genuinely.
Six months ago Rugby Unlocked was a deck, a Figma file, and a promise: that finding the right club, the right player, or the right staff member shouldn't depend on who you bump into at a Saturday fixture.
You didn't sign up for a finished product. You signed up for a bet. A bet that rugby recruitment could be faster, fairer, and run by people who actually love the game.
To every player who built a profile before we had a polished onboarding flow. To every Director of Rugby, coach and team manager who messaged us at 11pm to say "this is missing, fix it". To every club that posted a vacancy when search was still rough around the edges.
We hit our first 100 verified players with complete profiles before we even went live. 118 clubs. 120+ applications already sent to vacancies. 45 coaches, S&C and staff signed up. That's not us telling people about a launch. That's the launch already having a heartbeat.
You built this with us. Properly. Thank you.
What we shipped because you asked
Every feature, traced back to a real conversation.
Almost every meaningful thing on the platform today exists because a founding user said "why can't I do X?". Here's the shipped list.
01 · For players
Visibility, never paywalled
You told us pay-to-play recruitment was already broken. So every player tier (Free, Plus and Pro) is permanently free. Then we shipped almost every player feature on your wish list.
- AI onboarding from your CV.Drop in a rugby CV and AI builds your verified profile in 60 seconds. Playing history, positions, skills, all extracted automatically. You review and confirm.
- Verified badge.Clubs can see you've been checked by our team, so your messages land with credibility.
- Scout Score 1 to 10.Real scouts rate you on level and impact. Diamond status at 6 (amateur), 9 (semi-pro) and 10 (verified pro), earned not sold.
- Priority placement in club search.Plus and Pro profiles sit at the top of relevant searches.
- Incognito applications.Apply to a vacancy without your current club ever finding out.
- See who viewed you.Know which clubs are circling, before they message.
- "Preview as a club" toggle.Flip a switch to see your profile the exact way clubs see it. No more guessing.
- Highlights with YouTube + Vimeo.Embed clips from either platform. Auto-extracted thumbnails. Empty-state coaching for the players who don't have reels yet.
- Verified history with references.Add coaches, S&C, physios to verify your playing record. Clubs see the trust chain on your profile.
- Multi-nationality passports.Eligible for two or three test nations? Show all of them with flags. Critical for the recruitment market we serve.
- DM priority and read receipts.Pro players sit at the top of club inboxes, with confirmation when read.
- Early vacancy alerts.Get notified before roles open to the public.
- One free Scout Review.An actual rugby person reviews your profile and tells you what to sharpen.
- Referral hub.Earn perks for every player or club you bring to the platform. Built in response to the "how do I help my mates get on?" question.
02 · For clubs
Stop reading every CV. Read the right ones.
Every club feature on the platform exists because a Director of Rugby, Head Coach, or recruitment lead told us they needed it.
- AI club onboarding.Type your club name and country. AI fills in your bio, history, league details and social links. You review and start recruiting.
- Team seats on Pro.Invite your DoR, head coach, analyst, admin and academy lead onto one shared account. One vacancy, one inbox, multiple eyes. The biggest Pro upgrade.
- Applicant Compatibility Scores.Each applicant is scored against your position, level and style. Sort by fit, not by who applied first.
- Diamond Player access.The verified, high-intent players moving this window, surfaced at the top of search.
- Unlimited active vacancies.Post as many positions as you actually need. No artificial caps.
- Weekly shortlists.A curated list of fits, delivered to your inbox every Monday.
- Public, shareable club profile.Every club gets a public page (e.g. /c/your-club) with showcase gallery, league info and live vacancies. Share it like a press kit.
- Club showcase gallery.Upload pitch photos, match-day images, kit and facilities. Players see what they're actually signing up for.
- Rugby type + team category.Tag vacancies as Union, League, Sevens or Touch, then by team (1st XV, U18s, Women's, Academy). Players filter by the right competition.
- University and college support.Institution-type clubs (BUCS, AIL universities, US college rugby) now have a dedicated onboarding path.
- Match analysis dashboard.Upload match footage, get per-player stats. Carries, tackles, rucks, defensive reads, all in a clean dashboard. Currently in early access.
- Placement tracking.When a player you signed comes through Rugby Unlocked, both sides log it. Helps us tune match quality and gives clubs a real signing record.
- Recent viewers, clickable.See which players viewed your club page recently. Tap straight through to their profile.
- Advanced elite player filtering.Inbound and outbound. Filter by score band, region, position, availability window, contract status.
- Market insights.See what other clubs at your level are paying, hiring and looking for.
03 · The biggest one: staff
You hire more than players. Now we know it.
This was the loudest single piece of feedback. Clubs hire coaches, S&C leads, physios, analysts, team managers, nutritionists and doctors, and every existing tool ignored that. So we built it. End to end. From scratch.
- Full staff directory.Search and message coaches, S&C, physios, analysts, team managers, nutritionists and doctors.
- Dedicated staff sign-up.A staff-only registration path at /register/staff with an onboarding wizard tuned for qualifications, not playing history.
- Qualifications + specialisms profile.List your bodies (RFU, World Rugby, SARU), levels, year achieved, plus specialisms (backs, scrum, defence, performance) and age groups you've worked with.
- Post staff vacancies.Forwards Coach by August? Physio cover for a tour? Strength and Conditioning Lead full-time? List it alongside your player vacancies.
- Filter by qualification and level.Find staff by minimum qualification body and level. Shortlist by lunchtime, not by Friday.
- Verified staff profiles.Same verification standard we hold players to, applied to the rest of your match-day team.
- Player-staff dual role.Still playing? One account, both profiles. Clubs see your playing record and staff CV side by side. Massive for late-career players moving into coaching.
- Staff search for clubs and admins.A dedicated browse tool inside the club dashboard, plus an admin-side queue for our team to verify qualifications.
04 · Quality of life
The everyday stuff. Just made better.
Half of what we shipped this year doesn't make a feature page. But you'd feel it the moment it was missing.
- Messages that arrive instantly.Your inbox now updates in real time. Unread badges in the nav, read receipts on Pro DMs, mark-as-read, proper mobile threads. No more refresh-and-pray.
- The Clubhouse feed.A shared feed where clubs post squad news, signings, trial dates and tour announcements. Players follow what's happening in their region.
- Help that's actually staffed.A proper /help page with contact form, plus admin tooling so we route your message to a real person inside the hour. No support-ticket black hole.
- A chat widget on every public page.Got a question at 11pm? There's a chat bubble bottom-right. You ask. We answer.
- AI does the boring bit of onboarding.Players upload a CV, the platform builds the profile. Clubs type their name, the platform fills in league, history and socials. You review and confirm.
- Billing without the runaround.Monthly, yearly, voucher codes, plan switching and a full payment history, all in your account. No "email us to cancel" emails.
- Signing in shouldn't be a chore.Password reset, "remember me", and silent re-authentication, so you stop getting kicked out mid-search.
- Findable on Google.Every page now has its own title, description, OG image and structured data. Vacancies, clubs and player profiles all surface in search where they used to be invisible.
- The Fixture Card redesign.The chalky paper, serif type and hard ink rules you're reading now. A full editorial rebuild of every marketing page so Rugby Unlocked finally looks the part.
- Works on your phone, properly.Dashboards, profiles, search, messaging and onboarding all rebuilt for mobile. Over 40 dedicated mobile commits. The single most-requested fix, done.
The honest part
What Club Pro includes at £19.99/month.
We've kept the pricing as simple as the product is broad: £19.99 a month, billed monthly, cancel anytime. Here's what that covers, in plain English.
When Club Pro was first listed, it was a single-seat product focused on player recruitment. It now does substantially more.
- 01
Multi-team organisation. Men's, women's and age-grade under one bill.
Most clubs run more than one team — a men's, a women's, an academy, an under-18s. Club Pro now lets you group them all under one organisation, with shared billing and a navbar workspace switcher. Each team keeps its own profile, vacancies and inbox; you flip between them with a single click. No more juggling separate accounts or paying twice.
- 02
Org-wide team access. Every coach, every team.
Recruitment isn't a one-person job. Club Pro now includes organisation-wide invites so your Director of Rugby, head coach, analyst and admin can see every team in the org from their own login. One invitation, every workspace. (And per-team staff access for tighter scopes when you want it.)
- 03
The full staff vertical.
Searching and hiring coaches, S&C, physios, analysts and team managers used to mean a second platform. Or, more likely, three group chats and a spreadsheet. It's now bundled into Pro.
- 04
Priority support & dedicated success.
Every Pro club gets a real person on our team who knows your squad, your gaps and your window. You message us, we reply fast, and we help you actually fill the role.
At £19.99/month, Club Pro is what it says it is: a recruitment department in a tab, for both players and staff, shared across your coaching team, with humans behind it.
Club Pro is £19.99/month. No contracts.
Plans are billed monthly with no lock-in and no small print — upgrade, downgrade or cancel whenever you like. Prefer a one-off? The Recruitment Window gives you 3 months of full Club Pro for a single £50 payment.
Club Plus
£9.99/mo
Unlimited vacancies & Diamond access
Club Pro
£19.99/mo
Staff vertical, team seats & priority support
Recruitment Window
£50 one-time
3 months of full Club Pro
Already on Club Plus? Move up to Pro at any time from your account — billing is monthly with no lock-in. The £50 Recruitment Window is a one-time payment that reverts to free automatically after 3 months.
What launch day means
The dates, plainly.
- May 2026
Founders window
Early signups built profiles, posted vacancies and shaped the platform with us while we finished the build.
- 1st June 2026
Going fully live
Staff vertical, team seats, staff vacancies, advanced filtering and dedicated priority support all unlocked. Trials ended and billing began for Plus and Pro clubs.
- From 1st June
Clubs without a plan move to Basic
Clubs without Plus or Pro sit on Basic: a 60-day trial with 1 active vacancy, where you can only message players who've applied to that vacancy. After 60 days, posting and applications pause until you choose a paid plan. No auto-charging, ever.
- After 1st June
Club Pro £19.99/mo · Club Plus £9.99/mo
Simple monthly pricing with no contracts, plus a one-time £50 Recruitment Window for 3 months of full Club Pro. Players stay free, forever. We move from build mode to fill-your-vacancies mode.
Quick answers
FAQ
- When does Rugby Unlocked go fully live?
- 1st June 2026.
- What does Club Pro cost?
- £19.99/month, billed monthly with no contracts. Club Plus is £9.99/month.
- Is there a one-off option instead of a subscription?
- Yes. The Recruitment Window is a one-time £50 payment for 3 months of full Club Pro access. It reverts to free automatically when the 3 months end.
- Are players still free?
- Yes. Player Free, Plus and Pro are permanently free. That's a commitment, not a promo.
- What's actually new at launch?
- The full staff vertical (coaches, S&C, physios, analysts, team managers, nutritionists, doctors), team seats on Club Pro, staff vacancies, advanced elite player filtering, and dedicated priority support.
- What if my club doesn't upgrade?
- You'll be on Basic: a 60-day trial with 1 active vacancy, where messaging is limited to players who have applied to that vacancy. After the 60 days, posting and new applications pause until you pick a paid plan. We never auto-charge anyone, so nothing happens to your card without you choosing.
- What can I actually do on Basic?
- Post 1 active vacancy, receive applications, and message players who have applied to that vacancy. Your club, profile and data all stay yours. What Basic doesn't unlock: outbound messaging to players who haven't applied, multiple vacancies, Diamond Player access, staff search, team seats, or applicant Compatibility Scores. Upgrading to Plus or Pro restores all of that instantly.
One last thing.
Rugby is small, loyal and word-of-mouth. The only reason we're standing on the edge of a real launch is because the early community told other people about us.
If Rugby Unlocked has helped you (found a club, found a player, found a coach, or just made the search less lonely), the single most useful thing you can do this week is tell one other person in the game about us.
Thank you. See you on the other side of launch.
Drew Musa · Creator, Rugby Unlocked