SEAN O’Brien is no stranger to the limelight and the London Irish star was delighted to give something back to students at a primary school last week.

The 32-year-old, who made 56 appearances for Ireland in a glittering career, has long been an advocate of promoting rugby among the next generation, enthusiastically undertaking a range of community work back home on the Emerald Isle.

He was visiting The Langley Heritage Primary School, where he and teammate Phil Cokanasiga appeared to promote the innovative Premiership Rugby Champions app.

Premiership Rugby Champions is an interactive, cross curriculum-based app developed with expert learning technology company, Aspire 2Be.

The content aims to inspire primary school children to enjoy learning and get moving while developing important life skills.

Through themed resources, lesson materials and content provided by clubs like London Irish, the app connects school children to their rugby heroes and brings learning to life in the classroom.

Developed by teachers for teachers, Premiership Rugby Champions provides interactive and themed lesson plans to use in the classroom and outside, tackling health, numeracy and personal development.

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And as the initiative seeks to use the power of rugby to inspire young people to learn, engage and be active, O’Brien believes it is fundamental for high-profile stars like himself to give something back to the community.

He said: “It’s really important for rugby players to give back. It’s something I’ve been involved in back home in Ireland for a number of years. It’s vital to get out and promote the game.

“Even if it is just tag rugby, it’s a start. It’s also good to see the enjoyment teachers are getting out of it so they can then push it in their schools and develop the sport in the future.

“It’s been a really enjoyable day – all of the questions that were asked of the students they had answers for, so it’s good to see that they’re very knowledgeable about rugby.

“The Premiership Rugby Champions app is going to educate both students and teachers and will help promote rugby. It’s absolutely huge for schools as that’s where the next generation are.

“That’s the beginning of the pathways for kids in their future development to get into our sport.”

Cokanasiga may only be embarking on his burgeoning rugby career, but he has already made two first team appearances in Europe.

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The precocious young talent is acutely aware of his role model status and the importance of using it productively.

“I get real satisfaction from doing things like this and helping others as someone in my position,” he said.

“I was only in primary school eight or nine years ago, so it’s always nice to have players who come from a high level and who are role models coming to teach.

“I think it’s important to give back to the younger generation so they can develop a real knowledge of the sport.

"I know not every school involves rugby in their curriculum, so it’s great to give those students who don’t know much about the sport a bit of knowledge to see whether they like it or not.

“The social parts of rugby, like teamwork, are important, so it’s good to see them getting involved in things like that.

“The Premiership Rugby Champions app makes getting into rugby so easy – because we live in a digital age everyone can access it, with all schools having computers and phones for both the students and the teachers to use it.

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“It’s really good for the kids to be able to see the building blocks of where you start your rugby journey – you can really start from anywhere in this sport.”

O’Brien and Cokanasiga were in buoyant spirits as they visited the school, coming off the back of Irish’s impressive 20-16 victory away at high-flying Northampton Saints in Round Nine of Gallagher Premiership Rugby.

Premiership Rugby Champions is an interactive curriculum-based app developed by teachers, for teachers, and aimed at inspiring primary school children to be active whilst developing important life skills.

Using core rugby values and content from Premiership Rugby clubs and players, the app provides teachers with themed lesson plans and valuable teaching resources tackling health, numeracy and character.

For more information on Premiership Rugby Champions, visit https://www.premiershiprugby.com/community/premiership-rugby-champions/ and download the app.