Protecting Rugby's Values

Most Rah-Rahs consider Rugby's values to be a defining element of our sport.

The fervent remonstrating you see by players with referees in some other sports is (thankfully) almost completely absent from our game. Respect for match officials - and the opposition - is a core value of Rugby.

A game with positions for people of all shapes and sizes is arguably THE defining value of rugby.

The Haka, Siva Tau, Sipi Tau, i-Bole and other cultural challenges hold a special - even revered - place in all Test Matches. The sight of two teams simultaneously performing their cultural challenges, as the All Blacks and Tonga did at the opening match of Rugby World Cup 2011, is one of the great sights in world sport.

In an era of mass saturation of sport on our TV, and as Rugby reaches out to a new global audience attracting millions of new fans, players, coaches and referees - many from non-traditional rugby countries - it is important that the values of rugby are promoted. Indeed, it is incumbent on administrators and players alike to fiercely protect and promote rugby's values.

Perhaps not surprisingly, this was a topic of passionate debate amongst the 100+ membership at the 2009 IRB General Assembly - sparked by a moving story told by the President of the Georgia Rugby Union. He told of a phone call he received the previous year - at the outbreak of the brief war between Georgia and Russia. It was from his Russian counterpart. "Our governments may be at war" he said "but we are your friends - and if there is anything we can do to help when this is over then please let me know".  He made the point to the Assembly that if the solidarity of the Rugby family can rise above war then we must be more active in protecting and promoting it's values.

Since the 2009 General Assembly the IRB has been more proactive in promoting Rugby's values. A number of Member Unions - most notably England - have also commenced their own series of promotions to educate players and fans of the importance and role of Rugby's values in the modern game.

The video above was produced for, and shown at, last year's General Assembly in New Zealand and it captures Rugby's values well.

And for those interested, here is what the RFU have put together along the same theme.

Australia and New Zealand leaving Pacific Islands behind in race for Rio Gold

Australia and New Zealand are leading he way in identifying talent for Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Photo: Zoomfiji

New Zealand: 2012 Oceania Sevens Champions. Australia: Runners up. Photo: Zoomfiji

With the London Olympic Games now a memory, all eyes are on Rio and with Rugby Sevens making it's Olympic debut in 2016, there is a great sense of excitement within the Rugby family. Since the 'Olympic decision' in 2009, Rugby and Rugby Sevens, has experienced a surge in popularity in both new and established markets. Member Unions, Governments and National Olympic Committees are committing increasing resources to Rugby Sevens in a bid to firstly qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and then, to ensure a podium finish.

The real winner has been Women's Rugby - which, courtesy of the Olympic Games, is finally enjoying the attention of administrators that an Olympic sport commands.

Many countries will be targeting the Women's Rugby competition in Rio as a 'Soft medal target' - that is, an Olympic competition where good performances - even a medal - can be garnered in a short period of time for a relatively modest investment. Women's Rugby would be considered as such because the majority of the countries playing the sport have not been investing heavily in it for an extended period of time (certainly not at the levels that the Men's Game has enjoyed) and as such, the likelihood of new and existing countries 'closing the gap' on the highest ranked countries is enhanced.

As such we are now starting to see an explosion in the number of Talent Identification and investment programs targeting Rugby Sevens - and Women's Rugby Sevens in particular. And two of the best programs to emerge in the race for Rio Gold are coming out of Australia and New Zealand.

In 2011 the New Zealand Rugby Union launched the "Going 4 Gold" Talent Identification program. Under the Program, testing camps are being held in each of the Provincial Unions throughout New Zealand in 2012 in the search for girls aged 16 years and over to join the National Women's Sevens Development Program. The "Going 4 Gold" Program is a flagship initiative of the NZRU's comprehensive Women's Rugby Strategy which you can view here.

Earlier this month the Australian Rugby Union launched a similar Talent Identification program targeting athletes with the potential to become members of the Australian Women's Olympic Rugby Sevens team in Rio - a strategy which is gaining broad media interest in Australia . The ARU are conducting trails this year in Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney in a bid to unearth a new crop of talented athletes and convert them into Olympic Rugby Players. It is a concept that has worked well for Australia in the past - a number of the team that won the 2009 Rugby World Cup Women's Sevens had been talent ID'd from touch football.

Of course, such programs require money - especially in a country the size of Australia. But that should not be a deal breaker. With established High Performance Programs in Fiji, Samoa and Tonga, staffed by full time world class coaches, administrators and sports medicine personnel, there is nothing stopping the Pacific Island Unions from implementing a nationwide talent identification program. In fact, the only thing stopping them really is the werewithal to launch a similarly audacious bid for Rio Gold.

The relative size of the Pacific Island countries compared to Australia and New Zealand (not to mention China, England, Brazil and other countries that are mobilising for Rio) means that they are better positioned than just about any country in the world to train a squad of Talent Identified athletes on a full time basis in the lead-up to Rio. The IRB and FORU will provide the competitions - they just need to work with their National Olympic Committees to find the athletes. It's not too late for the Pacific Island Unions to join the race for Rio Gold - but it soon will be.

USA Rugby's Recruitment Video

More and more countries, particularly those from non-traditional Rugby backgrounds - have begun mobilising for the debut of Rugby Sevens at the Olympic Games in Rio in 2016. One of the most active has been the USA which has launched a fantastic Video to inspire the next generation of Olympians for USA Rugby. As the video shows, despite popular belief, the USA has a very rich Rugby Heritage. This promotion comes hot on the heels of their highly successful Rookie Rugby Program which in 2011 won the IRB Development award and has seen Rugby become the 3rd fastest growing sport in the USA. Take a look at USA Rugby's excellent video here:

What makes this strategy even more unique - and effective - is the benchmarking exercise that USA Rugby have added. For anyone inspired enough by the video to 'become an eagle' there is a simple test they can do that compares their basic level fitness test results with those of the National team. Check it out here by clicking on the 'Skip Ahead' tab underneath the video.

Talemo Waqa joins the IRB team in Oceania

Earlier this month the IRB announced that Talemo Waqa has been appointed the Regional Training Coordinator for Oceania.Read details of Talemo's appointment here.

The appointment of Talemo, (previously an employee of the Fiji Rugby Union - first as a referee Development Manager and most recently as the High Performance Manager) comes just after Wayne Schuster was appointed Program Manager, Event Operations at the Australian Rugby Union. Wayne was previously the Tours and Events Manager at the Samoa Rugby Union.

It is very pleasing to see both of these Pacific Island men creating a career pathway through rugby in the Pacific Islands. Rugby has long been a career path for countless Pacific Islands players plying their trade in all over the world - and now we're seeing that extend to Rugby's administrators.

Since the commencement of the Strategic Investment Initiative in 2006, the number of staff within the Pacific Island Unions has increased considerably. The IRB invests considerable time and money into the professional development of players, coaches, administrators and match officials through our Training and Education Support Program and initiatives such as the Talent Optimisation Program at Stellenbosch and the Talent Development program run as part of the Pacific in Union partnership with the Australian Rugby Union and the Australian Sports Commission. What it this investment shows, and what Wayne and Talemo have proven, is that with properly constructed professional development plans, it's not just Pacific Island players that can excel on the world stage - our administrators can be amongst the best as well.

One of my favourite Rugby Ads

I stumbled over this great advertisement for the Hong Sevens - on the of the World's great sporting events. Very clever and captures the essence of Sevens Rugby. What do you think?

..and then there is the next day....

Growing the Pacific Nations Cup

Having now just completed it's 7th year, the IRB Pacific Nations Cup (the PNC) has established itself on the Pacific Rugby Calendar. Within the Pacific Rugby community it has established a reputation for providing fast-paced, exciting and unpredictable Rugby. 

For the four core teams (Fiji, Japan, Samoa and Tonga) that have participated in the tournament every year since it's inception (Australia A, the Junior All Blacks and the New Zealand Maori competed at various times in the first four years), the tournament provides vital regular international competition amongst some of the top teams in the world.

The Pacific Nations Cup has a reputation for fast, unpredictable Rugby (photo: www.oceaniarugby.com)

Fiji defeated Tonga in the last match of the 2012 PNC (Photo: www.oceaniarugby.com)

And as the tournament has grown in importance, so too have the calls to expand it to include other High Performance Unions that don't currently participate in the Six Nations or the Rugby Championship.

In May this year, the IRB invited  the Unions of Fiji, Japan, Samoa, Tonga, USA and Canada to a meeting to discuss the possibility of expanding the PNC to include USA and Canada. There is in fact a history of such a competition - from 1999-2001 a Pacific Rim Championship contested by these six nations was held however was discontinued due to costs. For a good perspective on this meeting from one of the potential Participating Unions, check out Nigel Melville's (CEO, USA Rugby) post here.

There are many reasons why an expanded PNC can and should work. All countries need to be playing more Test Matches each year (you may recall from earlier posts that in the Pacific we are endeavouring to provide around 20 Test and 'A' matches per year for the Pacific Island Member Unions) and an expanded PNC can contribute to this. The IRB is investing millions of dollars into these Unions and we have a vested interest to ensure that they have access to a level of competition that ensures their continued improvement on the international stage and, ultimately, Rugby World Cup.


There is also the issue of quality. Invariably, at least one of the PI Unions are in the IRB Top 10 World Rankings at any point in time and it is important that teams that have qualified for RWC, or are endeavouring to do so, are playing regularly against the best teams in the world. In the absence of access to the Six Nations and the Rugby Championship, the PNC provides competition for the next best teams in World Rugby.

Could we see the USA in an expanded PNC any time soon? (Photo: www.irb.com)

There are however, considerable hurdles that need to be overcome before the dream becomes a reality. From a cost perspective, it is a very expensive tournament concept. Preliminary costings for an expanded PNC have airfares alone at GBP220,000 (AUD335,000). Landed costs (accommodation, meals and ground transport) are even more expensive. However, an even greater hurdle is logistics.

Trying to host a six team tournament in the three-weekend June Test window in an area that spans 1/3 of the world's surface is a logistical nightmare. The June test window is important because it is the period under which players have to be released by professional clubs under IRB Regulation 9 (so it is therefore important to host the tournament within the June test window to ensure the strongest possible sides).

Add to that other important considerations such as sponsorship, broadcasting and other commercial considerations and you face a complex web of challenges to overcome to make an expanded PNC a reality. However the benefits of an expanded PNC are too great to ignore (I haven't even talked about the commercial potential of a tournament that is played in two of the world's three largest economies) and as such we are continuing to work on this complex problem.

Watch this space.

Fiji's new Challenge - the Bole

Against their test against Scotland earlier this month, The Flying Fijians unveiled a new challenge called the 'i-Bole'. The Bole replaces the Cibi which, according to the creator of the new challenge, Manoa Rasigatale, was being used out o context as it celebrated a victory from a challenge that had not yet been issued - or accepted.

A detailed outline of the 'i bole' can be found here

Here is a video of the i bole - what do you think?