(Photos courtesy of http://www.zoomfiji.com/)
Last month I attended the Oceania National Olympic Committees (ONOC) Annual General Meeting in Noumea, New Caledonia, together with over 30 other International Federations active in the Oceania Region. ONOC is one of the five 'rings' of the the IOC - the IOC's Continental Association for Oceania and is responsible for managing the IOC's significant investment in the Olympic movement in the Oceania region.
The Annual meeting is a wonderful opportunity to meet with International Federations and National Olympic Committees to discuss the growth of sport in the region, share ideas and learn from what we are all doing. All International Federations are invited to submit a report on their activities in 2010 and having written this summary of all that was achieved in 2010, I think it is worth sharing. The Oceania region has a unique rugby heritage - unlike any other region in the world - and the achievement of Oceania teams on the International stage, and the success of the IRB's programs in the region, are a testament to the importance of rugby to Oceania.
I should point out that the summary below does not include non-IRB events, such as Bledisloe Cup, Tri Nations and the Northern Hemisphere Tours in November. If you add those results to the mix, it makes for even better reading.
Rugby in the Oceania region looked like this in 2010:
Samoa won the 2009/10 IRB Sevens World Series, their first World Series and the first since the decision to include Rugby Sevens in the Olympic Program for 2016 and 2020. New Zealand won the 2010 Women’s Rugby World Cup as well as the 2010 IRB Junior World Championship.
Players, teams and administrators from the Oceania Region scooped the pool in the 2010 IRB Awards. New Zealand Captain Richie McCaw was again named IRB Player of the Year while the All Blacks were named International team of the Year and New Zealand Coach, Graham Henry was named IRB Coach of the Year. Carla Hohepa of New Zealand was named IRB Women’s Personality of the Year and fellow countrymen, Julian Savea, was named IRB Junior Player of the Year. Brian ‘Box’ O’Shea from Australia won the IRB Development Award for his contribution to the game in Australia and the Pacific Islands and Samoan Superstar Mikaele Pesamino was named IRB Sevens Player of the Year.
Samoa claim first ever IRB Sevens World Series
In the first World Series since ‘the Olympic decision’, Samoa won four of the eight tournaments in the 2009/10 IRB Sevens World Series but left it until the last tournament, with victory over Australia in the final at Edinburgh, to clinch their first ever World Series title. Indeed, Oceania teams won all eight of the 2009/10 World Series Tournaments with Samoa, New Zealand, Australia and Fiji filling the top four spots, in that order, in the World Series. A remarkable achievement for the region.
New Zealand win fourth Consecutive Commonwealth Games Gold Medal
New Zealand won Gold at the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games with a 24-17 victory over Australia in the final. It was New Zealand’s fourth consecutive Commonwealth Games Gold Medal. Samoa won the Plate final with a 34-0 victory over Scotland while Papua New Guinea capped off an outstanding Commonwealth Games to win the Bowl final with a 17-10 victory over Canada.
New Zealand retain Women’s World Cup crown.
New Zealand retained the Women’s Rugby World Cup crown with a 13-10 victory over England in front of 13,000 spectators at the Twickenham Stoop in London. It is New Zealand’s fourth Women’s World Cup crown in a row. Australia finished the tournament in third place; their highest ever finish in a Women’s World Cup with a 22-8 victory over France in the 3rd place playoff.
New Zealand retain IRB Junior World Championship
New Zealand won the 2010 IRB Junior World Championship for the third year in a row with an emphatic 62-17 victory over Australia in the final in Rosario, Argentina. Fiji finished in 8th place while Tonga finished in 11th spot, beating Samoa 23-3 in the relegation match. Samoa will now compete at the 2011 IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy in Georgia – a tournament they must win to earn promotion back to the Junior World Championship.
Fiji Warriors become first team to successfully defend IRB Pacific Rugby Cup
The Fiji Warriors defeated countrymen the Fiji Barbarians in the final of the 2010 IRB Pacific Rugby Cup (PRC) to become the first team to defend their title. Comprising two teams each from Fiji, Samoa and Tonga, the PRC is designed to bridge the gap between domestic and international rugby for the best locally-based players from the three countries. After losing to the Fiji Barbarians 20-23 in the opening round of the tournament, the Fiji Warriors won their next four matches to qualify for the final before overcoming the Fiji Barbarians 26-17 in a thrilling final in Suva.
Samoa win 2010 ANZ Pacific Nations Cup
Hosts Samoa bounced back from a surprise 23-31 loss to Japan (only their second ever loss to Japan) in the second round to defeat Fiji 31-9 in the final round to claim their first ever ANZ Pacific Nations Cup (PNC) title. In front of a large and vocal crown at Apia Park, Samoa needed a try scoring bonus point and a winning margin of more than 13 points against Fiji to win the title. The PNC Legacy program - a partnership between the Samoa Rugby Union, United Nations, ONOC and the International Rugby Board, was an outstanding success in creating awareness of the Millennium Development Goals as well as HIV/AIDS awareness and anti-doping education.
Australia win Oceania Sevens Championship
Australia capped off a successful 2009/10 IRB Sevens World Series by winning their first Oceania Sevens title in Darwin, Australia in October. Australia defeated Samoa 34-12 in the final, their first victory over Samoa in 2010, to win the title. Tonga edged out a vastly improved Papua New Guinea team 12-7 to take 3rd place and qualify for the Wellington, Adelaide and Hong Kong Legs of the 2010/11 HSBC Sevens World Series. Papua New Guinea and Cook Islands (who defeated Niue 15-5 in the 5th place playoff) qualified for the Wellington and Adelaide legs of the 2010/11 HSBC Sevens World Series.
Samoa retain Oceania U19 Championship
Samoa won the 2010 Oceania U19 Championship with a resounding 53-13 win over Cook Islands in the final at Apia Park. It was Samoa’s second Under 19 Championship in a row. Papua New Guinea finished the tournament in 3rd place with a 34-5 victory over American Samoa.
Inaugural Asia Pacific Women’s Sevens a great success.
In October, FORU partnered with the Asian Rugby Football Union (ARFU) to conduct the inaugural Asia-Pacific Women’s Sevens Tournament in Borneo. The tournament comprised three teams from Asia (Kazakhstan, Singapore and India) and four teams from Oceania (Cook Islands, Papua New Guinea (PNG), Samoa and Tonga) in a three day tournament. PNG lost a tightly contested final against 2010 Asian Games Gold Medallists, Kazakhstan. Cook Islands defeated Singapore to win the Plate Final and Samoa defeated Tonga to win the Bowl.
Locoloco becomes first Fijian to referee the final of an IRB International Tournament
Napolioni Locoloco was appointed to referee the final of 2010 IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy in Russia between Italy and Japan which was won 36-7 by Italy. The appointment means Locoloco became the first Fijian to referee the final of an IRB International Tournament. The Oceania region was represented by Papua New Guinea in the IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy who finished in 7th place following a 46-22 victory over Zimbabwe in the 7th place play-off.
Edward Joseph becomes the first ni-Vanuatu to become an IRB Accredited Educator
Eddie Joseph, the Vanuatu Rugby Union National Development Officer, is Vanuatu’s first ever IRB Accredited Educator. Eddie earned this recognition during the Annual Oceania Rugby Development Workshop in Nadi in August. He also earned his Level One IRB Sevens Coaching Certificate during the same course. This is a first for Vanuatu and Vanuatu Rugby. The certification means that Eddie can now run IRB Education workshops throughout Vanuatu.
IRB and ARU signs Australian Sports Outreach Program Agreement with Australian Government
In December, the IRB, Australian Rugby Union and the Australian Government signed a Partnership Agreement in relation to the Australian Sports Outreach Program (ASOP). The Partnership, part of the ASOP Program announced by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd at the 2009 Pacific Island Forum, will promote community development outcomes through Rugby and will be launched in 2011.
Construction of Samoa’s High Performance Facility has commenced.
The construction of Samoa’s High Performance Facility started in December. The facility will feature a High Performance gym, recovery and rehabilitation centre, four new training pitches, accommodation for up to 90 athletes and a dedicated administration centre for SRU staff. Construction is expected to be completed well ahead of Samoa’s Rugby World Cup preparation camp in August 2011. The IRB has contributed over GBP £1million to the project, which has been made possible through the donation of 36 hectares of land at the Faleata Sports Complex by the Samoan Government.
Coaching and Match Official Accreditation Numbers continue to rise
The significant growth in IRB Accredited Trainers and Educators continued in 2010 as part of a concerted push to facilitate a greater number of IRB courses in the Region. There are now 4 IRB Certified Trainers (licensed to run IRB Educator Courses) and 30 IRB Educators (licensed to run Coaching, Match Official and Strength & Conditioning Accreditation Courses) in the Pacific Islands. The resultant increase in the number of IRB Accreditation courses has seen accreditation numbers continue to increase dramatically in the region.
At the end of 2010 there were:
1225 Accredited Coaches (Level 1, 2 and 3)
1077 Accredited Match Officials (Levels 1, 2 and 3)
79 Accredited Strength and Conditioning Coaches (Levels 1 and 2)
1369 Accredited Rugby Ready Participants
FORU Development Workshop a great success
Held from 9th to 13th August in Nadi, Fiji, this annual workshop for Federation of Oceania Rugby Unions (FORU) Member Unions delivered a range of programmes and initiatives including workshops on the Olympics, Women’s strategic planning, an OSEP Administrator’s course, Trust Development Grant meetings, an IRB Trainer & Educator course and a Sevens Rugby Coaching course. 52 Delegates from 10 countries attended the Workshop.
A presentation on the Olympic movement by Dr Robin Mitchell and Dennis Miller of the Oceania National Olympic Committees proved invaluable and was received with great enthusiasm by the participants as this was the first Regional Development workshop to be held since the decision to include Rugby on the Olympic Program for 2016 and 2020.
Development staff from all attending Unions participated in the IRB Educators Course. Whilst all did not achieve competency, those that didn’t will be assisted and helped through the process over the next 12 months. In addition to this, 20 coaches attended the IRB Sevens Level 1 course, whilst Fiji Rugby Union Development Staff were acquainted with both the Sevens Coaching Pathway and the revised 15-a-side Level 3 course.
An Oceania Sports Education Programme Communities Training Programme was delivered by Joe Lumaris - an OSEP Trainer from Papua New Guinea. Those who were successful in achieving accreditation will now be able to deliver this course in their Union.
The International Rugby Board and the Federation of Oceania Rugby Unions would like to acknowledge the support of the Oceania National Olympic Committees (ONOC) who jointly funded the Regional Development Workshop - without their help, the workshop would not have been the success it was.
Building the Women’s Game
A highly successful Women’s Rugby Development Strategic Planning session was held as an integral part of the FORU Development Workshop in Nadi. As a result of this day of planning, a number of Strategic Priorities have been identified and incorporated into the FORU Strategic Plan. This will ensure that the development of Women’s Rugby is better coordinated throughout the region.
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