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?

International Competition is the key to driving development

Whilst the IRB invests heavily in High Performance Programs throughout the Pacific, it is the investment in international competition that is the most important spend.

Fiji take on Tonga in the IRB Pacific Nations Cup (photo: zoomfiji.com)

Samoa v New Zealand in the recently completed IRB Junior World Cup (photo: irb.com)

 
Over the past four years, the last Rugby World Cup Cycle, the IRB has invested over GBP9million into high performance initiatives in the Pacific Islands. This funding is directed towards High Performance staffing structures, full time scholarship programs for locally-based athletes, coaches and match officials; Sports Science and Sports Medicine programs and infrastructure for world-class training facilities. All of these High Performance Programs are designed for one thing - to improve the quality of international Rugby and in particular, Rugby World Cup.

And in that regard, arguably the most important component of any High Performance strategy is competition. It is crucial that any high performance investment is underpinned by regular, high level competition.

In June this year, the first Tours of the revised international Tours Program commenced globally. Well-publicised Tours by Wales to Australia, Ireland to New Zealand, England to South Africa and France to Argentina have heralded a new approach to the June Test Window. Of greater importance, however (insofar as the IRB Strategic Investment initiative is concerned) was Scotland's Tour to Fiji & Samoa and Italy's Tour of USA & Canada.

The IRB Media Release on the Scotland Tour can be read here.

(Funnily enough, the same media organisations that habitually put the boot into the IRB each Rugby World Cup for 'not caring' about the smaller Rugby playing nations gave scant, if any coverage, of these tours in the June test window.)

And in November, the Pacific Island Unions will head up to Europe for Test matches against the northern hemipshere powerhouses during the November International Test Window. Each PI team will play three international tests and each will play at least one test against a Tier 1 Nation. Whilst the new international Tours program is not perfect, it is a vast improvement and it does underpin the IRB's commitment to International competition.

A look at the last weekend gives a good insight into just how much international competition is being provided for the Pacific Island Unions. In addition to the Samoa test against Scotland, Tonga played Fiji in the last weekend of the IRB Pacific Nations Cup; Samoa took on Scotland in the 9th place playoff of the IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy and Fiji finished their 5 match JWC campaign with a win over Italy (a win which avoided relegation to the IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy). Tonga started their IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy campaign with a loss to USA before recording a big win against Russia.

Whilst the June and November Test windows, together with the Pacific Nations Cup are providing an increased number of Test matches for the Pacific Island Unions, the IRB Pacific Rugby Cup is also playing an important role for the locally-based National team players (those that do not play professionally overseas) as well as those locally-based players that aspire to gain Test selection. The revised PRC provides 8 matches for the 'A' teams of Fiji, Samoa and Tonga - 6 of which are against the development teams of Super Rugby franchises in Australia and New Zealand. It is an excellent competition that exposes the best locally based players to matches against high quality teams as well as the rigours of week-in, week-out competition and international touring.

When you take into account the 'A' team matches that are being provided through the PRC, as well as the Tests provided through the PNC and the June and November Test windows, we are approaching 17 International Matches each year for the Test and 'A' teams of the Pacific Island Unions. The aim is to get this number to around 22 by RWC2015 and a lot of work is going into achieving this. If we can achieve 22 international matches each calendar year for the Test and A teams then we have significantly increased the level of international competition for the Pacific Island Unions in a very short time. That would be 66 International matches between now and RWC2015 which gives plenty of opportunities for the PI Unions to hone their RWC systems and structures.

The Oka Diaries - Samoa, April 2012

The recently completed 'strong-man' outdoor training area - brainchild of former strength and conditioning coach Dave Edgar

The HPU Training Centre

Bruce Cook (IRB), Peter Horne (IRB), Tuala Mathew Vaea (SRU) during the desktop review

The purpose of our trip to Samoa last month was to undertake the Annual High Performance Review as well as a Strategic Planning meeting to develop the skeleton of the Union's new Strategic Plan. We are entering an exciting phase in the IRB's investment in the Oceania Region. The next planning cycle will take us to RWC Sevens 2013, Women's Rugby World Cup 2014, Rugby World Cup 2015 and of course the Rio 2016 Olympic Games - where rugby makes it's long awaited return to the Olympic family.

The Annual High Performance review is a process that we undertake every year in addition to the quarterly desktop reviews that are undertaken jointly by the IRB and the SRU.

It's fair to say that the SRU has copped a fair bit of criticism in the aftermath of RWC. Some of this criticism is justified - a couple of key administrative errors proved costly. But before casting aspersions on the SRU Administration, it is important to recognise that the SRU High Performance program is only 6 years-old and is still very much in its infancy. The Samoa Rugby Union does not operate in a culture of high performance that has existed in, say Australia, for example, since 1981 (when the Australian Insitute of Sport was established). In fact, the Samoa Rugby Union are trailblazers in High Performance sport in Samoa and are having to learn lessons the hard way - no other sport in Samoa, with the possible exception of weightlifting, invests in a full-time high performance program and there are no off-the-shelf HP programs that can be airlifted into a country that will operate perfectly from day one. The program has to be built from the ground up - built on the foundations of general principles of High Performance but one that is tailored to the unique needs and environment of a country like Samoa.

Mistakes will be made and will continue to be made - what is important is how the lessons from these mistakes are applied to improve the program in the future.

Despite what some have labelled an unsuccesful Rugby World Cup campaign, 2011 was a successful year on the field for Samoa's National teams. The performance of the Manu Samoa at RWC has been misrepresented - and this probably has something to do with their own (and not unreasonable) ambitions of making the knockout stages of the tournament. Their performance against South Africa - a team they have never beaten - was their best ever, reducing the margin of loss by some 40 points since the last RWC. Against Wales, they came within seven points of the eventual semi-finalists. Samoa's performance, in what turned out to be a formidable pool, was impressive and as a consequence of finishing third at RWC2011, they have automatically qualified for RWC2015 (again, something they did not achieve at RWC2007). Here are some key statistics from Samoa's RWC2011 campaign:

• Samoa reduced their losing margins against 'Tier 1' Countries by 75% from RWC2007
• Achieved their best ever result against South Africa (at RWC2007 they lost 59-7)
• Samoa finished the year with an IRB World Ranking of 10th
• They had the third best scrum of RWC - winning 97% of their own scrum feed. They won 27% of opposition scrum feeds - the best at RWC.
• Samoa won 25% of opposition lineout ball - the second best at RWC
• They had the 6th best kick success rate at RWC

There were other notable performances outside of Rugby World Cup - not the least of which was Samoa's 32-23 win over the Wallabies in June. The Samoa U20's won the IRB Junior World Trophy in Georgia - thus gaining promotion to the 2012 Junior World Championship in South Africa. And despite an inconsistent 2010/11 HSBC Sevens World Series, Samoa turned in some notable performance and managed to finish the year in 5th position (one point behind England).

National coach Stephen Betham outlines his vision for Samoa Rugby

SRU Staff and stakeholder work on the new SRU Strategic Plan

So the 2011 Annual High Performance review was aimed at assessing all aspects of the SRU's HP Program. The review critically analyses 4 areas of the program:

• Administration & Governance;
• The Daily Training Environment;
• Sports Science and Sports Medicine; and
• International Competition and Support

Within each of these areas are specific elements that are reviewed and assessed - in all over 100 different components of the SRU HP Program are scrutinised. Assisting with the review was a report completed by Mat Blair, the IRB's Strength and Conditioning consultant who recently visited Samoa to undertake an audit of the new SRU HP Gym and the SRU Strength and Conditioning program.

In addition to the desktop review, we undertook field visits to observe how the coaching and support structures operate in the training environment. There was plenty of activity with the U20's, Women's Sevens and Men's Sevens squads all in preparation phases for international competition - new SRU High Performance and Administration facility is a hive of activity.

The Annual review is always a thorough and tiring process. The findings of the review have been prioritised and are now being built into the 2012 Operations Plan to ensure that they are adressed adequately.

With a new coach, a new CEO, a new strategic plan and a new High Performance facility, the conditions are perfect for a prosperous 5 years for the Samoa Rugby Union. However, the review and planning are the easy bits - now for the hard work.

Ika Mata Diaries - Day 3 Cook Islands

The FORU AGM was held in Rarotonga, Cook Islands on Wednesday 2 May

Day three marked the main purpose for the visit to Cook Islands - the Federation of Oceania Rugby Unions Annual General Meeting. Historically the AGM has been a tame affair on account of the main thrust of the work having been done at the workshops over the preceeding day/s - with the AGM being used to formally ratify the decisions made at the workshops prior to the AGM.

This year's AGM was no different. The Annual reports from the Executive and staff were presented and the FORU Strategic Plan (2012-15) was formally adopted by the Membership. A busy international competition schedule was approved and includes:

2013: IRB Pacific Rugby Cup; IRB Pacific Nations Cup; FORU Oceania Cup; Oceania Sevens (Men's and Women's); Pacific Mini Games (Men) and the Asia Pacific Women's Sevens Series.

2014: IRB Pacific Rugby Cup; IRB Pacific Nations Cup; Oceania Under 19s; Oceania Sevens (Men's and Women's) and the Asia Pacific Women's Sevens Series.

2015: IRB Pacific Rugby Cup; IRB Pacific Nations Cup; FORU Oceania Cup; Oceania Sevens (Men's and Women's), Pacific Games (Men and Women) and the Asia Pacific Women's Sevens Series.

There was approval to discuss an expansion of the Asia-Pacific Sevens Series concept with the Asian Rugby Football Unions (ARFU) - the IRB Regional Association in Asia. This is a concept that is generating great interest amongst the membership - especially for our Member Unions that are not core teams on the HSBC Sevens World Series, as it presents an opportunity for increased competition in the lead-up to the Rio2016 Olympic Games.

Nick Brown (NZL), Charles Tauziet (TAH), John Wichman (COK), Harry Schuster (SAM), Richard Sapias (PNG), Stephen Cottrell (NZL) and Andy Conway (AUS) - members of the past and present FORU Executive

The most important outcome of the AGM was the election of the FORU Executive for the next four years. FORU said goodbye to Stephen Cottrell (New Zealand) and John Wichman (Cook Islands), both of whom were standing down at this election. Both have been vocal and hard working Executive Members and will be missed - John in particular as he has been a 'founding' member of the FORU Executive since its inception.

The new FORU Executive elected at this AGM is:

President: Lefau Harry Schuster (Samoa)
Secretary: Nick Brown (New Zealand)
Treasurer: Andy Conway (Australia)
Executive Member: Richard Sapias (PNG)
Executive Member: Charles Tauziet: (Tahiti)



The Hon. John Carter, New Zealand High Commissioner, Chris McKinley, CIRU President; Ben Koteka, CIRU CEO and Jerome Kaino

Local Kids present some of the RWC Legacy Equipment with their interpretation of the Haka

After the AGM, I attended the handover of RWC2011 Legacy equipment to the Cook Islands Rugby Union. Details of this initiative can be found on the FORU Website here . To commemorate the hand over, the New Zealand Government and the Cook Islands Rugby Union arranged a parade of the Webb Ellis Cup down the main street followed by a civic reception. The turnout suprised everyone - hundreds, if not thousands of locals arrived to meet All Black star Jerome Kaino (whom, it must be said, is an absolute gentlemen and went well beyond the call of duty to sign autographs and pose for photos with hundreds of adoring fans) and catch a glimpse of the famous RWC Trophy.

It is functions like this where you get an appreciation for the importance of sport in small countries in particular. And in the Cook Islands, where rugby is the National Sport, the response by the general public to the handover of world-class rugby equipment and the chance to meet Jerome Kaino and see the Webb Ellis Cup simply had to be seen to be believed.

The shirt says it all

A great visit to a great rugby country concludes. Next stop, Auckland, for a series of meetings with representatives from Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Japan, USA and Canada to discuss the possibilities around an expanded Pacific Nations Cup. I will update you on the outcomes of those meetings soon.

Ika Mata Diaries: Day 2 Cook Islands

Quite an eventful day here at Day 2 of the Federation of Oceania Rugby Unions (FORU) AGM.

A lot of time was spent updating our Member Unions on the competition program for 2012 as well as discussing the competition structures for 2013-15.

2012 is a busy year with the Pacific Rugby Cup legs in Australia and New Zealand already completed - the Pacific leg will be held in Fiji in October. The Pacific Nations Cup is the next tournament in Japan next month before we head into Oceania Sevens Championships for Men and Women, both of which double as RWC Sevens 2013 Regional Qualifiers. The Oceania Under 19 Championship will be held in Samoa in November and December and the Asia Pacific Womens Sevens will again be held in Borneo in September.

A lot of discussion was had around finding appropriate windows for what is emerging as a busy international competition schedule for our Member Unions. In 2013 there will be Pacific Rugby Cup, Pacific Nations Cup, Oceania Sevens (Men's and Women's), Oceania Cup (which doubles as a RWC2015 Qualifier), Pacific Mini Games and the Asia-Pacific Women's Sevens in Borneo. 2014 and 2015 are just as busy.

As we lead into Rio2016 Olympic Games it is important that we establish appropriate competiton structures for our Member Unions and this was the essence of today's discussion.

We also visited the Cook Islands Rugby Union High Performance Facility - a NZD12million investment by the Cook Islands government into Rugby in Cook Islands. It is an impressive facility and one that would make many larger countries envious and it just goes to show what is possible when sporting organisations and governments work collaboratively - regardless of size. The CIRU HP Facility ensures there is a legacy for the 2009 Pacific Mini Games hosted by Cook Islands.

CIRU HPU Gym

CIRU HPU Fields

The Cooks have taken on, and beaten, some of the biggest names in Sevens rugby in recent years when they have appeared on the HSBC Sevens World Series. The establishment of a dedicated High Performance facilty signals the CIRU's intent in the lead-up to Rio2016.

FORU Delegates pose with the Webb Ellis Cup

The day culminated with the announcement of the Oceania Regional Qualification process for RWC2015. Details of the announcement can be found here. The announcement was made on the grounds of the Makea Palace - a sacred place in the history of Cook Islands and next to where the 1924 All Black Invincibles played a Cook Islands selection on their way to their famous tour of Europe.

AGM tomorrow.

Ika Mata Diaries - Cook Islands Day 1

There's a lot to like about travelling in the Pacific, but the sashimi - and the local derivations of the raw fish specialty dish found throughout the South Pacific, which in the Cook Islands is known as 'Ika Mata' - is the best you will find anywhere in the world. It's a perfect way to end a day's work.

The Prime Minister, The Hon. Henry Puna talks to FORU President Lefau Harry Schuster before opening the FORU Meetings

Rarotonga, Cook Islands and we're here for the Federation of Oceania Rugby Unions (FORU) Annual General Meeting. Representatives from all 14 of FORU's Member Unions, as well as representatives from Wallis et Futuna (an Associate Member of FORU) are attending this meeting  - all in all, 35 delegates are here to talk all things Pacific Rugby: to report on the activities of 2011 and thrash out some of the key issues for the year ahead.

The travel schedules here in the Cooks has allowed us an extra day which means we are running two days of workshops before the AGM on Wednesday.

Our meeting was opened today by the Prime Minister, the Hon. Henry Puna, a Rugby man no less (aren't they all in this part of the world), and after the formalities we settled into our first day of workshops.

Day 1 of our meetings in Rarotonga, Cook Islands

The focus of today's meetings was on improving our integration into the Olympic Movement. Executive Director of the Oceania National Olympic Committees (ONOC), Dennis Miller, was our guest and gave the Members a detailed presentation on Olympic Solidarity - the IOC's Development program funded through the revenues derived from broadcast rights. Member Unions (indeed all Olympic Sports) can apply for funding assistance across over 30 different program areas through the Olympic Solidarity Program managed by their respective National Olympic Committees. Access to Olympic Solidarity funding, and the excellent programs run by ONOC, is one of the major benefits of becoming an Olympic sport. More information on ONOC and their programs is available here

Dennis' presentation was followed by lengthy discussions on the need to ensure that the Rugby Sevens competitions for Men's and Women's was a success at Rio2016 - and what our collective and individual responsibilities were in this regard. Four years is a very short time in elite sport and as I have outlined in earlier posts, many countries have mobilised their considerable rugby resources to launch a serious bid for Gold in Rio and we have a lot of work to do to ensure we a) maximise the representation of our region in Rio and then b) ensure we perform at the Olympic Games.

The other big agenda item today was Women's Rugby. Elenoa Kunatuba, our recently appointed Women's Development Officer, led a session on the new FORU Strategic Plan, as it relates to Women's Rugby, and what steps are needed to successfully deliver our vision for the Women's Game in the region. Some great ideas came out of this session - a number of Unions around the world have started developing very innovative programs in this area - and we have looked at a couple of case studies from which to draw inspiration.

We've some big ticket items on the agenda for tomorrow including the competition scheules for 2013 and 2014; our Trust Development Grant Process (through which all our Member Unions receive funding assistance) and the activation of the new FORU Strategic Plan.

The double-edged sword that is Olympic Sevens Rugby

The Olympic Decision presents great opportunities…as well as potential threats to Rugby in the Oceania Region.

The re-admission of Rugby into the Olympic movement, and the inclusion of Rugby Sevens on the Olympic Program in 2016 and 2020 has been met with universal applause in the global Rugby family - and nowhere more so than in the Pacific Islands. And given that the Pacific Islands has only ever won one medal in the history of Olympic competition, it is easy to understand why.

Paea Wolfgramm, of Tonga (Photo: www.olympics.org)

Paea Wolfgramm, from Tonga, won the Boxing Super Heavyweight Silver medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. Despite some near misses (Samoan Weightlifter Ele Opeloge came agonisingly close to a Bronze Medal in the Women's 75+kg - missing out by just 1kg - at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games), Wolfgramm's medal is the only medal won by a Pacific Islander in the history of Olympic competition.

Olympic Rugby, therefore, presents a huge opportunity for the growth of Rugby in the Oceania region - especially Women's rugby. The Oceania Region has a rich Rugby Sevens heritage and a history of success in the modified form of the game. So the inclusion of Rugby Sevens on the Olympic Program for 2016 and 2020 presents a genuine medal opportunity for the Oceania region - and the Pacific Islands in particular - and the prospect of an Olympic medal has the region buzzing.

Fiji won the 2012 Hong Kong Sevens and currently sit in second spot on the 2011/12 HSBC Sevens World Series (irb.com)

Samoa won the 2012 Las Vegas Sevens (irb.com)

With that said, the Olympic decision has mobilised most of the established Rugby nations and a great number of countries without a Rugby heritage, such as China, Mexico and Brazil, where a greater emphasis is now being placed on Sevens rugby. Countries with much bigger economies, more affluent governments, and with greater commercial opportunities for the IRB, are showing an increased appetite for, and in some cases an increased capability in, Sevens Rugby.

Canada recently opened it's new Training Centre - a facility that will house their significantly expanding High Performance Program, and one that is generating rapid results. Canada recently qualified as a core team on the 2012/13 HSBC Sevens World Series. Tonga, the Oceania team at the qualification tournament, did not qualify. Russian Rugby is surging and next year it will host the Rugby World Cup Sevens. Now that it is an Olympic sport, Rugby is being introduced in Russian schools. Earlier this year, USA Rugby announced a funding partnership with the US Olympic Committee allowing for 15 men and 8 women to train on fulltime scholarships at the USOC Training Centre.

In that regard, the Pacific Island Unions have to find ways to harness their competitive advantages to counter the economic and geographic advantages that so many countries have over us.

So how can we possibly address this challenge in the Pacific Islands? One of the things we often talk about in our discussions with the Pacific Island Member Unions is harnessing our competitive advantage. Too often we dismiss the small economies and the geography of the region as a competitive disadvantage without looking at, and more importantly exploiting, the competitive advantages that exist - and there are two big ones that exist in our region.


1. A heritage of Rugby and Rugby Sevens
Not that I would ever admit this in front of props and hookers, but the scrum and lineout are technically intricate beasts - requiring the execution of a complex series of skills with deft precision (lest you find yourself bent into all manner of unnatural shapes and contortions) - the likes of which your smarter rugby players (i.e. back rowers) will never quite understand or appreciate. It is a widely accepted truism of rugby that you cannot succeed in fifteen-a-side rugby without a good scrum and lineout.

Similarly, you can't succeed in Sevens rugby without good spatial awareness. And this is where the Pacific Islands, and Fiji in particular, have a considerable competitive advantage over almost every other rugby playing nation in the world.

Anyone driving anywhere in Fiji after 3pm on any given afternoon (except Sunday) will invariably stumble across a game of 'One Touch' in just about every village. It's a simple game of touch footy played by Fijians from the moment they can run - teams split evenly down the middle have one 'Touch' to score a try. If they are 'touched' or if they drop the ball, they hand it over to the opposition. Derivations of this game are played throughout the Pacific and it ingrains in the Fijian psyche an innate sense of creating space and putting your teammate into it. I believe that one-touch is the reason why Pacific Island teams are so good at Sevens and why they have some of the best backs in world rugby.


2. A capacity to assemble National Teams more readily
Whilst this may sound rather simplistic, it is generally easier for National teams in the Pacific Islands to assemble and train more regularly than those in bigger countries. Although more difficult in countries like Fiji and Papua New Guinea, the HP Programs in Fiji, Samoa and Tonga have been effective in delivering fulltime scholarship programs on account of the very strong family network that exists in Pacific Island communities. Players from outer islands/provinces that are awarded scholarships in the respective Academy programs, are often accommodated by family members in the capital cities for the duration of their scholarship. In this regard, it is quite conceivable, that the Pacific Island Unions can assemble their broader National Sevens squads much more regularly than larger countries between now and Rio.

So whilst the inclusion of Rugby Sevens on the Olympic Program in 2016 and 2020 presents a genuine medal prospect for the Pacific Islands, it also presents a growing threat from traditional and non-traditional rugby countries that are increasingly harnessing public and private funding on account of Rugby Sevens now being an Olympic Sport. It will force the Pacific Island Unions to think differently about how they prepare for Rio 2016 - those that don't think differently could soon be swallowed up.

Papua New Guinea Rugby's New Dawn



PNG's National Rugby Team are called the PukPuks (Photo: IRB.com)

The PNGRFU AGM was held this week and it was a great opportunity to reflect on what has been a challenging period of growth for a Union that has made some major waves on the international scene in recent years.

Papua New Guinea are the current Asia-Pacific Women's Sevens Champions having defeated China in the final of the 2011 Asia-Pacific Women's Sevens Championships in Borneo. They won bronze medals in both the Men's and Women's Sevens competitions at last year's Pacific Games in New Caledonia and the Men's Sevens team won the Bowl final at the 2010 Commonwealth Games - claiming the prized scalps of Canada and Tonga along the way. They are the current Oceania Cup Champions, proceeding through the 2011 Oceania Cup undefeated, and reached the final stage of qualification for Rugby World Cup 2011 where they took on Samoa for the right to qualify for New Zealand.

Papua New Guinea is classified as a 'Targeted' Union by the IRB - one of only 10 in the world and the only one in the Oceania region. This classification is a reflection of PNG's strategic importance not only as a country, but also their potential as a Rugby playing nation.  This classification brings with it increased funding opportunities but it also brings with it an increased level of responsibility and for this reason, the PNGRFU has been undertaking an ambitious series of reforms to ensure that it has the administrative and governance structures in place needed to propel the Union into the next stage of it's development.

Background to the PNGRFU Reforms
A Major Review of the PNGRFU was conducted in 2010. The Review, which is undertaken in all Federation of Oceania Rugby Unions (FORU) Member Unions at least once in a four year cycle, identified a number of priority areas that required attention by the PNGRFU. These recommendations can be grouped into 4 main areas:

1. Governance
2. Administration
3. Financial
4. Rugby Operations

The PNGRFU has made good progress in addressing the recommendations of the report in most areas. The report was very clear in stating that unless the Union addressed the recommendations contained in the report, it would be impossible to continue funding at current levels.

Governance Reforms

Arguably the area requiring the most urgent attention was in Governance. The PNGRFU Constitution was found to be outdated, ambiguous and quite possibly not being validly applied. Any Member Union that is found to not be validly applying its constitution will likely find that their membership of the IRB will be reviewed and this is a situation that we did not want to find the PNGRFU in. Consequently, the IRB and the PNGRFU engaged a constitutional expert to assist in the redrafting of the PNGRFU Constitution. The revised Constitution was tabled at this week's AGM for consideration by the membership and is a marked improvement on its predecessor.

The next step that is required is the development of a Common Association constitution, as well as clearly established affiliation criteria, for the Provincial Unions of the PNGRFU. This is needed to protect both the PNGRFU and its Members and will result in a more robust membership structure that clearly outlines the criteria that Provincial Members need to meet in order to be affiliated to the National body. Such a structure ensures that the PNGRFU clearly outlines what is expected of it's Provincial Unions and the Provincial Unions clearly understand their obligations in growing the game of rugby. Work on this document has commenced.

Administration Reforms

The Union review identified an absence of adequate operational structures, and suitable policies and procedures, expected of a Union receiving such a significant grant from the IRB. The weak administrative structures were also hampering the ability of the Union to assist the Provincial Unions in fostering the growth of rugby throughout the country.

The appointment of a General Manager earlier this year is a positive step and addresses one of the key recommendations made in the Major Review. The benefits that this appointment will bring to the Provincial Unions in partiuclar is significant, however it is important to temper the level of expectation with the realities that history has taught us. As we have learnt from administrative reforms undertaken in other Unions in the region, it takes a long time to develop and implement proper administrative reforms. With that said, the IRB and FORU staff are better able to assist the PNGRFU in this regard now that effective administrative structures are being put in place.

Financial Reforms

The absence of adequate Financial controls has been a problem for the Union for a number of years – and this has to be addressed urgently if current funding levels are to be maintained.

Consequently, the IRB and the PNGRFU commissioned a 'Review of Financial Procedures at the PNGRFU'. The Review was undertaken by KPMG Auckland and the final report has recently been received.

The report has identified a number of recommendations that need to be implemented in order to develop best practice financial management and reporting structures. When done, this will provide the Union, the Board and the Membership with appropriate financial reports upon which informed decisions can be made. The IRB and the PNGRFU are currently in the process of prioritising the recommendations contained in the report and establishing implementation plans for the highest priorities.

Rugby Operations
The Major Review identified a need to review and reform domestic competition structures to provide a better athlete pathway to international Rugby. Perhaps more importantly, robust domestic competition structures are the foundation for rugby’s growth in the country. Once again, the IRB development team remain ready to assist the PNGRFU, and its members, to undertake this difficult process. This a complex process and will take time – if we are to successfully restructure the domestic competition structures we have to be working towards a common vision and that is the challenge that lies before the PNGRFU.

If the PNGRFU, and indeed any Pacific Island Member Union, aspires to compete on the global stage with the big rugby nations and the big economies, it has to have best-practice administrative and governance structures in place as well as a robust domestic competition structure.

What Cricket can learn from Coke (Coca-Cola that is)

As the international cricket season in Australia grinds to a slower-than-usual climax, courtesy of an extended one day international series involving both India and Sri Lanka, much debate is revolving around the futures of both Twenty20 (T20) and One-day (50 over) cricket and whether the two limited-over versions of the game can co-exist.

Having experienced somewhat of a breakout season in Australia, on the back of a new domestic League that far exceeded broadcast and crowd targets, the T20 star is seemingly rising. Perhaps not surprisingly, this has spurred furious debate about whether Twenty20 cricket is more appealing to a new generation of cricket lovers, at the expense of the more traditional one-day and Test (5-day) cricket.

Many people, myself included, believe Twenty20 is growing exponentially and will soon become a major force in the sporting markets of cricket playing nations. The question for international cricket is: can it sustain 3 different versions of the game? This question is as much about High Performance (insofar as whether players can be expected to play all three forms of the game over a sustained period time) as it is about whether the market can bear such a condensed and saturated calendar. It is almost certain that players cannot sustainably play all three versions of the game at the elite level and for this reason, cricket's administrators have a conundrum on their hands.

Whilst there are some international team sports that run perhaps two 'disciplines' (Soccer for example runs a Beach Soccer World Cup and Rugby has Rugby Sevens and Fifteens) there is no known precedent for a sport to manage three International disciplines. The ICC runs World Championships in two versions of the game - T20 and One Day cricket. Ironically (although it has tried and failed) it does not run a World Championship for what most people consider to be the most prestigious 'discipline' - Test Cricket.

There are, however, parallels in business  - and Coca-Cola's disastrous launch of 'New Coke' in the mid 80's may provide some food for thought (excuse the pun) for cricket's administrators.

The New Coke debacle is etched in Business Management folklore as an example of how not to underestimate a consumer's emotional attachment to your product or brand. And to be very careful in drawing conclusions from 'market research'. A very useful and entertaining synopsis of the New Coke story can be found here. In a nutshell however, the story goes like this:

• Concerned by a loss of market share to rival product, Pepsi, Coca Cola Executives launched a market research drive in an attempt to find out why Pepsi was gaining in popularity at such a rapid rate - a problem that was exacerbated by the rapid rise of 'Diet Coke' which had the effect of splitting Coke's once significant market share between 'traditional' Coke and Diet Coke (you see where I am going here don't you).

• Internal research confirmed what Pepsi had been spruiking in their 'Pepsi Challenge' marketing campaign - that consumers preferred the sweeter taste of Pepsi. (Malcolm Gladwell, in his book Blink, details the fallacy of the Pepsi Challenge taste test and hypothesises that just because a consumer prefers a sip of the sweeter tasting Pepsi, it doesn't mean they prefer to drink an entire can of the sweeter drink over a less sweet alternative). i.e. lovers of T20 cricket may not necessarily like Test and/or One Day cricket - and vice versa.

• Their answer was New Coke - a sweeter derivation of 'traditional' Coke that was launched with great fanfare in April 1985 after Coca-Cola's own internal taste tests had shown it to be more popular than BOTH Pepsi and 'traditional' Coke. Production of the original formula ceased in the same month.

• The fallout was swift and immediate with Coke drinkers deriding 'New Coke' in a vociferous campaign that, just 3 months later, saw Coca Cola announce that production of the original formula would re-commence immediately.

So what are the parallels to Cricket? Well the question for cricket is how it deals with three 'brands' of international cricket without eroding it's market share and maintaining player welfare. How does it deal with T20, the 'New Coke' of cricket?

Evidence suggests that T20 is bringing new consumers to cricket - and therefore not diluting the market share of existing consumers as 'Diet Coke' did in the mid 80's Pepsi war. According to the Sunday Telegraph, research conducted at the first T20 international between Australia and India, showed that one third of the 59,659 people that attended the match, were attending their first cricket international.

If T20 is the 'New Coke' of cricket, then cricket administrators would do well to learn from the mistakes of Coca Cola and resist a temptation to 'cease or wind-back production' of the original formulae - Test and One Day Internationals. There is a very clear and emotional connection that cricket lovers have for the more traditional versions of the game. Failure to recognise the emotional connection to the game at this level, as Coca Cola did, would be catastrophic for the ICC. However, because T20 is bringing new followers to the game it therefore must be accommodated in an already crowded international season. Which presents a significant player welfare challenge for the ICC.

From a High Performance Perspective it is almost certain that the players cannot continue to play all three versions of the game at the elite level. So how does the ICC deal with the conundrum of a juggernaut brand that is bringing new followers to the game with the High Performance reality that the international calendar the new 'brand'  creates is unsustainable? Walk away or scale back the 'traditional' versions of the game and risk a Coca-Cola-like disaster?

What's my solution? The establishment of an international T20 Tour - not unlike the IRB Sevens World Series. A travelling series of 3-week T20 tournaments comprising the 10 Test Playing nations held in, say, six countries to begin with: Rd1 in India, Rd 2 in Sri Lanka, Rd 3 in Pakistan, Rd 4 in England, Rd 5 in South Africa, Rd 6 in Australia. By default you would create an international product that satisfies the growing demand for T20 Cricket - but the nature of the series would require T20 specialist cricketers for the duration of a Calendar year (how each of the National Federations use this series as part of their Player pathway would be up to them). This would leave future international Tours for Test and One-Day Cricket.

The T20 Cricket World Series creates a potential cash-cow for the ICC that feeds a growing appetite for cricket amongst a new market segment whilst protecting an international Tours Program that is limited to Test and One Day Cricket - a model that is proven to be sustainable from a High Performance Perspective.