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.