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.