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ARU forms new Australian Super Club and Pacific Nations rugby tournament

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T

TOCC

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I was just thinking, that i cant remember the Western Force academy team turning out this year either, the QLD, NSW and ACT academy teams played each other throughout the year, but no Western Force academy.
 

Blue

Andrew Slack (58)
Melbourne is playing against Fiji and Tonga x 2 in the preseason - WA has the only gripe - welcome to the tyranny of distance (too expensive to fly teams there, unless the Force want to pay) Maybe they should divert some of their reported 3rd party money to participate in the comp - if it exists

Yeah apparently Firepower have designed a new fuel saving device.

You drink it.

:)
 

en_force_er

Geoff Shaw (53)
i think seeing as a force academy side would be at very least 50% Qlders and NSWelshman it would make sense to have their academy set-up in the north.

even if they fly back to play their clubs (as they should) the fact that many of them would be from eastern cities combined with the fact that all the other teams would ALL be means it would just make sense.

surely renting a couple of big flats for 12-15 WA blokes for a month wouldn't be too terrible to rationalise.
 

Joe Mac

Arch Winning (36)
It would be great to see this become our equivalent of the NPC. Im sure the other teams will be included once they are making some money out of the competition. Finally, a real stepping stone between Shute Shield and S15!

I know it's not so ethical but, I think the other good thing about this comp if it were to go ahead, our selectors will be able to evaluate which of the PI players are good prospects at a reasonably junior level and recruit them across to Australia S15 teams. They can later become eligible to be future wallabies and we will have more players to chose from, hopefully some big hard bastards for our team. The AB's have been doing this for years and its about time we got on the band-wagon.
 

matty_k

Peter Johnson (47)
Assuming this thing is official a simple solution for this would be the top three Aussie s14 teams from the previous year would compete.
 

Ruggo

Mark Ella (57)
If this comp happens, It would be great if the Australian teams could play their games in the regional areas of there respective states.
 

farva

Vay Wilson (31)
Hmm cut off the nose to spite the face, this reminds me of mummy and daddy buying one of there kids a toy and the other jumping up and down demanding one as well.. If indeed this comp has the chance to grow into a national comp, it would be silly, actually it would be incredibly stupid to say no funding for the competition until all the states and territories are included.. That's even if there is ARU funding for the comp, it all depends on what arrangements have been made with the pacific nations and the IRB.

The only issue TOCC is that the 4 (soon to be 5) franchises are businesses. They need to be treated equally by the ARU.
I agree that there will need to be sacrifices made for any provincial comp in Australia, but once again, the franchises need to be treated equally.

En force er, I also agree that it makes sense to play the games in NSW/QLD from a player development point of view. But RugbyWA would be trying to build interest in the code in WA. And for that reason the games would need to be played in Perth. The long term benefits of increased interest would in my opinion outweigh the short term benefit of player development.
 
T

TOCC

Guest
Yes Farva, I am more then aware that the super rugby sides are businesses... Don't for a second think that any of the state sides will be profiteering out of this new competition though, longterm it may have revenue raising potential, but definitely not in 2011..

From what i can see, if this competition is to be run in the months prior to the RWC then it's only a window of around 6 weeks, do the math and and 6 weeks is equal to a 6 team round robin with final. Adding the force and rebels would push this out to 8 weeks..

When people talk about the cost of adding the force and rebels, it's not purely about the cost of flights to and from Perth, or the cost of accommodation in either city. It's also the cost of extending the competition, by making all the other teams fly there squads around Australisia for those extra weeks, it's not a simple measure of RugbyWA purely saying they will base there team in Sydney or on the eat coast, there are other inevitable costs as well.

Understandably force and rebels fans should be dissapointed that they weren't involved in the discussions, however before jumping up and down slamming JON, we aren't even sure if the ARU were the driving body in all of it, as pointed out, it could very well be the actions of the super clubs pushing there own agenda.
 

farva

Vay Wilson (31)
TOCC, good to see you are making freinds over at TWF

And I have calmed down a little from my initial outrage, to be sitting in the quietly pissed off area now.

In regards to having to extend the season and have the other teams fly to perth, all good points. But for starters, if this is an ARU organised event (an assumption certainly) then it makes sense to me to keep it to 6 weeks and reduce the # of PI teams in favour of Aus teams. Sad for the PI teams but this is an Aus rugby thing.
And the cost of flying teams over the Perth is higher. But not a lot. It doesnt cost much more to fly to perth as it does to fly from Bris to Canberra. And the flight time is all of an extra couple of hours. Its not like an international flight. Jetstar I am sure do some pretty cheap flights. And once there there is just the cost of a hotel.
 
T

TOCC

Guest
Yes, TWF, i think some people are letting there emotions get control of them a bit to much...

Granted, if indeed the PI teams were participating at the expense of the ARU, they would most definitely be the first cut.... But I strongly suspect, this competition has been arranged with some sort of IRB funding, the IRB have formally acknowledged that more work is required in terms of developing competition for the PI, and I reckon this is probably a result of that.

IRB will likely fund all logistical issues relating to the PI teams and play all matches in Australia, with the Australian teams only having to to fund there own logistical issues. If indeed it is a round robin match, this will only mean one trip interstate for each Australian team..pretty cheap logistically

If the Force and Rebels were included you are looking at minimum of two trips interstate for each team with one team making 3 trips.. That means you go from having the equivalent of 3 full squads touring interstate to 11, a cost increase of nearly 400%. These are the financial elements which need to be considered when proposing these comps...

It's been a long day at work and I calculated those figures in my head so I hope it's right..
 
T

TOCC

Guest
this is from PR

Feb 19

QLD vs Fiji
NSW vs Tonga
ACT vs Samoa

Feb 23

NSW vs Fiji
ACT vs Tonga
QLD vs Samoa

Feb 28

ACT vs Fiji
QLD vs Tonga
NSW vs Samoa

March 4 & 5

Canterbury vs Fiji
Waikato vs Tonga
Auckland vs Samoa

March 9

Waikato vs Fiji
Auckland vs Tonga
Canterbury vs Samoa

March 14

Auckland vs Fiji
Waikato vs Samoa
Canterbury vs Tonga

March 19

Fiji vs Tonga

March 22

Samoa vs Fiji

March 26

Tonga vs Samoa
 

WorkingClassRugger

Michael Lynagh (62)
Evidently according to the info now on the thread dedicated to this topic on PR that draw is just a first step. From 2012 all 5 Aus and NZ Super Rugby A teams will join two of the PI Nations (Fiji and Samoa most likely) in a 14 week A Comp running alongside Super Rugby. There is supposedly scope to new entries such as NSW Country (Force and Rebels most obviously) in the future. According to this it will be IRB funded. Who the hell knows if its for real.
 

WorkingClassRugger

Michael Lynagh (62)
Fuck that, take it to Regional Australia!

Does this competition start next year? Or 2012?

From what I have read it appears that next year the scheduled games will be more of a fill in leading towards a fully fledged competition in 2012 thanks largely to the RWC next year. If true the full competition won't begin until 2012.
 
T

TOCC

Guest
Rugby World Cup 2011 preparations for Fiji, Samoa and Tonga will begin in earnest in February with the start of a new-look IRB Pacific Rugby Cup, which includes the participation of the HSBC Junior Waratahs.
The exciting format will see A sides from the three Unions take on the cream of Australia and New Zealand's up and coming talent as Super Rugby sides provide opposition for the first time.
The key development tournament kicks off on February 19 with three rounds of matches in Australia where the HSBC Junior Waratahs along with the Reds Academy and Brumby Runners will face each of the Pacific Island teams.
Fiji Warriors, Samoa A and Tonga A then head to New Zealand for matches against a Crusaders Development XV, Chiefs Development XV and Hurricanes Development XV over three rounds beginning on March 4.
The tournament culminates with a Pacific Island Series where Fiji Warriors, Samoa A and Tonga A will play each other over three match days on March 19, 22 and 26.
"The IRB Pacific Rugby Cup was developed to bridge the gap between domestic and international Rugby for the best locally-based players in Fiji, Samoa and Tonga and has been hugely successful in exposing a new generation of Pacific Rugby players to the rigours of international Rugby," said IRB Chairman Bernard Lapasset.
"This new format takes the PRC to a whole new level and will expose the best Pacific Island based players to some of the most advanced professional Rugby structures in the world. In a Rugby World Cup year, this level of exposure is invaluable and will test aspiring national representatives from Fiji, Samoa and Tonga against full-time professional Rugby players."
Nearly half of the Fiji squad that reached the quarter-finals of Rugby World Cup 2007 had graduated through the IRB Pacific Rugby Cup, while Samoa and Tonga's squads also contained PRC graduates.
"The new tournament format has been developed in close consultation with the Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Island Rugby Unions and in line with the IRB strategic investment programme in the Pacific Islands," said IRB Regional General Manager for Oceania William Glenwright.
"It will expose players and management staff of the Island Unions to the High Performance systems of Super Rugby teams, while also providing high quality games for those Super Rugby players not yet in the top squad. This level of exposure in a Rugby World Cup year is invaluable to current and aspiring national team players."
Fiji Warriors are the reigning champions and the only team to have successfully defended the title, having won in 2009 and 2010.

http://www.irb.com/newsmedia/mediaz...1353.html#new+look+irb+pacific+rugby+cup+2011

link to the match schedule
 
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