Rugby News from unexpected places

[Lindommer]

'cause it's got an Aussie in the the top job.

 

[Beer Baron]

Agreed. The firmer Pichot is holding the steering wheel the better I think

I have been reflecting in recent times how World Rugby from my perspective doing a pretty good job and reading what someone like Pichot has to say in the interview one can perhaps see why as their interests are certainly more aligned it seems in what is best for the world game.

My two cents worth to probably say I think World Rugby been doing a pretty good job in recent years.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

 

[half]

I watch and read a lot about sport and pride myself in picking up trends before most. The US social media especially from teh NFL are watching rugby.

In the US now there is a mega amount of social media on rugby, and I mean mega mega mega amounts and all positive, they still don't know the different between say 7's, 13 & 15 aside games.

But this is a huge shout out to RA to set up a streaming service in the US.

Some examples below and note all different bloggers and these are but a few of many many many vids

Note 7 bloggers and many of these guys have a number of rugby vids running, the last two vids, just show as links.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97QBJ9wGM_I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jg8BNRQD8H8

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

Ontario confirmed for next season alongside NY bringing the number of teams to 9 in 2019. And both New England (to be called the FreeJacks whatever that is. It has Paul Revere on the logo) and Atlanta are confirmed for 2020. It's likely that they're will be at least one more added for 2020 to bring it to 12 possibly DC as they recently tick a major marker in their determination of 1000 season ticket deposits. Apparently they are also in deep talks with bids for entry in 2021 and 2022 where they will freeze entrance of new franchise for at least 2 seasons.

I do know there is a group in talks based out of Columbus and apparently there's interest in Halifax which would be buoyed by the entry of Ontario. There are around another half dozen in the picture from what I can attain but no one is letting it slip who they are.

 

[kiap]

Ontario confirmed for next season alongside NY bringing the number of teams to 9 in 2019.

Yep, good news for rugby in Canada, They need some.

However, it looks like the Vancouver tilt is practically dead after rival bid infighting, etc., and generally not getting their shit together … sound familiar? So the caravan moves on, and the Vancouver-ites can make do with a team in Seattle.

http://www.americasrugbynews.com/2018/09/25/major-league-rugby-adds-ontario-arrows-2019/

MLR is looking great, though. They've got a good comp up and running after one year. No shortage of publicity, promotion and visibilty, and the standard will grow.

 

[Omar Comin']

Hopefully Ontario can be as successful as the Toronto Wolfpack rugby league team has been (playing in the English Rugby League system). You'd think the Arrows would have the advantage of stronger grassroots, having Canadian players, and being in an American competition, but the Wolfpack has been getting some decent crowds and they're now 1 match away from being promoted to the Super League.

Some other positive news about MLR is that there's been a deal to get more South American players involved for this coming season. About 15 Uruguayan players will play in it this year, which should definitely help their preparation for the world cup. It'll mean that the majority of their world cup squad will be made up of professional players. Their squad in 2015 was almost entirely amateur.

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

Lot's of really positive signals for sure. Interestingly I was listening to a podcast featuring a guy I know who is aligned with Houston and he mentioned the TV metric used in the US. According to him MLR saw a 50 to 1 viewer ratio. So for every one person in attendance they had 50 people watching at home. Not his numbers but the broadcasters. The league averaged a tick over 2700 in attendance or 135k live on TV.

Now in a market the size of the US that may seem unremarkable but apparently it significantly outperformed any other fledgling pro league in the last two decades in terms of viewer return. Which is kind of a big deal and has broadcasters attention. That's likely to grow with them adding two of the largest media markets in Nth America next season and two more in 2020.

And a finally bit of news. The URFU has come to an agreement to place their top 15 players in MLR squads next season. Which is a boon for both organisations. For Uruguay as they get their best domestic talent playing in a much higher level league on an weekly basis leading into the RWC and for MLR as it assists in covering the talent depth issues that may come from expansion. Which they are looking to alleviate by lifting the foreign import limit from 5 to 10 places per squad. I will note that this agreement only covers 2019 as these 15 Uruguayans are expected to return home to form the spine of the two Uruguayan teams in the LSR. Frankly, I'd be surprised if we don't see several Brazilians and Chileans pop up as well.

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

Hopefully Ontario can be as successful as the Toronto Wolfpack rugby league team has been (playing in the English Rugby League system). You'd think the Arrows would have the advantage of stronger grassroots, having Canadian players, and being in an American competition, but the Wolfpack has been getting some decent crowds and they're now 1 match away from being promoted to the Super League.

Some other positive news about MLR is that there's been a deal to get more South American players involved for this coming season. About 15 Uruguayan players will play in it this year, which should definitely help their preparation for the world cup. It'll mean that the majority of their world cup squad will be made up of professional players. Their squad in 2015 was almost entirely amateur.

There was some semi-pro status in their 2015 squad but yeah mostly amateur. A lot has changed in Uruguay since then though. Most of their top talent are contracted professionals within the Union exposed to a full time training environment. I was just thinking about it earlier but this could be the first fully professional RWC depending on who comes through the repecharge.

 

[Omar Comin']

A lot has changed in Uruguay since then though. Most of their top talent are contracted professionals within the Union exposed to a full time training environment. I was just thinking about it earlier but this could be the first fully professional RWC depending on who comes through the repecharge.

Yeah I think with these 15 or so involved in MLR it means that the Union will be able to bring in some other guys into their own full time training environment. So come the world cup they should have a handful of European based players, 15 who played MLR and another 15 or so who were in full time training.

I still think they'll probably come last in the pool, but they'll be a chance against Georgia and Fiji, especially if they target these games and Georgia and Fiji rest some of their top players - which could happen if Georgia or Fiji have quarter final ambitions.

 

[Omar Comin']

As for the fully professional world cup, wouldn't Namibia still have quite a lot of semi-pro players?

And obviously it depends who qualifies from the repechage. Canada will probably win and they will be pretty much fully professional from 2019. But as far as I know Hong Kong are semi-pro, Germany are a mix but mostly semi-pro, and Kenya are mostly amateur?

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

As for the fully professional world cup, wouldn't Namibia still have quite a lot of semi-pro players?

And obviously it depends who qualifies from the repechage. Canada will probably win and they will be pretty much fully professional from 2019. But as far as I know Hong Kong are semi-pro, Germany are a mix but mostly semi-pro, and Kenya are mostly amateur?

Overlooked Namibia. If Canada qualify I suspect they'll be entirely professional thanks to the inclusion of the Arrows and the likely signing of a number of Canadians by MLR teams. Hong Kong has a number of professional players from my understanding as does Germany. Kenya are somewhat semi-pro.

 

[Omar Comin']

Overlooked Namibia. If Canada qualify I suspect they'll be entirely professional thanks to the inclusion of the Arrows and the likely signing of a number of Canadians by MLR teams. Hong Kong has a number of professional players from my understanding as does Germany. Kenya are somewhat semi-pro.

And Russia are fully pro right? Or more semi-pro?

Surprises me that they haven't been better over the last few years if their league is fully professional. They're a bit of a mystery.

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

And Russia are fully pro right? Or more semi-pro?

Surprises me that they haven't been better over the last few years if their league is fully professional. They're a bit of a mystery.

Fully professional. I think it's a tad unfair to take their form in the ENC as a guide as they overall quality of that competition has risen markedly in the last 3-5 editions.

 

[Omar Comin']

Fully professional. I think it's a tad unfair to take their form in the ENC as a guide as they overall quality of that competition has risen markedly in the last 3-5 editions.

That's good to hear. They certainly had an impressive win over Canada this year. Not sure what their potential is at the world cup though. Do they have any players in the top European leagues? You'd think with a fully professional domestic league that some of the top players would be recruited by French clubs.

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

That's good to hear. They certainly had an impressive win over Canada this year. Not sure what their potential is at the world cup though. Do they have any players in the top European leagues? You'd think with a fully professional domestic league that some of the top players would be recruited by French clubs.

In other leagues. No. Not that I'm aware. Thanks mostly to increased financial opportunities in their own league and an emphasis on growing the standard of play in the league. There are at least two new teams coming online next season to bring the number to 8 and several projects ongoing regarding facilities. If everything goes to plan either with the current pro league or the proposed Kontinental Rugby League currently in discussions then Russia could become another viable destination for talent in the coming years.

 

[Strewthcobber]

Reports that Alisports $100m investment in Chinese rugby is on hold and World Rugby's programs have been cancelled

https://m.scmp.com/sport/rugby/fift...na-us100m-investment-fails-launch-world-rugby

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

Reports that Alisports $100m investment in Chinese rugby is on hold and World Rugby's programs have been cancelled

https://m.scmp.com/sport/rugby/fift...na-us100m-investment-fails-launch-world-rugby

Aligning with the change in leadership. I suspect a lot of their investment programs are in similar boats.

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

Rugby getting a foothold in South Sudan:

https://i.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/1...rugbys-roughandtumble-will-help-it-find-peace

 

[Antoinebip]

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[exISA]

For those in Brisbane this weekend for the Australia Schools v NZ Schools. Great story to come of this one. German 16 year old (yes 16) Anton Segner made the NZ schools this year after 18 months or so as an exchange student. He made his debut starting against Tonga , with a (commentator view) man of the match performance with many poaches and a try. He came from the bench against the Australian Baa baa's . Came out of the Frankfurt 1880 youth program . The kid is a freak , has a work ethic to match and models himself on Ritchie McCaw. Word on the street is he has already been picked up by the Crusaders Academy .