Friday’s Rugby News has the all the RC goss, FTA on the cards for the IPRC, the Vikings calling for a merger of competitions, and more on the Uni 7s.
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RC Goss
After the Springboks test in Perth, Wallabies coach Michael Cheika promised that he’s pretty close to nailing down his ideal starting XV. It looks to be the case, as there is to be only two changes for the squad from the side that drew the Boks last week to the side facing the Pumas this weekend down in the Nation’s Capital.
And that one change is certainly an interesting one. After finding his way into the squad last year without even having any Super Rugby experience, Marika Koroibete has done enough in Cheika’s eyes to earn his debut off the bench. And, in fairness to the bloke, Koroibete has had a really encouraging debut season, being one of the few shining lights for the Rebels and carrying over his league try scoring form over to union.
Rob Simmons has also been brought in to the second row in place of Rory Arnold, while Izack Rodda will earn his second cap off the bench, taking up the space left by Simmons. Koroibete will debut off the bench, replacing another NRL convert in Curtis Rona.
For more goss, check out our thoughts on the full squad.
Cheika had plenty to say on his changes to the squad.
“Rory’s work-rate needs to be higher,’ Cheika said to the Daily Mail, in regards to Arnold’s cutting from the squad.
“Consistency is king. We’ve had some good leads but we haven’t been able to be consistent through the games and I want to make sure that every player knows that.”
As for Koroibete, Cheika has big hopes the Fijian can put on a show.
“I want him to get the ball and take someone on, that’s when he’s so good,” Cheika said of Koroibete.
“His strength is that he’s got some serious ability when it comes to carrying the ball at the opposition.”
Meanwhile, across the ditch, the Springboks have been keen to separate themselves from where they were this time last year, when they received two big drubbings at the hands of the All Blacks.
And, according to Boks coach Allister Coetzee, his side will need to put in an “80-minutes plus” performance to beat the Kiwis.
“You can never allow lapses in concentration, especially five minutes before halftime and five minutes after,” he said to stuff.co.nz.
“The boys are fit enough to go for 80. The game has completely changed … we’re looking for a 23-man effort, it’s never a 15-man game any more. Those guys off the bench, 16 to 23, must be equally as organised and prepared.
“But I must say we’ve had a fantastic week of preparation.”
“What we’ve done, we’ve actually really buried 2016 as deep as possible and moved on,” Coetzee added.
“This is a completely different team environment. It’s different individuals in terms of why they are Springboks and what they represent. The mindset is completely different.
“To manage the moods of millions is never easy but it comes with the job and I’m just pleased we have changed it in a way.”
Wish the same could be said for the Wallabies.
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FTA for IPRC?
Yeah, I know a lot of the news is still pre-occupied with something as confusing as Twiggy’s new Indo-Pacific Rugby Championship, but it is currently so interesting that the prospect of it coming into fruition has apparently got FTA channels turning heads.
Super Rugby has consistently been frustrating for many in that we can’t actually watch the bloody thing without scraping out a good twenty bucks a month to watch our favourite teams get smashed.
But IPRC chief strategist and legal director Eugenie Buckley has already made it clear that many commercial networks have expressed interest in the apparent commercial value of the competition.
“With the eyeballs that the Indo-Pacific can bring, we are confident of getting some really good commercial return,” Buckley said to rugby.com.au.
“We will be centralising broadcast, key merchandise, marketing, mainly to offset administration costs but also to do marketing and all the rest of it.
“We have actually been approached by a number of broadcasters and we are looking to sell those broadcast rights on a platform neutral basis.
“We can’t obviously reveal the names of those broadcasters in commercial confidence.”
When asked whether a goal of FTA coverage was within reach for the IPRC, Buckley answered with a short and sweet “absolutely.”
Twiggy has also made it clear that when it comes to paying players, he hopes to go “dollar for dollar” with the level of money on offer in Europe and Japan.
“When he (Twiggy) says toe-to-toe he is talking about the quantum of money and salaries for the players that are earned will be absolute proportionate to what is earned in those top competitions throughout Europe and Japan,” Buckley clarified.
“We want our players for those four months – that sacrosanct period – after that they can play wherever they like.”
With the competition running from August-October, many have predicted the NRC will suffer as a result. However, executive director Stu Taggart clarified their position on the third tier competition.
“Our position is that these competitions co-exist,” Taggart said to rugby.com.au.
“We see the IPRC as a Tier 2 competition, Super Rugby standard, supporting the elite pathways, the NRC retains its status as a Tier 3 in the Australian elite rugby pathway.”
What is reassuring is that while many have wondered why the ARU won’t yet endorse the IPRC, it has already got one notable fan: Michael Cheika.
Cheika had a meeting with Twiggy while the Wallabies were in Perth, and he admitted he was impressed by the billionaire’s plan for Australian rugby.
“The one thing I walked away with from that meeting is [seeing] a guy who genuinely wants to try and make rugby better in Australia,” Cheika said to the Canberra Times.
“He’s obviously got resources and he feels if he can put those resources to improve rugby in the country then that’s a bonus. Anything like that has to be done in collaboration to have that effect.
“The way for me this works best is with collaboration from the Union, all together, and making the game better. More eyeballs on the game, more fan interest, more resources for the game to increase it’s exposure. That’s what we want.”
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IPNRC? (and NRC R3 Fixtures)
Yep, more abbreviations. But it’s not just commercial partners who are interested in the IPRC. So is Canberra Vikings boss Anthony Hill.
Twiggy’s new competition plans to run from August-October, out of the way of Super Rugby. However, this is in direct clash with the NRC, which, throughout it’s history, has always suffered from a lack of exposure.
However, that wasn’t his only reason:
“In my personal opinion I don’t think there’s enough players at that level to go around two competitions, we’re seeing it now in Super Rugby where we’re struggling to be competitive, I think a unified competition is the best scenario for Australian rugby,” Hill said to the Canberra Times.
“It [IPRC] is a little bit a of a Super League scenario like we saw in the ’90s with rugby league, it’s a bit of change and one thing consistent in Australian rugby is people want to see change in our game moving forward.
“At the Vikings we’ve got a hunger to play on the national stage and make sure Canberra have a strong representation… we’d be open to listening to any offer to produce a [joint] competition.”
With Twiggy hoping for FTA coverage, Hill sniffs an opportunity for the two competitions to work together to benefit one another.
“It’s a fantastic idea. The game has to be paid for somehow, it’s not a cheap exercise to run Super Rugby and Foxtel has been a massive supporter of rugby in Australia. But the option to bring rugby into people’s livings rooms on weekends on a free to air channel is a great way to touch grassroots sport and give the game every opportunity to compete with the other codes,” Hill said.
Some many be concerned that the IPRC might infact turn into a rival competition against the NRC, but Hill admitted that was something he wasn’t concerned about, at least for the time being.
“Not at this stage, we haven’t had any dialogue with anyone else, so it’s footy as usual for us at the moment and we just want to play some good rugby,” he said.
“From an NRC perspective we aren’t concerned it won’t go forward, we’ve positioned ourselves well to be part of any national competition and to play at that level here in Canberra.”
The NRC heads into round 3 after an exciting opening fortnight, which has seen plenty of tries, and, some bone-crunching defence (see QLD Country‘s performance against Brisbane). Round 1 also experienced the opening round highest crowd attendance in the competition’s history, with close to 10,000 people coming through the gates to matches all around the country, especially in Perth.
Round 2 saw some cracking matches, and while crowd numbers were still pretty low in Sydney and Canberra, the QLD derby and the Rising-Drua match drew really healthy crowds, who were rewarded with some great running rugby, especially from the flying Fijians.
But history will be made this weekend as the NRC, for the first time ever, goes international.
The Fijian Drua will have their first home match, and many will be watching with interest when they take my lads NSW Country Eagles at Churchill Park, Lautoka. The Eagles looked to have beefed up their experience, so expect this one to be a close encounter. Hope the Fijian faithful get out there and show their support for the Drua, they are looking like a cracker of a team.
Before that, the Sydney Rays will return to their 2016 home of Pittwater Rugby Park in Sydney, and will be looking to get their season back on track against a Melbourne Rising side who are currently on a two match losing streak this year.
On Sunday, Brisbane City, with a host of players returning, will host the Canberra Vikings at a slightly different venue: the University of Queensland Rugby Club on the Brisbane River. Much like the Rays last week at Macquarie Uni, it coincides with the third round of the Aon Uni Sevens series. That match, like all QLD games, will be free entry.
And finally, in what honestly could be the match of the round (yes, even with Fiji’s home debut), we head west to McGillivray Oval, or ‘The Hill’ in Perth. The venue almost has a impenetrable aura to it, judging by how the capacity crowd of 4,000 saw the Perth Spirit home in their debut match against the Rising.
But then again, the Greater Sydney Rams look like a different beast altogether this year. They are the current holders of the Horan-Little Shield and already have wrapped up the Benn Robinson Bell. The Spirit were disappointing in their loss to the Vikings, but they play like men possessed at home, especially in front of a packed hill. This is going to be such a good match, and I hope the Perth faithful come out again and Fill the Hill!
Queensland Country will have the bye this week.
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More stars added to 7s
Finally, to finish off the news this week, the Aon Uni Sevens, as mentioned above, will have it’s third round on this weekend up at the University of Queensland campus, in picturesque St Lucia.
The hosts have been in outstanding form throughout the whole tournament, winning the first two competitions. While they have been a cut above the other competitors, many have commended this competition for it’s quality of rugby. This weekend, several big stars will made their debuts for the competition.
The biggest two are Aussie Sevens star Nicole Beck and Aussie Sevens co-captain Sharni Williams. Beck is making her return to rugby after the birth of her second child, while Williams has returned from Wallaroos duties.
Beck will add some much needed go-forward to the University of Tasmania squad, while Sharni Williams will be representing the University of Canberra.
UQ will still be favourites for this one after their two strong performances in Tassie and Sydney, and coach Reg Tayler is ecstatic that the team is doing so well.
“Everyone has really bought into the concept and the standard has picked up immensely from the first tournament,” Tayler told Rugby.com.au.
“[Macquarire] was a bumpier road than Tassie but we got there in the end.
“We thought that straight after Tassie and we knew the teams were going to come out against us to try and knock us off our perch.
“It adds to how proud our coaching staff was to hold them off.”
You can check out the squads for Round 3 here, and if you got time in Brisbane this weekend, head along for some really exciting sevens rugby.
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