Welcome to the 2nd month of autumn, even in God’s country north of the Tweed the weather has started to chill in the mornings. The sun rises a little bit later and sets as you drive home from work.
To all of the people of Northern NSW stay safe.
The Force are Playing Chess While We Are Playing Checkers – Opinion
As a so called ECE (East Coast Elite) I confess to really liking what the Force have done and continue to do in how they run their business. After the omnishambles of the totally ridiculous move to exile them from Super Rugby they have turned things around. The decision to remove them was crazy but will probably be in the best long term interests of Rugby in Western Australia. Yes, they have a wealthy benefactor but let’s look below the surface.
The Force have split from Rugby WA creating clarity around roles and responsibilities. They have a long term vision and as a Brisbane Club follower I can tell you when they recruit players for their academy and when the players go over to WA they stay there and play in the local comp. This for mine demonstrates a long term vision where steel will sharpen steel to the point where they will not require development players and only be chasing the finished product. Melbourne Rebels players who do not make the squad either play in the Shute Shield or Brisbane comps which does nothing for the long term in Victoria.
While Tim Sampson has done a fantastic job in creating a hard working and difficult to break down team not many can argue that Simon Cron is an upgrade. Although the release of the news wasn’t the best it seems to have been handled with a great deal more class than the blood sport of the Reds and Tahs.
From a development point of view the Force have a real advantage apart from a large expat community of Saffas, Nearlies and Euros they are realistically the 3rd team of Perth after The Eagles and Freo. (Melbourne has 10 AFL teams, The Storm and two soccer teams ahead of the Rebels).
On another level look at the sponsor of the Force “Altrad” they are company who owns Montpellier and sponsor the French National team. They have long and deep roots in the game and I think in 15 years they will still be on the front of the Force jerseys.
Link to Simon Cron’s appointment and insight to the Force Vision Here
Government support for RWC 2027 Bid
I don’t want to get too political here as we are a broad church. But finally, the Federal Government has provided guarantees on the necessary funding for the bid. This is excellent news and hopefully will survive an election and potential change of Government.
From Pravda Here
The Budget confirms the Commonwealth’s investment for Australia’s existing bid to host Rugby World Cup 2027 will be extended to include a bid for the women’s Rugby World Cup in 2029. It follows $9.8m in funding the Australian Government has already provided to support Rugby Australia’s bid efforts.
With Australia the preferred candidate for the bid, the Commonwealth will support event delivery and operations, should the World Rugby Council announce it as successful host on 12 May, 2022.
The Commonwealth will also support legacy initiatives across Rugby Australia’s domestic programs and an investment into Pacific-focused programs, ensuring the impact of hosting is felt beyond the action on the field and for the benefit of the region.
We can but hope.
Rugby Announces Development Pathways for Women’s Rugby
This is a great imitative as long as the coaches and unions look to foster rugby talent and not chase female rugby lite players. I like many others would love to see the women paid commensurate with the level of commitment they show. I do however recognise that funding is finite.
Details Here
The Under-18s matches will work alongside Buildcorp Super W, with teams from Queensland, NSW and the ACT entering this year’s competition.
RA have confirmed they will look to expand to all states with a Super W side in the coming years as they look to increase elite participation.
“Rugby Australia is incredibly proud to be able to launch these matches, which will provide yet more opportunities for young women to play the game at a higher level,” Rugby Australia General Manager Women’s Rugby Jilly Collins said in a statement. “The youth age group in particular is an emerging area of the women’s XVs game and has seen strong growth in recent years. Our investment into this area is crucial, as it will help develop players from a younger age. We see this as a key building block in the high performance XVs pathway through to Buildcorp Super W and the Buildcorp Wallaroos.”It will commence this Sunday with the ACT and Southern NSW U18 to face the NSW U18 at Viking Park ahead of the Brumbies’ round five Super W clash against the Western Force.
This will be followed by NSW facing Queensland at Eric Tweedale on April 9, with Queensland and ACT/SNSW completing the fixtures on April 23.
South Africans and Pacific players to keep non-foreign category until 2024
This is an interesting piece that is worth the read. As a fan of John Maynard Keynes market-based economics this announcement will ultimately drive down the value of non locally based players in England. Ultimately this could mean that the quality of our competitions will improve as lower level players without English grandmothers will be considered foreigners.
Conversely the MLR could get very good very quickly.
Currently South African and Pacific Islander players are not treated as foreigners in England allowing clubs to large up on these players. When the new rules come into play, they will be spread across the globe meaning that some will play at home.
