Tuesday’s Rugby News has a genius idea, the results from the Las Vegas Sevens, Sefo stepping up in Super W, and Thorn being Thorn.
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An Overseas Aussie club?
We start todays news with something a little more left-field.
Last week, New Zealand Rugby announced that it had entered into a partnership with English club heavyweights Harlequins, which is a big move for both parties.
New Zealand Rugby has been pretty vague on the promises with the whole arrangement, but it seems clear that there will be what Guardian columnist Bret Harris calls a “mutually beneficial exchange of coaches, players and ideas.”
“This alignment will create significant opportunities for both sides, with players, coaches and staff able to learn from different environments with different people, challenges and cultures,” NZR chief-executive Steve Tew said.
Now, I hear many Aussie rugby fans say “classic Rugby Australia, of course they haven’t done anything.” Well, turns out Raelene Castle dropped a slight quip on Friday that went ignored by many, that she was exploring partnership arrangements with rich Japanese clubs.
The whole concept of having a share in rich overseas clubs is an interesting one, and not new to international sport. Look at Manchester City buying the Melbourne Heart, or the fact that Stormers have a stake in English club Saracens. Even the Crusaders have started to get in on the act, to new American team the Seattle Seawolves.
However, Bret Harris suggested that instead of partnerships, Rugby Australia should go one step further and buy a European club. In Harris’s eyes it could prove highly beneficial “…to tap into the huge reservoir of Australian talent playing overseas and to capitalise on the riches in the northern hemisphere.”
But Harris admitted that there was one small issue with the plan: Rugby Australia don’t have any money.
While many of these clubs in Europe are owned by by multimillionaires and billionaires, Harris suggested another option of investing $5m to buy into an English or French club and create a “boomerang” pathway for expatriate Australians.
He even suggested that it could work the other way too, by “enticing rich European clubs to buy into financially struggling Australian Super Rugby teams,” in the same way that City transformed the Heart into Melbourne City.
While I’m not totally convinced about going as far as buying a club overseas, the idea of partnering up and buying into Japanese and European clubs could prove financially helpful down the line, and with rugby becoming an increasingly globalised game (especially compared to Aussie Rules or League), investment overseas could prove to be a big opportunity for the game back home.
Your thoughts?
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Sevens in Sin City
The Sevens finished up in Las Vegas yesterday, with the US steamrolling Argentina in the final to win 28-0.
The Aussie men meanwhile finished in sixth, losing in extra time in the fifth place playoff against arch rivals New Zealand, 17-12. The Mens team has had the better of the Kiwis for much of this year, and it does go some way to showing how vastly improved our Sevens team and program are this year.
(Also, the Aussie Womens team had two practise matchs against the US Womens team, beating them in both, 40-7 and 39-12 respectively).
South Africa meanwhile had to settle for fourth, after losing the third place playoff to Fiji.
Aussie Mens coach Andy Friend had plenty of praise for his sides performance.
“The last three tournaments and the last three times we have played them we have had a solid win in Sydney, right down to the wire in Hamilton and then again today, it was right down to the wire,” Friend said to rugby.com.au.
“I thought our fellas did really well to get it to extra time.
“We had a chance to win it with that kick but we missed that, we had a chance, they had a chance, we had a chance, they had a chance and they took that last one.
“That’s how Sevens is at the moment.
“It’s disappointing to lose but I loved our fight and historically New Zealand, who have been our nemesis, I feel at the moment we are getting very, very close to that not being the case anymore.”
The Worlds Sevens will head to Vancouver next week. The Aussies suffered no casualties on the injury front, with Friend retaining the same Mens squad from Las Vegas.
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Super Sefo
The Queensland Reds are looking to get their Super W campaign off to a flyer, when they take on NSW this weekend.
The Reds have made a genius selection as skipper, with Wallaroo Kirby Sefo set to lead the girls onto the paddock. NSW have dominated the Womens game for much of this decade, but Sefo is hopeful that a big performance at Suncorp could see that coming to an end.
“It’s obviously a different game to XVs but in terms of confidence I think it was something that we did really need,” Sefo said to rugby.com.au.
“Just to kick us off – it’s always different going into each season with a new team and that was a good place for us to start, I think.”
Sefo is hopeful that the double header format with Super Rugby games will do a lot for Super W, particularly as the competition grows over the next few years.
“Just following on from the [Brisbane] Tens the girls have a bit of excitement out of playing in front of crowds like that and playing at Suncorp.
“That’s an awesome way for it to be setup and it encourages people to watch both because they’re going to be there anyway.
“It follows on from the 10s where the women played before the men’s.
“The fact that we are playing at Suncorp before the men, that’s a sign it’s developing.
“You only have to look at the feedback and the response from the 10s and how much excitement there was around that.”
The Womens Reds will play the Womens Waratahs as a curtain raiser at 4pm, before the Reds play the Bulls at 6:30pm on Saturday night. The Force Womens team will be hosting the Rebels Womens team in Perth the following day.
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Kick the tires, light the fires
Brad Thorn finally has a win as a Super Rugby coach, but it was back to business as usual yesterday.
After a film review that saw the forwards stay back an extra hour to examine every scrum and lineout, Thorn came into the gym with the players and managed their gym sesh. And for players like Kane Douglas, this approach is really rubbing off on the players.
“It was a good win and we can take some good things out of it but it’s all about what happens next week, we just have to keep going,” Douglas said to rugby.com.au.
“We are pleased with how we are going but teams will look at us, teams will come up with a new plan and figure it out.
“The scrum felt especially good and we got good pay in the end but it’s about what happens next.
“We know it’s a long season and we know it’s only one win.”
Douglas praised Thorn particularly in his approach to running the gym sesh.
“He was pretty pumped to get back into training routine and back into another week,” Douglas said.
“He ran the abs and everything.
“It’s normally in your own time but it was in Brad’s time today.”
While it was good to see the Reds win again, Douglas admitted that it’s a long way to go to bring the Reds fans back into Suncorp. But having a win is a good way to start.
“I don’t know if it was pretty to watch and I know we didn’t score any tries but it was good defence and Jono kept slotting them,” Douglas said.
“It was a good crowd as well – I felt like everyone was pretty happy with how they went.
“The (fans) were all really good after the game.
“It’s good to get a result after – I know all the other teams are working hard but when you personally work hard and get a win – it’s a good feeling.
“We just have to keep building, try and be consistent and get another win.”
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