Rugby's progress in England and the World
England were never as professional as New Zealand or South Africa. We also haven't had the high profile, across the all sections of the community, to attract young players or the infrastructure to develop them. That is changing, hence England won a world cup, and we should start to see better coaching, better identification of players. If we can keep crowds growing, then we should get in to a virtuous cycle of attracting more players, better results, better crowds, more players and so on. The more high quality ex-players at all levels, then the more the chance we have of developing good coaches at all levels.
The point has been made about good athletes going to other sports, and some suggestion that footballers aren't big enough for rugby. I am no expert in football but I do know that height and speed are considerable advantages and young players do get overlooked if they are too short. In countries like NZ and SA, and until recently Wales, rugby comes first, and so all good athletes get a go at rugby. Australia is the best sporting nation in the world, having spent time there it obvious why; kids play sport anywhere and everywhere. England has progressed with professionalism as it has been able to get the best out of the players available. The inception of a meaningful academy system a few years ago means we are starting to see the fruits of proper scouting. The final piece of the jigsaw for world domination is to make sure we get as many athletes as possible to give rugby a try. If we could just change the weather we might even get more kids chucking a ball around, and then we will win everything, until China starts playing.
There has been a 6N B for some time, but of course without the promotion. Before the 5N was expanded I had hoped that they would introduce promotion instead. I thought it may be possible to squeeze the B tournament in to September/October so that the winner would able to play in the 6N , then for some time we would see the same 6N until a B nation deserved their place.
I think the SH tournament is less plausible due to the distances already mentioned, but a Pacific Islanders team should be added asap.
What happens to players that aren't picked in the draft, do they really stop playing? Is there no semi-pro league below the NFL? There are huge crowds for NFL players, but if USA rugby could develop a bit then there should be good crowds and half decent pay cheques, which might be more tempting than welfare to some.
There is already a concept called 80/80 rugby where players must be no more than 80kg. It is popular in Thailand and is catching on in the region. What we are really talking about is classifying rugby in a similar way to boxing, to let Simon Amor fight at his own weight.
The IOC have looked at sevens and so far rejected it. I actually think it would be an ideal sport for the Olympics. One of the reasons China is playing rugby is because it thinks it may become an Olympic sport.
The Churchill Cup was set up with the RFU specifically to support North American rugby, and frankly I think it is superb. I think the SH should have done more for the islands by letting them put franchises in the Super 12 instead of more from the tri-nations, but I am pleased to see the Pacific Islanders team is on the agenda again.
I am very tempted by the idea of Argentina in the six nations playing from Spain, perhaps even add some Spanish teams full of Argentinians to the European Cup, thus helping Spain and Argentina. However, I see this as a long shot unless we accept the expansion of both tournaments, but then something else will have to give, which may be politically awkward. In doing this I would consider it a short term fix, perhaps declare that Spain itself will be added to the Six Nations as soon as they are strong enough and Argentina have a fully fledged South American Tournament to play in. It is this second point that I think secures the long term future of not only Argentina but possibly South American rugby. Currently Uruguay are ranked 18th, Chile 24th, Paraguay 30th and Brazil 34th, if you really want to push the boat out Venezuela are 54th. I mention the last one particularly because I think the Venezuelan president Chavez might be encouraged to throw his billions at rugby. If they are supported in producing a South American club tournament, perhaps modeled on the Super 14, and a strong International tournament modeled on the Six Nations, then rugby in the region and around the world will benefit. I also think the European teams need to persist with tours to Argentinian every summer, as there are six of us and four southern teams (five if you count the Pacific Islanders as one) we should be able to work out a schedule.
Japan is quoted as having more players than any other country, now if we can involve them more, turn a few big sumo wrestlers in to props
As for the spreading the hosting of the World Cup here are a few suggestions:
2015 Japan
2019 SA
2023 USA
2027 Argentina
2031 Italy
2035 Uruguay
2039 China
2043 Namibia
2047 Russia
2051 Chile
2055 India
2059 Kenya
2063 Spain
2067 Paraguay
2071 Korea
2075 Zimbabwe
2079 Germany
2083 Brazil
2087 Ireland
2091 Australia
2095 Canada
2099 Peru
2103 Nigeria
The point has been made about good athletes going to other sports, and some suggestion that footballers aren't big enough for rugby. I am no expert in football but I do know that height and speed are considerable advantages and young players do get overlooked if they are too short. In countries like NZ and SA, and until recently Wales, rugby comes first, and so all good athletes get a go at rugby. Australia is the best sporting nation in the world, having spent time there it obvious why; kids play sport anywhere and everywhere. England has progressed with professionalism as it has been able to get the best out of the players available. The inception of a meaningful academy system a few years ago means we are starting to see the fruits of proper scouting. The final piece of the jigsaw for world domination is to make sure we get as many athletes as possible to give rugby a try. If we could just change the weather we might even get more kids chucking a ball around, and then we will win everything, until China starts playing.
There has been a 6N B for some time, but of course without the promotion. Before the 5N was expanded I had hoped that they would introduce promotion instead. I thought it may be possible to squeeze the B tournament in to September/October so that the winner would able to play in the 6N , then for some time we would see the same 6N until a B nation deserved their place.
I think the SH tournament is less plausible due to the distances already mentioned, but a Pacific Islanders team should be added asap.
What happens to players that aren't picked in the draft, do they really stop playing? Is there no semi-pro league below the NFL? There are huge crowds for NFL players, but if USA rugby could develop a bit then there should be good crowds and half decent pay cheques, which might be more tempting than welfare to some.
There is already a concept called 80/80 rugby where players must be no more than 80kg. It is popular in Thailand and is catching on in the region. What we are really talking about is classifying rugby in a similar way to boxing, to let Simon Amor fight at his own weight.
The IOC have looked at sevens and so far rejected it. I actually think it would be an ideal sport for the Olympics. One of the reasons China is playing rugby is because it thinks it may become an Olympic sport.
The Churchill Cup was set up with the RFU specifically to support North American rugby, and frankly I think it is superb. I think the SH should have done more for the islands by letting them put franchises in the Super 12 instead of more from the tri-nations, but I am pleased to see the Pacific Islanders team is on the agenda again.
I am very tempted by the idea of Argentina in the six nations playing from Spain, perhaps even add some Spanish teams full of Argentinians to the European Cup, thus helping Spain and Argentina. However, I see this as a long shot unless we accept the expansion of both tournaments, but then something else will have to give, which may be politically awkward. In doing this I would consider it a short term fix, perhaps declare that Spain itself will be added to the Six Nations as soon as they are strong enough and Argentina have a fully fledged South American Tournament to play in. It is this second point that I think secures the long term future of not only Argentina but possibly South American rugby. Currently Uruguay are ranked 18th, Chile 24th, Paraguay 30th and Brazil 34th, if you really want to push the boat out Venezuela are 54th. I mention the last one particularly because I think the Venezuelan president Chavez might be encouraged to throw his billions at rugby. If they are supported in producing a South American club tournament, perhaps modeled on the Super 14, and a strong International tournament modeled on the Six Nations, then rugby in the region and around the world will benefit. I also think the European teams need to persist with tours to Argentinian every summer, as there are six of us and four southern teams (five if you count the Pacific Islanders as one) we should be able to work out a schedule.
Japan is quoted as having more players than any other country, now if we can involve them more, turn a few big sumo wrestlers in to props
As for the spreading the hosting of the World Cup here are a few suggestions:
2015 Japan
2019 SA
2023 USA
2027 Argentina
2031 Italy
2035 Uruguay
2039 China
2043 Namibia
2047 Russia
2051 Chile
2055 India
2059 Kenya
2063 Spain
2067 Paraguay
2071 Korea
2075 Zimbabwe
2079 Germany
2083 Brazil
2087 Ireland
2091 Australia
2095 Canada
2099 Peru
2103 Nigeria
posted by AJ Thomas at
10:32 am
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home