I never said Cheika was right though 😉
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I never said Cheika was right though 😉
INDO PACIFIC RUGBY WELCOMES ASIA RUGBY COUNCIL ENDORSEMENT
November 21, 2017
INDO PACIFIC RUGBY WELCOMES ASIA RUGBY COUNCIL ENDORSEMENT
Indo Pacific Rugby (IPR) welcomes the endorsement by Asia Rugby of the Indo Pacific Rugby Championship (IPRC) and, in particular, the unanimous support from all 31 Asia Rugby Council Member Unions.
IPR Chairman, Mr Andrew Forrest AO, congratulated Asia Rugby’s newly elected President, Mr Aga Hussain, acknowledging he had big shoes to fill from Mr Koji Tokumasu.
“We are thrilled to be working with Aga and his team, as we share the same vision: grow the rugby family throughout the Indo Pacific by promoting the values and collegiality of rugby and creating a new innovative product on, and off, the field,” Mr Forrest said.
Mr Michael Lynagh, IPR Ambassador, also endorsed the collective excitement about furthering collaboration with World Rugby to achieve its growth objectives in this key priority market. Mr Lynagh, a former Wallaby Captain, acknowledged the support of Mr Trevor Gregory, Asia Rugby’s World Council Member, as integral to this process and to ensuring rugby capitalises on this amazing opportunity.
“The IPRC is more than an exciting new club rugby competition. It is a platform to develop government, business and community relationships throughout the Indo Pacific region”
Ms Eugenie Buckley, Head of Commercial (IPR), said gender equality was a cornerstone of IPR values and this competition stands for.
“This is why we are providing a professional playing path for the best female players, around the world, to compete for an IPR club,” Ms Buckley said.
Ms Ada Milby, Asia Rugby’s new women’s representative to the World Rugby Council, supported this: “We will see the creation of our own rugby heroes, male and female, whom Asian fans can follow and aspire to be.”
As a proud West Australian, Mr Forrest is delighted that, with the introduction of the IPRC, there remains a professional playing, coaching and officiating path for local West Australian talent.
“It is so important to the local community that the best talent can stay and play their trade in Western Australia,” Mr Forrest said. “All Australians will be able to watch their heroes compete against the best in the world in a Perth time-friendly zone.” ENDS
Quick Facts
◦ Indo Pacific Rugby Championship is the new premier, professional club rugby competition
◦ Six clubs from six cities in the Indo Pacific region
◦ Time zone that captures 60% of the world’s population
◦ Region has 90% of economic market growth
◦ Men’s and women’s XVs played as double headers on a home and away basis
◦ Competition Window from February to May 2019
◦ The competition comprises 10 rounds with a top four finals series (total of 12 weeks and 33 matches)
◦ IPR will appoint two Marquee Players, per club, to be the faces of a global marketing promotional campaign
◦ IPR will establish an Elite Player Pool of the best players from around the world to be allocated to IPR Club playing squads, where required, to supplement local talent
◦ IPR is also staging both men’s and women’s Rugby 7s to be played on a tournament basis as part of an annual series
http://www.medianet.com.au/releases/148648/
So Feburary - May IPRC XVs
If July - August could be when the IPRC sevens series is staged
September - November NRC
That could be a really good full rugby season.
Don't know July as that is the new test window after 2020. IPRC should go to June
I am hoping I can watch the sevens before the main event. I reckon that would be the eay to go. They would only need about an extra 45min a game, which would make it along a similar time length to AFL games. A laser show in between the sevens and XV game is the way to go
I was hoping the same thing, an afternoon/evening full of rugby, Mens and Womens sevens followed by the 15s, 1 ticket for a whole day, but I can see how the sevens has ended up being a tournament style series, it would be bloody expensive to ship two sevens teams all around the region for one game each as a curtain raiser to the 15s. It would also not prepare the athletes for the rigours of tournament play.
a 2 day tournament in the leadup to the grand final would be amazing though. Imagine that! Schedule the tournament for the two days leading up to the grand final, the host city gets the privilege of hosting a 7s tournament. Another bonus for the host city.
You could even pick a semi final to do the same thing (but that has the chance of getting stale, as the laws of probability would suggest that the host of the major semi final (1v4) would be the same as the Host of the grand final (1v2) It takes an upset to make it interesting.
It will be interesting to see how it plays out. Can't see the economics of curtain raisers working - anything like that should just be something local. Sevens/Tens are tournament formats too, not one off games.
I would have said maybe February for Sevens, and featuring teams from both inside and outside the IPRC. Then the normal season from March to June (eventually at least, post expansion). Then maybe some age competitions & Tens through the test window, warming up for the NRC/various regional comps.
Worth noting though that however it is set up has to suit the other countries too. We would have players running in the Pindan if they aren't playing in the IPRC team. The other teams will need some sort of secondary comp as well...
My understanding is there will be an extended half time break in the main game and the seven's will be played during that break.
There's potential for club vs country clashes if that's the case, with the World Rugby Sevens Series swinging through Asia at that time of year. This year Hong Kong, Japan, Korea Republic and Sri Lanka all played at Hong Kong, while Hong Kong and Japan played in Singapore.
Can't see that being an issue as 7s squads are pretty much full time separately and not all of those nation's compete on the circuit
My point is when there is a clash (Singapore and Hong Kong), do the franchise holders strip their IPRC sevens team in favour of the national team, the national team in favour of the IPRC team, or split between them? There were 4 potential IPRC franchise holders playing at Hong Kong this year and 2 in Singapore. Not saying the timing TIF suggested won't happen but you can't just say it's not an issue, it is something that needs to be taken into account.
For what it's worth, if you scroll up the page, this is what the Asia Rugby press release said: "IPR is also staging both men’s and women’s Rugby 7s to be played on a tournament basis as part of an annual series"