A global snapshot of what’s going on in the world of Rugby
Asia
UAE Rugby Federation has become the latest Member Union to host the International Rugby Board’s grass roots start-up programme ‘Get into Rugby’.
Working with Regional Associations and Unions, the programme is a key initiative to grow the game and increase player, coach and match official numbers world-wide leading into the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and beyond.
Designed to educate and provide training resources for teachers, youth leaders and coaches the programme consists of three phases, namely try (introduce boys and girls to the principles of Rugby), play (develop players’ skills building their game understanding and experience) and stay (keep players in the game for life and benefit from a healthier, fitter lifestyle).
Simon Jones, IRB’s Trainer of Coach Educators, tutored the courses with the first session on Wednesday May 8 at Al Wasl Sports Club, Dubai, where 24 female teachers and coaches registered. Two further sessions will be held at Al Wasl Sports Club and Al Ain Rugby Club and there will be representatives from the Indian, Pakistan and Sri Lankan Unions also arriving to take part.
“This initiative by the IRB to recruit and keep more players in the game is greatly welcomed and we are honoured to assist the IRB and visiting Unions in their growth by hosting these sessions,” said Mohammed Falaknaz, Chairman of UAE Rugby Federation.
“We are particularly delighted to see 24 female teachers registered for Wednesday’s session as girls Rugby is a focus moving forward.”
IRB General Manager Development Morgan Buckley said: “It is exciting and encouraging that UAERF has decided to implement the IRB’s Get Into Rugby programme. Through this initiative, it is our aim to grow the Game of Rugby across the world in partnership with our Regional Associations and introduce people to the Game’s core values of integrity, respect, solidarity, passion and discipline which inspire millions of people to play.”
“This free-to-access mass participation programme is designed to assist IRB member Unions in growing the player base in their country. UAERF is showing great vision in deciding to pick up this programme and run with it. I have no doubt that it will help grow participation numbers across the UAE so that more and more people can be introduced to our great sport.”
Find out more about Rugby in Asia at www.arfu.com
North America/Caribbean
Midway through a Rugby World Cup cycle, this is an important summer for the national teams of USA and Canada and fans of the game in those countries are being treated to a wonderful month of high-class Rugby during June.
We have already seen Canada beat Fiji for the first time in 18 years, putting them in a very strong position after two rounds of the IRB Pacific Nations Cup, which now includes the top two North American teams.
In case the Fiji match was not tough enough, Saturday will see the Canucks take on more Pacific Island opposition as Tonga make the trip to Richardson Stadium in Kingston, Ontario.
Tonga then head south to Carson, California, to take on the USA before the action moves to Japan for the business end of the tournament.
Of course, for many in the North America Caribbean region the real highlight of the summer will come in August when those fierce rivals, USA and Canada, go head-to-head over two legs – in Charleston, South Carolina, and BMO Stadium, Toronto – for a place in Rugby World Cup 2015.
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South America
The IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy continues in southern Chile with Italy and Canada set to meet in the final on June 9. Italy have been the team to beat since day one and they have gone about their business with a ruthless efficiency.
Canada booked their place in the decider with a hard-fought 36-15 win over Uruguay following on from victories over Tonga and Japan in the first two rounds.
The stakes will be high for the two finalists with the winners being promoted to next year’s IRB Junior World Championship in New Zealand. Italy, who were relegated from the JWC last year, will be anxious to return to the top flight while Canada have not played at that level since 2009.
“We played solid rugby today and have shown how we can defend in the three games so far. Our goal is to win the trophy so now we must recover and rest to be ready for what will be a big challenge against Italy,” said Canada’s stand-in captain Conor McCann after the Uruguay game.
For all the latest from JWRT go to www.consur.org
For more information on South American Rugby go to www.irb.com/jwrt .
Europe
“See You In Moscow” is the popular refrain being bandied around Europe these days with all roads leading to the Russian capital for one of the highlights of the global Rugby calendar taking place at the end of June.
Rugby World Cup Sevens 2013 takes place at the iconic Luzhniki Stadium from June 28-30 with 24 men’s teams and 16 women’s teams battling it out for the right to call themselves world champions.
In the men’s event, New Zealand will be warm favourites having comprehensively won the HSBC Sevens World Series showing remarkable consistency over the entire season from the opening tournament in Gold Coast, Australia, to the finale at Twickenham last month.
But RWC Sevens is not about consistency across several months, it’s all about clicking at the right time. Wales proved this four years ago in Dubai when they grew in confidence and stature during the 2009 event to upset all the pre-tournament favourites and lift the famous and coveted Melrose Cup.
The women’s section looks like it will be just as competitive with any one of four or five teams in with a realistic chance of winning. Again, New Zealand will probably start as favourites having won the inaugural IRB Women’s Sevens World Series, but they will be pushed hard by the likes of defending champions Australia, England, Canada and home team Russia, who will be particularly difficult to beat in their own back yard.
If you’re not lucky enough to be heading to Moscow for what will be a fiesta of Rugby, music and food, you will be able to catch every pass, tackle and sidestep live on television as the tournament is being televised to more than 100 territories around the globe.
For all the latest information about RWC Sevens go to www.rwcsevens.com
For all the latest information go to www.fira-aer-rugby.com
Oceania
The IRB Pacific Nations Cup goes into full swing in June, with Fiji and Tonga touring North America before all teams assemble in Japan for the final two rounds on June 15 and 23 (in Nagoya and Tokyo). The IRB invests nearly GBP1million into this showpiece strategic initiative tournament, which is designed to complement our investment in the high-performance programmes in Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Japan, USA and Canada. The aim of this investment is to improve the competitiveness of international Rugby.
Meanwhile, training and education courses will be taking place throughout June in Fiji, Samoa and Papua New Guinea as part of the IRB’s comprehensive education push in the region.
For more information go to www.oceaniarugby.com
Africa
It’s a busy month of Rugby in Africa with the CAR Africa Cup 1B taking place in Dakar, Senegal, from June 10-16. Apart from the host Union, the other teams taking part will be Tunisia, Namibia, Senegal and Botswana.
Later in the month, from June 22-30, in Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast, the Africa Cup 1C will take place with Morocco, Nigeria, Mauritius, Zambia and Niger joining home team Ivory Coast. Coinciding with that tournament, there will be a Unions’ training coordinators’ meeting with representatives from Tunisia, Morocco, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Cameroon and Madagascar taking part.
From June 13-14 in Dakar, there will be a meeting of the newly formed IRB CAR Workforce for Africa with Coralie Van den Berg (CAR Operation Manager), Adama Bakhoum (IRB’s Francophone Regional Training Coordinator), Denver Wannies (IRB’s Anglophone RTC), Charles Yapo (CAR Development Officer), Erick Situma (CAR Development Officer for the south-east), Mohamed Dermouni (CAR Development Officer for the north) and Jean-Luc Barthès (IRB Regional Development Manager). The main agenda item for the meeting is to devise a working strategy as to how best to implement the exciting and far-reaching 2014 CAR operational plan.
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