Indo-Pacific League

[rowan]

Marvellous

Andrew Forrest’s Indo Pacific Rugby competition (IPR) has been given the tick by the Asia Rugby Council on Tuesday.

The 31 representatives of Rugby Asia voted to endorse the competition, which is slated to run in February to April 2019.

“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,” he said.

Former Wallabies captain Michael Lynagh is on board as an ambassador for the competition and said it would be valuable on a number of fronts.

“The IPRC is more than an exciting new club rugby competition,” he said.



“It is a platform to develop government, business and community relationships throughout the Indo Pacific region.”

The competition is still yet to receive World Rugby endorsement, while the availability of Australian Test players is unclear, with the inaugural competition to collide with Super Rugby.

IPR says the competition will have 10 rounds with a top four finals series, with an elite talent pool to be created, with players divided up to different clubs.

http://www.rugby.com.au/news/2017/11/21 ... ndorsement

[rowan]

IPR says the competition will have 10 rounds with a top four finals series, with an elite talent pool to be created, with players divided up to different clubs.

So presumably they're looking for 11 teams in the South East Asia-Pacific region. I've also heard mention of a women's competition to be run as 'curtain-raisers.' Either way, this looks very exciting and is certain to open a new chapter in professional rugby with a high profile league operating in one of the world's most competitive economic markets.

[zer0]

Where are they going to acquire this "elite talent pool"? If they're genuine top class players then they'll be paying a lot of transfer fees to European clubs. Given that I'm pretty sure Forrest has said he intends to go head-to-head with Europe, handing over exorbitant amounts of cash to them would not be appealing I wouldn't think. The alternative are basically young NPC level, at best, players from Aus, NZ and SA. Though, I guess, they would be elite relative to the assorted locals and expats that'll be mustered up to form the bulk of the sides.

[rowan]

Build it and they will come! Unbound talent in the Pacific Islands, hundreds of Fijians playing for a basic wage in Sri Lanka, Polynesian youth being lured to the XIII man code throughout the region. Will they be able to gain access to New Zealand players not on Super Rugby contracts? I don't see why not. & that's a limitless resource right there. I'd really like to see this league full of Pacific Islanders, to be honest. They play an entertaining brand of rugby and are really crowd-pleasers, as the Drua have shown during their debut season in Australian competition. In addition to which, rugby league seems to be making a major play for that Polynesian & Melanesian talent right now with its so-called "World Cup" featuring prolonged and highly dramatic 'war dances' and two of the island teams (one stacked with NZ-born & raised players) making it through to the semis. Rugby needs to compete with that and keep its own players in the XV-man game. IPL might just be a godsend in this respect.

[Spy]

I think that's very optimistic. The players will be well below Super Rugby standard, playing in areas where rugby is a *very* minority sport, in new teams with no historical support, at a time when top-level Super Rugby teams are struggling to retain interest in rugby strongholds.

It's ambitious, I'll give it that.

[rowan]

Doesn't seem to be the view of those involved. It'll be a new product in most of the centers, for sure. South East Asians won't really have much to compare it with, so Pacific Islanders who wouldn't make it in Super Rubby may still look like superstars to them. That certainly seems to be the case in Sri Lanka, where the Fijian-dominated league is getting decent-sized crowds. Anyway, I'm just giving you my best guess. Andrew Forrest has the backing of the Asia Rugby Council and apparently the ARU as well, so I hardly think it's all pie in the sky.

[rowan]

Uh oh!

Andrew Forrest's hopes of launching the Indo Pacific Rugby Championship in 2019 have hit a roadblock, with Rugby Australia still refusing to give the competition its permanent endorsement.
http://www.espn.co.uk/rugby/story/_/id/ ... -roadblock

[rowan]

The Force may be back - in 2021 . . .

Players union boss Ross Xenos has foreshadowed the possibility of the Western Force returning to a revamped Super Rugby competition in 2021.

Rugby Australia axed the Force for financial reasons last September as Super Rugby reverted to a 15-team competition following an unsuccessful experiment with an 18-team format.

But there is uncertainty about whether the SANZAAR joint partnership between South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina will continue following the expiry of the current broadcast agreement in 2020.

Even if the SANZAAR partnership continues, the structure of the Super Rugby competition beyond 2020 could be very different.

http://www.theroar.com.au/2018/01/29/we ... ers-union/

[rowan]

The rumors and speculation regarding a possible return for the Force in just 3 years' time continue: https://www.foxsports.com.au/rugby/play ... cdcf9446fc

I truly think both the Force and the Cheetahs should be brought back. What a ridiculous scenario that these two fine teams had to make way for the Sunpoodles and terrebels!

[Lizard]

Firm plans have now been announced for the Western Force. There will be no Indo-Pacific League.

The Force has actually been demoted to the NRC, replacing/renaming the Perth Spirit (so I bet taking over Spirit player contracts as well). Until that competition kicks off in September, the Force will play a largely TBA schedule of friendlies against a mish-mash of other sides. These are said to include Super Rugby teams but only during the Test Window break, including the Crusaders (effectively a B team once the All Blacks are out) and Rebels. Apparently the Force/Spirit will play Fiji in May (presumably without any European stars and few Super Rugby players, possibly even just a re-badged Drua).

This bollocks is to be branded as "World Series Rugby" which is arrant nonsense. It's not any sort of series, nor does it involve the World. In fact, it might not even be Rugby, as such. These games will "trial new initiatives to help make the game more player and spectator friendly." So stand by for Turbo-Bull-Shit levels of fuckery with the laws and regs. I predict rolling subs, at least, and possibly the usual boring suggestions of league hybrid matches.

If the point of this is really to boost rugby in WA and Asia, then why not play rugby as it is internationally recognised, rather than tinkering with "initiatives"?

Anyway, I wish the Force the best of luck in the NRC, which is where they should have been all along, had the NRC or equivalent existed in 2005.

[rowan]

Did this come to you in a blinding vision, or is there a link for that?

[zer0]

Billionaire Andrew Forrest has announced a series of seven invitational matches for axed Super Rugby club Western Force this year, one of which involves the current champions, the Crusaders.

Forrest has grandly titled the matches, World Series Rugby (WSR).

The matches, to be played at Perth's nib Stadium, will pit a new-look Western Force team against Pacific nations Fiji, Tonga and Samoa plus Hong Kong and Super Rugby outfits the Crusaders and Melbourne Rebels between May and August. A Japanese team is likely to round out the competition.

...

Forrest promised WSR would evolve into an international competition for the Asia Pacific region in 2019, something he had been trying to get up for 2018.

"The focus for 2018 is to reintroduce and reinforce professional rugby in Western Australia for the benefits of our grassroots community, our players and our fans," Forrest said.

"In 2019, the WSR will evolve into a high-calibre, international competition with the goal of making rugby the community-building sport of Asia."

New initiatives and changes in the rules will be trialled during the WSR, including a try being worth 10 points.

Former Wallabies great Michael Lynagh, who is serving as an adviser, believed an innovative revamp would make the game "faster and more exciting".

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/102 ... nal-series

Certainly sounds like there's plenty of scope for Australian rugby's favourite past time of trying to become League.

[rowan]

So is WSR replacing the proposed Indo-Pacific league? Just a couple of weeks ago there was a report about high profile signings. Certainly that report leaves a few questions unanswered.

[rowan]

This sheds a little more light on it. http://www.theroar.com.au/2018/03/06/we ... w-forrest/

So it looks like WSR basically is the Indo-Pacific league under a different name. Doesn't look so bad to me. & the best part is the Islands are involved.

[Lizard]

http://www.espn.com.au/rugby/story/_/id ... ries-rugby

[Lizard]

This sheds a little more light on it. http://www.theroar.com.au/2018/03/06/we ... w-forrest/

So it looks like WSR basically is the Indo-Pacific league under a different name. Doesn't look so bad to me. & the best part is the Islands are involved.

Except it’s not a league and there’s not much “Indo” about it. It would be great if it did develop into a viable alternative for profession rugby in the Islands, but I just don’t see it, despite the optimism from the money guy.

[rowan]

No, it won't be a league this year. Forrest always said he was aiming for 2019.

More here, including 10-point tries and a Japanese opponent in the last fixture (?Sunwolves?). http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/ar ... d=12007898

[rowan]

In fact, this just looks like a lot of media hype. All they've really done is announce a few friendly games to keep the brand alive this year. It's what happens in 2019 that matters, and no real indication has been given yet.

Not sure how it warrants the name World Series, either. That's almost as bad as US baseball

[morepork]

Run Forrest, run!

Full of shit.

[rowan]

Where was he when the Force were actually competing in Super Rugby, without disgracing themselves too much either? They could've used some of those big bucks back then to build a stronger team which the ARU would never have dreamt of axing. I like the IPL concept, but it remains to be seen if he actually gets it off the ground, or just fades quietly away again in 2019 . . .

[rowan]

[cashead]

Over-under for this lasting a calendar year.

[Lizard]

So it's not 10-point tries but 9-point "Power Tries" (scored from within your own 22 without losing possession). Stupid idea. Good teams go for the break anyway. Allowing a team with an 8-point lead to lose a match because of, say, an intercept at the other end of the field is dumb. It makes it a lottery.

Also, 12 rolling subs allowed. Stupid idea. No doubt teams looking for the magic 9-pointer will pull off all their front rowers and put them back on if a scrum is awarded.

1-minute scrums. Actually worth a try. There's far too much mucking about scrum time. Not sure what the sanction is though.

No need to wait for oppo or ref before throwing - not sure this all that different.

Also, they've got Campo spruiking the changes and "competition" (FFS) falsely claiming that the Fiji Warriors is their national team.

https://www.westernforce.com.au/world-s ... d-changes/

[rowan]

So aside from the Western Force and Fiji Warriors, who else is involved in this 'World Series?'

[morepork]

That reads like an in-house PR effort by a group of dudes that all went to the same school and still have similar haircuts. Someone has obviously consulted one of their son's school chums to get the vernacular appealing to young people. I particularly like the idea of lights running the length of the uprights that signal "power play". Very classy.