"World Series Rugby" aka "Global Rapid Rugby"
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@Stargazer Looks like Oz is furiously developing a second tier because they think that's where they'll end up.
If they are serious about developing a second tier competition, they'd be better off not subscribing to the stupid laws.
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@antipodean Yep, agree 100%.
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@Stargazer said in "World Series Rugby" aka "Global Rapid Rugby":
With World XV squad:
That's, ummm, underwhelming.
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@Kruse Yep, that's what you get when you have to assemble players who are not involved in any club competition at the moment. Basically, retirees, third stringers and players who play in the Japanese competition (the only competition having a break at the moment).
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Watched the second half of this game. Not remembering all the rule variations, I found the refereeing a bit off and I don't know whether that was because a different rule was applied, or whether the ref was shit. Some of that was definitely the latter, as high tackles and forward passes were clearly missed.
Western Force won the game 26 to 16, but obviously they've played a full season under these rules, while the World XV squad only came together early this week. If it wasn't for Nick Cummins having a mare, World XV would probably have won (their defence was excellent, except for the last 10 minutes or so, when they'd emptied the tanks). He butchered three try scoring opportunities by knocking the ball on, one of those coming from an awesome break from Spowart that was a "power try" in the making, only for Cummins to drop the ball. Has he always been that bad?
Anyway, one thing is true about "rapid rugby" and that it is indeed fast, really fast. Having rolling subs and the game only lasting 70 minutes was an absolute necessity, esp for many of the retirees in the World XV squad, although I was quite surprised how good Corey Flynn still is. Pleasants-Tate' constant niggles with the opposition were hilarious at times, as was a break he made in the second half; the surprised look on his face when he sliced through the Force' defence was gold. Ellis is still a classy player and Finau and Spowart were good, too.
One impression I got from the game was that there's a strong "AFL feel" to this format, both due to the speed and the frequent (high) kicking. Unfortunately, that also led to a lot of ball handling errors from both teams. They can keep it in Australia; I hope never to see it here, but I'm glad that the Perth crowd seemed to like it. After the Force being pulled from Super Rugby, it's good that they've games to go to that they enjoy.
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Another joke team, that South China Tigers. Not a single Chinese player in that squad.
By the way, the name Tau Kolomatangi sounds familiar. Didn't he play for Ta$man, maybe Chiefs, too? Or am I confusing him with someone else?
And Tom Hill?
Edit: I looked it up and it's a Hong Kong based team. That explains it. Tom Hill is an Aussie according to Wikipedia.
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Ma Chong is the Chinese rugby team captain I believe. Going by their wikipedia page most of them are eligible for Hong Kong.
South China Tigers unveil culturally diverse roster for rugby series
The South China Tigers definitely got the diversity memo. The men’s professional rugby squad on Tuesday unveiled a number of marquee players to compete in Andrew Forrest’s Global Rapid Rugby series.
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Samoan franchise given green light for breakaway rugby tournament
Global Rapid Rugby is heading to Auckland after New Zealand Rugby agreed to sanction a one-off exhibition game between two Pacific Island teams in June.Pukekohe's Navigation Homes Stadium is set to host Kafiga Samoa and Fijian Latui on June 7. The two sides will be joined by the Western Force in a Pacific Showcase which starts in Suva next month. "It's going to be new, it's going to be high-paced, it's going to be intense," Kafiga Samoa chief executive Richard Fale told 1 NEWS. "[The] New Zealand Rugby Union's support for Global Rapid Rugby is a very well placed, insightful position looking forward into the future. "You have to look at what is the market place going to look like in five years, in 10 years, in 20 years." An Asia Showcase began last month featuring a World XV coached by Robbie Deans, the Asia Pacific Dragons and South China Tigers. Kafiga Samoa will host this year's matches in Auckland and Brisbane due to Apia Park undergoing renovations ahead of the Pacific Games in July. The outfit has formed a relationship with Counties Manukau with Mitre 10 Cup coaches Darryl Suasua and Semo Sititi all but confirmed to lead the side. Samoa Rugby will look to provide the bulk of the squad while players New Zealand-based players from Tonga and Fiji are also being targeted.Fale has plans to start another Hawaiian-based team while the Japanese Sunwolves have also been tipped to join Global Rapid Rugby after being left out of Super Rugby from 2021. -
