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For those out there who do not think that rugby is a global sport, here is the list of internationals and major representative games that will be played over the next six days.
The match venues are over five continents – Asia, Australia, Africa, Europe and South America – and in the Pacific Islands. Europe is winding down as summer comes, whilst Africa and Asia are moving into their playing season, as are the southern hemisphere nations.
Scheduled are eighteen men’s fifteen aside games, as well as the Junior World Cup and the European Sevens.
The playing level of some of the games may be questioned but this exposure can only raise both the playing standard and the game’s profile.
IRB Nations Cup
12/06 Scotland A v Russia, Bucharest
12/06 Italy A v France A, Bucharest
12/06 Romania v Uruguay, Bucharest
African Cup
13/06 Africa Cup Semi Finals Uganda v Tunisia,
13/06 Africa Cup Semi Finals Ivory Coast v Namibia,
Churchill Cup
10/06 Canada v Ireland A, Kingston,
10/06 United States v Argentina Jaguars, Kingston
14/06 Ireland A v Georgia, Columbus
14/06 United States v England Saxons, Columbus
International tours
13/06 Argentina v England, Salta
13/06 New Zealand v France, Dunedin
13/06 Australia v Italy, Canberra
Pacific Nations Cup
12/6 Samoa v Junior All Blacks, Apia
13/6 Tonga v Fiji, Nuku’Alofa
Asian Regional Championships
10/6 Uzbekistan v Mongolia, Tashkent
10/6 Kyrgyzstan v Jordan, Tashkent
13/6 Uzbekistan v Kyrgyzstan, Tashkent
13/6 Mongolia v Jordan, Tashkent
Junior World Cup
Japan
European Sevens
Moscow
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June 11th 2009 @ 9:37am
Eamonn said | June 11th 2009 @ 9:37am | Report comment
Harry granted the organisation of Rugby is on the rise across the globe, and has some potential to continue, but in reality it’s still not a global sport. But that depends on how you measure it really I guess.
Indeed the evidence you produce suggest the game is much further away from being a global game than I’d realised.
The quality of players and numbers of players in many of the countries including established nations such as Scotland, suggest it’s along way off any real global game. That said it’s the best we have in the football codes after the round ball game.
Taking the World Cup to NZ was the biggest mistake. It should have been Japan any fool could see that.
.
June 11th 2009 @ 9:49am
spiro said | June 11th 2009 @ 9:49am | Report comment
Harry’s point is valid. It is a remarkable list that he has put together. When rugby union people talk about the game being a ‘global game’ the football tragics get all upset believing that it somehow diminishes their right to be called the only global game. This approach is nonsense. Football is far and away the most popular game played on the globe. But saying this does not diminish the real global reach of rugby union.
Football is the Coca-Cola of world sport and rugby union is more like Pepsi Cola, if you are looking for business analogies.
If, and it should really be when, RugbySevens becomes an Olympic sport you can expect the global reach of rugby to become stronger.
But before the football tragics get too worked up about this suggestion, I hasten to add that rugby union will never threaten the global dominance of football.
Now back to the list of matches. It’s impressive that the five continents are involved, even though Europe is coming into its summer.
The IRB has had its critics over the years, and I have been among the most strident of these critics, but the organisation is doing a great job taking rugby to parts of the world that have not previously been exposed to the game. The TV program about rugby around the world that is run on Fox Sports provides a fine example of the success of the program.
June 11th 2009 @ 9:51am
True Tah said | June 11th 2009 @ 9:51am | Report comment
Eamonn
Scotland have been one of the casualties of recent years, having said that, the only other major countries where rugby has either stagnated or gone backwards have been Australia and New Zealand.
I dont know whether rugby is a global game or not and you question the quality of players. There is truth that perhaps the Confederation of African Rugby cup may not be the Tri Nations or even the 6 Nations, but does that means its any less of an event? When Madagascar won the comp a few years ago, it was a huge event there….it is an extremely poor country with pretty much no success in anything else (except pehaps in the fact it has more chameleon species than anyone else). it gave them a massive boost and a source of national pride for the people there.
June 11th 2009 @ 9:57am
Working Class Rugger said | June 11th 2009 @ 9:57am | Report comment
!16 member nation with another dozen being considered. Rugby is global. Don’t know why Football fans see the need to try and detract from this.
June 11th 2009 @ 10:38am
van der Merwe said | June 11th 2009 @ 10:38am | Report comment
Rugby is essentially a first world sport, of course it will never match the global popularity of Soccer.
June 11th 2009 @ 11:05am
LeftArmSpinner said | June 11th 2009 @ 11:05am | Report comment
I think the best description is that it is on its way to being a global sport. And thats good. frankly there are few truly global sports, Soccer is probably the only one. My criteria is for a large number of teams from all continents able to hold their own at a World cup at one end of the spectrum and that has high participation rates on the streets of the same countries. Tennis, athletics, cricket and golf get close but are not really there. Cricket benefits from being played in countries with high pops, SEA.
June 11th 2009 @ 11:15am
LeftArmSpinner said | June 11th 2009 @ 11:15am | Report comment
But, with all that footy, surely some could find its way onto free to air TV. When will the IRB launch its own station rather than outsource the rights? what with all that archive material and access to the players etc.!!!
June 11th 2009 @ 11:26am
Working Class Rugger said | June 11th 2009 @ 11:26am | Report comment
LAS
Brilliant idea. The IRB Rugby Channel.
June 11th 2009 @ 11:30am
Wally James said | June 11th 2009 @ 11:30am | Report comment
Harry
You raise a fair point. Rugby is doing well around the world.
To digress however, seeing those examples of what an international game we have does give rise to some criticism of Soccer . What unmitigated arrogance allows the shinclutchers to call it the world game to the exclusion of all others? There are numerous games played around the world. Tennis, Rugby, Golf. Sure soccer is popular with its one or two goals every 90 minutes, its riots and its thug supporters as well as its numerous decent ones. It is clearly the largest of the football codes and followed by many. But the World Game? I mean … really.
It takes the same attitude to calling itself “Football”. Australian, Gaelic, American, the Rugby codes, Canadian and the Eton Wall game are all Football. Just because soccer has the player numbers it takes a generic name for itself, once again to the purported exclusion of other codes. What the game does not exclude is the use of the hands, legs, chest and head to propel the ball. Yet, according to it, the other codes are not pure football. The overweening conceit of it all is quite staggering.
Having got that off my chest I will now hop down from the soapbox for the nonce.
June 11th 2009 @ 11:38am
Hammer said | June 11th 2009 @ 11:38am | Report comment
Er Wally it’s football because it was the original game … from which rugby spawned …. and sorry it IS the world game played across the board in damn near every country on the planet … golf / tennis / rugby etc don’t rank in the same league as coverage … it’s not arrogance it’s just fact