Rugby growing rapidly in the Asian region
Roar Guru By Working Class Rugger, 3 Mar 2010 Working Class Rugger is a Roar Guru
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With the all the recent movement arising from within the European continent regarding our great game, we could be excused for not paying enough attention to arguably rugby’s next great frontier.
Sure, the qualification of Russia for their first Rugby World Cup, the establishment of new Professional Leagues in the Ukraine and the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal), and greater emphasis on development efforts in the lesser powers of the likes of the Netherlands (initiation of a nationwide development program including Academies) are all worthy of acknowledgement.
But we often neglect the great work occurring in Asia.
A region with over 357,981 registered player’s spread across 4,341 clubs amongst its 33 member Unions is still in many ways Rugby’s ‘undiscovered country’. (Note: I am aware Asia is not one country)
Rugby has a long history thanks to British colonialism in the region, which in many ways greatly damaged its ability to remain relevant in Asian societies at the end of the Imperial era.
However, thanks largely to those within the Asian Rugby Football Union and the IRB’s investment, rugby has not only recovered but has began to grow to the point that it is now our game’s fastest growing region.
Most encouraging of all, while in the years of old, rugby was strictly a game for European colonists, the faces you will see running around with a Gilbert in hand in today’s Asia are the local populous, and most importantly, local youth.
This growth has become so prolific that rugby has begun to emerge in nations many would not have possibly have considered in era’s gone by.
This has been most evident in the HSBC sponsored Asian 5 Nations, which apart from its namesake Championship, has several lower divisions ranging from Division 1 through to Division 3A, Band C as well as regional tournaments for developing Unions such as Mongolia and Kyrgyzstan.
Top this with last year’s inaugural Asian 7s Circuit, featuring tournaments in China, Philippines (this year will be replaced by Beirut), Malaysia, Brunei, Sri Lanka and Iran.
Rugby’s growth in Asia is undeniable.
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March 3rd 2010 @ 7:58am
Rickety Knees said | March 3rd 2010 @ 7:58am | Report comment
Thanks WCR it is good to get these posts – it goes some way to providing relief for Australian Rugby Myopia – where we view the problems of Australian Rugby as being a reflection of the game worldwide – when nothing could be further from the truth.
March 3rd 2010 @ 8:00am
Bay35Pablo said | March 3rd 2010 @ 8:00am | Report comment
“Rugby’s growth in Asia is undeniable”
I thought a more appropriate word was “irrepressible”. But then I watched too much Monkey as a kid.
Sorry, couldn’t help myself ….
March 3rd 2010 @ 1:19pm
Dan said | March 3rd 2010 @ 1:19pm | Report comment
Monkey would have made a kick arse full back.
March 3rd 2010 @ 3:49pm
rugbyfuture said | March 3rd 2010 @ 3:49pm | Report comment
and pigsy at prop or hooker? or is he too soft for that?
March 5th 2010 @ 9:41am
PastHisBest said | March 5th 2010 @ 9:41am | Report comment
He’s harder than Matt Pudding.
March 3rd 2010 @ 4:25pm
Working Class Rugger said | March 3rd 2010 @ 4:25pm | Report comment
Bay
Mate, I wrote this at 2am in the morning two days ago. I’m just happy my point came across coherently.
March 3rd 2010 @ 6:25pm
sheek said | March 3rd 2010 @ 6:25pm | Report comment
And when I was a lad, after watching Samurai I would go outside & attempt to replicate their trick of jumping from the ground into the trees.
Gee, I could barely get a foot off the ground. I thought these guys were superhuman.
Years later, I finally discovered it was all trick photography….. !
March 3rd 2010 @ 8:13am
Al said | March 3rd 2010 @ 8:13am | Report comment
357,981 out of 4,050,404,000 people, or 0.0088% of the Asian population really isn’t much to get excited about.
March 3rd 2010 @ 9:04am
Travis said | March 3rd 2010 @ 9:04am | Report comment
Its a start.
Vastly superior to the NRL’s penetration . . . anywhere.
March 3rd 2010 @ 9:24am
Brian said | March 3rd 2010 @ 9:24am | Report comment
Oh Trav why mention Rugby League at all here?
March 3rd 2010 @ 9:34am
Al said | March 3rd 2010 @ 9:34am | Report comment
Everyone knows that Union is the more popular variant of Rugby, it doesn’t diminish League’s popularity in this country and its growing popularity in Rugby strongholds such as New Zealand and France, growth that eclipses Rugby’s growth in Asia.
March 3rd 2010 @ 11:28am
Sam said | March 3rd 2010 @ 11:28am | Report comment
Is rugby league growing in NZ? Thought numbers had dropped since 1996? I say who cares, don’t even know why this is relevant, why has it been bought up? Are you contributing anything regarding the topic of the article?
March 3rd 2010 @ 12:21pm
Zac Zavos said | March 3rd 2010 @ 12:21pm | Report comment
A reminder to all that it is not appropriate to open this article into a code war thread – this article is about rugby’s growth only – please leave other sports out of the debate.
Cheer down any off topic comments please.
Thanks, Zac
The Roar
March 4th 2010 @ 2:35pm
Corey said | March 4th 2010 @ 2:35pm | Report comment
may I just say that you should say that exact same thing to Siva Samoa when he jumps on RL threads, or is that a bit too hard to ask.
March 3rd 2010 @ 9:25am
King of the Gorganites said | March 3rd 2010 @ 9:25am | Report comment
350K is very impressive. how many palyers does RL or AFL have in Asia?
350K is more then the rintire RL world wide playing numbers.
March 3rd 2010 @ 10:33am
Sam said | March 3rd 2010 @ 10:33am | Report comment
You spent time working that out? Lol
March 3rd 2010 @ 12:01pm
King of the Gorganites said | March 3rd 2010 @ 12:01pm | Report comment
dont need to. its as simple as that. the beauty of rugby is that its played by people beyond the M62 and east of asutralia
March 3rd 2010 @ 8:50am
siva samoa said | March 3rd 2010 @ 8:50am | Report comment
Inter City Rugby 7s tournament from tomorrow
——————————————————————————–
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Share Print E-mail Comment[ - ] Text [ + ]STAFF WRITER 20:33 HRS IST
New Delhi, Mar 2 (PTI) 20 teams will vie for top honours in the All India Inter City Rugby 7s tournament to be played at Daulat Ram College here from March 3-4.
The event will feature teams from different parts of the country including Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi.
New talent from cities like Trivandrum, Srinagar, Imphal, Sonipat and Ambala will also be seen in action.
“This is for the first time such an event is taking place in the history of Indian Rugby,” Greg Davey, Rugby Development manager said.
“The tournament will lead the way for conducting an All India Inter State Mens tournament which would include more than 20 states,” Davey added.
Earlier this week, city had successfully hosted the All India Inter Club tournament which was won by Army Green Club.
http://www.ptinews.com/news/544414_Inter-City-Rugby-7s-tournament-from-tomorrow
Indian Rugby Team to visit Fiji, NZ to fine-tune game
——————————————————————————–
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Share Print E-mail Comment[ - ] Text [ + ]STAFF WRITER 19:44 HRS IST
New Delhi, Mar 2 (PTI) As part of their preparation for Commonwealth Games, the Indian Rugby Team leaves tonight for Fiji and New Zealand to acquire more in-depth knowlege about the game and identify their strength and weakness.
During their three-week trip, the 23-member contingent will meet the former champions and legends of the game, visit the state-of-the-art gymnasium, world class pitches and fitness professionals and compete in few practice matches against respective national teams.
“This trip is very important keeping Commonwealth Games in mind. We will be up against some of the best playing teams.
All know, Fiji and New Zealand are two top Rugby playing nations and to visit them and get hang of their sporting culture is nothing less than a dream come true,” Indian Rugby team captain Naseer Hussain told PTI.
“It’s an opportunity to learn the nuances of the game from the best in the industry.
http://www.ptinews.com/news/544318_Indian-Rugby-Team-to-visit-Fiji–NZ-to-fine-tune-game
March 3rd 2010 @ 9:11am
Jay said | March 3rd 2010 @ 9:11am | Report comment
They will be playing rugby in every street from Manilla to Calcutta.
They will be kicking Sherrings from Port Moresby to Cape Town.
They will be throwing steedans from Beirut to Barbados.
March 3rd 2010 @ 11:55am
JohnB said | March 3rd 2010 @ 11:55am | Report comment
Not sure that league or Australian rules have any relevance in this discussion. Soccer is of course the gorilla in the corner, but WCR is right that rugby is growing in Asia. I don’t think it matters that rugby is unlikely to approach soccer in popularity in most Asian countries – that’s a fact of life and soccer has some big advantages in less developed societies (you can play on any scrap of open ground, all you need is a ball, and there’s less risk of injury). The point is there is this growth, a choice of game is being offered (to some at least – from my own experience I know the growth is limited in at least some places by money and availabiltiy of coaches, not by interest) and some base is being formed. It will be some time before anyone other than Japan will be a world cup finals contender (in men’s anyway), but so what?
March 3rd 2010 @ 3:54pm
rugbyfuture said | March 3rd 2010 @ 3:54pm | Report comment
i dunno, kazhakstan are getting up there. Their team (the nomads) have been doing pretty well for themselves and from what i understand the government is backing rugby pretty hard
March 4th 2010 @ 12:52pm
JohnB said | March 4th 2010 @ 12:52pm | Report comment
RF – Kazhaks are in the top 5 in ARFU (mens). I think Japan remains much stronger than them, but the Kazhaks have size going for them. The Kazhak women’s team is relatively much stronger – I think it was in the top 3 or 4 in the world a few years back. It may have slipped a bit but still gets direct entry to women’s world cup finals.
March 4th 2010 @ 1:05pm
rugbyfuture said | March 4th 2010 @ 1:05pm | Report comment
japan are still stronger but the nomads are the fastest progressing team around i think.
March 3rd 2010 @ 12:04pm
Sam said | March 3rd 2010 @ 12:04pm | Report comment
It’d be interesting to know if the Bledisloe Cup matches in Hong Kong and Tokyo have had any influence on player numbers. It may have exposed a few more people to the sport, which is always good. Hopefully the region can get stronger in time for the World Cup in Japan in 2019.
March 3rd 2010 @ 12:23pm
Worlds Biggest said | March 3rd 2010 @ 12:23pm | Report comment
Leave League, AFL and Soccer out of this discussion. This is a rugby article. Based on these participation numbers and growing the game in this region, RWC missed a great opportunity to grant Japan the tournament next year. I was all for Japan hosting for a number of reasons, none more so than growing the game in the region. Isn’t that what sport / business is all about ??. Instead it is in NZ where getting tickets & accomodation will be darn near impossible for a lot of people.
March 3rd 2010 @ 12:27pm
King of the Gorganites said | March 3rd 2010 @ 12:27pm | Report comment
in believe 2019 is/was a more sensible option. japan are not up to quater final standard at present. to host a WC there needs to a chance that the host nations makes the QF. that gives them a further 9 years to bring through players. The IRB made the right decsion.
and please leave other soprts out of this. we dont want this to to turn into a code war
March 3rd 2010 @ 12:49pm
Norm said | March 3rd 2010 @ 12:49pm | Report comment
Japan will not be up to 1/4 final standard in 2019.
March 3rd 2010 @ 3:55pm
rugbyfuture said | March 3rd 2010 @ 3:55pm | Report comment
10 years – look what happened to australian soccer in that time
March 3rd 2010 @ 4:22pm
Norm said | March 3rd 2010 @ 4:22pm | Report comment
What the #*%@ has Australian soccer got to do with Japanese rugby? In 1987 England beat Japan 60-7, in 1995 NZ beat them 145-17 & in 2007 Australia beat them 91-3. I don’t see any improvement there.
March 3rd 2010 @ 4:29pm
rugbyfuture said | March 3rd 2010 @ 4:29pm | Report comment
i was just saying that alot can change with good management and development in 10 years, opposed to your views that nothing can change, sure past rates of change havent been great but 9 years with a fairly new comp and olympic funding can change things.
March 3rd 2010 @ 4:31pm
Working Class Rugger said | March 3rd 2010 @ 4:31pm | Report comment
Norm
RF was making a comparison in regards to the progress made by the Socceroos to what the Japanese could. He didn’t say they ‘had’ made progress just that they could. What’s wrong with that?
March 3rd 2010 @ 10:13pm
Norm said | March 3rd 2010 @ 10:13pm | Report comment
Oh dear it looks like I’ve incurred the wrath of heroless because I don’t share his faithful sidekick’s romantic vision for the future of Japanese rugby. Well I suppose a lot of things could happen in the next 10 years; aliens landing; Peter Costello re-entering politics; Italy winning the RWC; Johnathan Thurston captaining the Wallabies; Working Class Rugger qualifying at law. But as I’m sure you would agree heroless none of those things are remotely possible.
March 3rd 2010 @ 10:21pm
dave said | March 3rd 2010 @ 10:21pm | Report comment
Did someone said Italy or Japan would win the RWC in ten years ? Who said Samoa or Fiji were going to make past the pool stages in 1987, 1991 or 2007 ?
March 3rd 2010 @ 10:22pm
rugbyfuture said | March 3rd 2010 @ 10:22pm | Report comment
i like this name sledging stuff you got going (very clever stuff) norm.
but as for your response, we were just saying there is a possibility there, which you dismissed completely in the first instance. you don’t seem to be as dismissive with predictions and hopes when it comes to league, try having the same view there and you won’t see much of a future.
March 3rd 2010 @ 10:30pm
Norm said | March 3rd 2010 @ 10:30pm | Report comment
Err…excuse me faithful sidekick but Zac specifically told us to leave other sports out of this debate & there you go introducing first soccer & now league. Naughty boy.
March 3rd 2010 @ 10:44pm
rugbyfuture said | March 3rd 2010 @ 10:44pm | Report comment
you obviously didnt get the gist of the comment norm (or should i go back to poor form) you’re obviosuly just a silly old man bagging what you dont understand and trying to be witty. stick to the idea of adding to the article rather than bagging what you think you can (unsuccessfully).
March 3rd 2010 @ 12:58pm
formeropenside said | March 3rd 2010 @ 12:58pm | Report comment
There is no particular rule that the host of RWC be up to any standard. Sure, its been the case by default in the past – but didn’t co-host Wales miss a QF or two in 1991 or 1999? Or do you mean “standard” rather than depending on actual result?
The IRB missed a great opportunity to grow the game with the 2011 RWC – it should have gone to Japan, and feeling sorry for NZ because it shot itself in the foot over 2003 should have been neither here nor there.
March 3rd 2010 @ 1:06pm
Rickety Knees said | March 3rd 2010 @ 1:06pm | Report comment
and NZ – for the privilege – will make a substantial loss which will hold back the development of the game globally – all because the G&T set at the IRB had not forgotten WW2.
March 3rd 2010 @ 3:15pm
PastHisBest said | March 3rd 2010 @ 3:15pm | Report comment
How does NZ making a loss hold back the game globally RK? The IRB get their filthy lucre from sponsorship and selling TV rights.
March 3rd 2010 @ 3:34pm
Ora said | March 3rd 2010 @ 3:34pm | Report comment
How the hell do you work that one out RK?
New Zealand and france are the only countries ever to have to pay just to host the dam tournament.
The only people who stand to lose money in this are Kiwis noone else. The IRB is milking the tournament for absolutely everything it’s absurd. The reason why ticklet prices are so high is because the NZRFU only has one way of making money and that is from ticket sales.
The IRB will make a killing out of this tournament from the hosting fee and TV rights will they spend it where it’s needed most likely not.
Cut the scaremongering and start talking some truth, the NZ public is prepared to take a hit ion the pocket. Noone else will lose a cent, only profit from it.
March 3rd 2010 @ 7:20pm
Sam said | March 3rd 2010 @ 7:20pm | Report comment
Ora is 100% correct. The IRB will make heaps of money out of the tournament. All the risk is with the NZRU and NZ Govt because their only source of income is ticket sales. So while technically the tournament may lose money, it certainly won’t effect the IRB’s coffers. As far as TV rights and so forth go, the time zone is similar to Japan, so can’t see major differences in revenue were it hosted somewhere else.
March 3rd 2010 @ 7:17pm
Sam said | March 3rd 2010 @ 7:17pm | Report comment
Apparently the Japanese bid left a lot of details out until their final presentation – when the delegates had already been instructed by their home unions who to vote for. Wasn’t the worst thing in the world, because I think they’ll do a better job in 2019 than they would have done in 2011.
March 3rd 2010 @ 1:08pm
Working Class Rugger said | March 3rd 2010 @ 1:08pm | Report comment
In the draft I sent through I added a bit where I doubted there ability to consisitently compete with physically larger European counterparts. But I also brought up that I believed the IRB along with the ARFU could create a truly competitive region in itself. That is what they should be looking to do. In some respects this is happening. In the 7s Series even though predictably Japan won Korea (won the Shanghai event beating Japan) Malaysia and Thailand all proved formidable opponents. If you add in Chinese Taipei’s perfromance at the World Games and its easy to see some progress.
Another good example is the A5N’s setup. Yes, Japan still dominates the top division but their have been obviuos improvement amongst their primary competition in Korea and last edition Kazakstan. In the divisions below the level of competition has been rather good. No real blow outs with teams progressing when they are capable.
I found JohnB’s comment interesting regarding the difficulty of access in regards to money and especially coaching. The IRB is doing alot of work it is still a difficult task. Personally, I would like to see the Tier 1 Nations particularly the SANZAR partner’s attempt to help rectify this. I’m reminded of a story I’ve heard of. The NZRU was contacted by the Chinese requesting if they could provide coaching expertise. The NZRU was happy to oblige until they put through the number of 4,000. Obviously the NZRU couldn’t provide that number. However, if the SANZAR partners were able to organise a single Coaching accreditation between them all they could supply at least intially say 1,000. These then could train locals which would go a long way to openiong the game up even further.
March 3rd 2010 @ 7:01pm
JohnB said | March 3rd 2010 @ 7:01pm | Report comment
WCR – my experience was mostly in Laos, and to a lesser extent Vietnam. That involved regular contact with Cambodia and some regional Thai teams – so my comments related more to Asian rugby backwaters than to the stronger Asian countries! However, I suspect even some of the higher ranking Asian countries would face similar issues in trying to expand – finding experienced coaches who can coach in the local language and getting suitable grounds being the main ones.
Here’s a link to the Lao Rugby Federation’s website, for Roarers interested in very grassroots rugby – http://www.laorugby.com
March 3rd 2010 @ 11:49pm
Mick Gold Coast QLD said | March 3rd 2010 @ 11:49pm | Report comment
“the IRB along with the ARFU could create a truly competitive region in itself”
There’s the rub, Working Class Rugger. One does not need to think only in terms of competing with more advanced rugby nations, with bigger players. We need not think only in terms of the rugby world we now know – BHP Billiton used have one of the few useful corporate mantras “Think ahead”.
Over 20 years discovering Asia, I have used the “down time” to discover just how widespread rugby is there. Another marked characteristic is the local enthusiasm for the culture of rugby and passion for the game – it reminds me somewhat of Sydney Club rugby as it matured during the 70s and 80s.
Suprisingly to me we do still have a widespread ignorance of Asia.
Within 8 hours of Brisbane airport, in SE Asia, there are 1.4 billion people. Another hour and, in East Asia, there are another 1.5 billion. All closer to Brisbane than to London.
Any enterprise in Australia that dismisses such a powerful market does so at their peril – assured growth, as the middle classes expand; serious, serious money for support (I am continually amazed at how many hideously wealthy people are there); an appetite for Western recreations; ever increasing student numbers here that take home an interest developed at school and university; and a keen commercial eye for development of ancilliary business links in the West.
The opportunities to employ Australian expertise in Asian rugby are there and can only increase. The first Union in there, in a determined and committed campaign, can capture its future here.
March 4th 2010 @ 12:05am
rugbyfuture said | March 4th 2010 @ 12:05am | Report comment
A rugby “colombo” plan perhaps should be instigated?
March 4th 2010 @ 9:28pm
Mick Gold Coast QLD said | March 4th 2010 @ 9:28pm | Report comment
rugbyfuture – nice work!
You’d have to be an old bugger, for sure, if you can remember that one!
March 3rd 2010 @ 1:15pm
Lazza said | March 3rd 2010 @ 1:15pm | Report comment
I just don’t understand the logic in having a Rugby WC in Japan except for the money of course. Unless you can rig the tournament the Japanese national team will get belted every time it plays a decent Rugby nation and probably fails to get past the group stage. This will encourage a new generation of Japanese youth to follow in the footsteps of their sporting ‘heroes’?
Sounds like putting the cart before the horse to me. FIFA (sorry about the soccer reference) had the good sense to wait until Football had reached a certain standard before giving the World Cup to Japan/Korea. I’d like to be proved wrong but I’m a bit sceptical about Asian nations ever being competitive in Rugby. Asian nations have problems with physically stronger nations in Football so how will they compete in such a physically demanding sport like Rugby? If they’re not competitive I don’t see the sport growing and becoming more popular.
March 3rd 2010 @ 1:28pm
True Tah said | March 3rd 2010 @ 1:28pm | Report comment
Lazza
you raise a valid point about Japan being competitive, I guess they have got a few years to get it right!
Personally I would have had Argentina before Japan, they have proven themselves and in their history have produced players who would have been in a World XV, something Japan has not achieved. Unfortunately Argentina’s economy will not see them host the tournament in the near future.
Japan seems to have no trouble producing big tough athletes in sumo wrestling and other martial arts, although increasingly a number of these are coming from outside Japan as well – Mongolia, eastern Europe and the Pacific Islands. Not sure how you get these guys into rugby.
March 3rd 2010 @ 1:50pm
Lazza said | March 3rd 2010 @ 1:50pm | Report comment
The Asian nations have some big tough fellas but to get a competitve side you need a large pool of such athletes to select from. The bigger nations like China and possibly Japan may be competitive one day but most will not simply because they can’t compete at the physical level the game demands.
I hope I’m wrong and they can compensate in other areas of the game but time will tell.
March 3rd 2010 @ 6:16pm
Pete said | March 3rd 2010 @ 6:16pm | Report comment
Lazza, have you seen the size of the athletes in the Chinese Olympics teams? The basketballers, the volleyballers, the field athletes. There are some monsters both in height and build. With 1 billion inhabitants they have to produce people of all shapes and sizes. I think in 30 years time, if they are committed to Rugby (the chinese like long term plans!), they’ll make the WC.