Organisers of the Brisbane Global Rugby Tens will attempt to woo English Premiership clubs and the Fijian national team for future tournaments after hailing the inaugural event as a massive success.
Duco Australia chief executive Rachael Carroll said she was “thrilled” with how the first edition turned out.
Despite lower than expected crowds at Suncorp Stadium, it proved a hit for on-field entertainment and an ideal pre-season appetiser for Super Rugby.
All 14 teams had decent moments and rave reviews have been flooding in from players, coaches, administrators and fans alike.
With a four-year contract to keep the event in Queensland locked away, Duco are determined to make sure the novelty does not wear off.
Difficult and costly as it was to lure the likes of French club Toulon and South Africa’s Blue Bulls to Australia, the company already has feelers out for new teams to fill the four invitational slots to give a different mix of international flavours every year.
“We’ve had overwhelming feedback saying we’d love to see Fiji in this tournament and let’s look at the UK as well,” Carroll said.
“There are some challenges in terms of sporting calendars and when these competitions all land and we’ve got to work within that.
“But the core product that we have is the five Australian Super Rugby clubs, the five New Zealand clubs and then we have the opportunity to change the internationals, so that is what will keep it fresh.”
An anticipated move to a World Rugby global calendar this year could actually make it easier to attract sides from abroad if seasons align correctly.
Toulon assistant coach Steve Meehan was confident the positive feedback from players would spread and pique interest levels in Europe.
Carroll, meanwhile, would not be drawn on talk of a potential direct swap with the Auckland Nines, but it is understood the NRL has told Duco they want that tournament moved to Brisbane.
An official attendance figure for the tens was not given but organisers claimed just under 30,000 tickets were sold for the two days.
One-day passes were not available until Sunday, a strategy that will be reconsidered.
Carroll admitted walk-up ticket sales were well down on projections because of the extreme heat on both days but said the tens had already proven its worth.
“Even some of the sceptics – and there have been a few on this journey, it hasn’t been easy – have done a 180 once they’ve seen the product on the field,” he said.
Stuart John Pearson Adv Dip Acctg
Guest
I had a mate that went to the Tens and enjoyed himself in Brisvegas at Suncorp Stadium.Getting the Tongans to spice up Manu Samoa also would be fun.
in brief
Guest
That frustrated me but for different reasons. It was clear that the attempted tackle was not a shoulder charge, and it wasn't a tackle either. So what happened? The Reds player attempted to push the Chiefs player into touch with his hands. That right, with his hands, not his shoulder. The issue was he missed. So instead of pushing the Chiefs player with his hands, he clumsily hit him with his body, not his shoulder. Either way it was not a dangerous tackle, and was not intended to be a dangerous tackle. Rather than a 'no hands' tackle it was an 'all hands', no shoulder tackle, but the hands missed.
KD
Roar Rookie
Switch Toulon with the Jaguares and Wild Knights with SunWolves. Make Samoa a combined P.I side. Add the winner of each S.A conference (besides Jaguares and Sunwolves, if they were to win their conferences) and make the Bulls spot the 3rd best overall from S.A group (as they do in SR Finals), then change the name from Global to Brisbane Super Rugby Tens and make it an official tournament fixture. Or add the other 3 sides plus 1 and make it 5 pools of 4, but that would probably make it too long. Also I'd like to see sides create a Jersey for it like you see with NRL 9's and like the aussies done.
Johnny J-Dog
Guest
Maybe they save money if they don't turn on the lights. My other suggestion is plate finals. That gives the local team a chance to compete in a final which will keep the crowd interested.
Mike Julz
Guest
They should try and get Kenya and the US as well. Their 7s players would work in this format and will bring in the crowds, plus we've seen a lot of kick and chase balls, would work perfectly for the US speedsters.
piru
Guest
I thought that was what he'd do tbh - it would have been the smart decision and no one could really have argued, but I really got the feeling he felt he'd gone too far to change the ruling. easy to judge from up here though
AndyS
Guest
Big one for mine would be to use a lot more hand held cameras and/or put the cameras on the other side (they'd still be high up in the shade). The visuals were terrible, and may not be much better even in 30°C for an all day event. It doesn't do the crowd justice and certainly wouldn't encourage sponsors or casual audience. You'd think Foxtel might understand the marketing aspects of broadcasting, but it seems a consistent problem.
Brett McKay
Expert
Only superficial things, JJD, if I'm honest. - Absolutely agree on the two-day tickets - I didn't actually know that was the only way you could buy tickets until about two weeks ago. - Liam Messam said on day 1 that delaying the start of games even until the shadow covered the whole playing surface would make a huge difference - he said as hot as it was, looking up and getting a blast of sun was the worst of it - And I think you could push the Final back on Sunday night. From memory, the whole thing was done before 7pm local time. (On scrums, C-B-S is used in 7s, even!)
Jacko
Guest
The quality of rugby impressed me. I hadnt expected it to be that good with so many names missing. The weather was the worst it could possibly have been but teams got thru ( somehow) and so did the fans, altho I reckon there is some very burnt and drained fans around today. It certainly needs at least 2 more teams to make the numbers in each group even but overall the event seemed to work well. Bring it on next year...Please no more Chiefs injuries tho as losing brad webber is a massive loss considering they lost Pulu to the Blues
Lindsay Amner
Roar Guru
Agree it would have been difficult reffing in that heat. But once Messam questioned it and he realised he'd got it wrong, his solution should have been to turn away, make a pretence of checking with the TMO upstairs and then come back with the penalty try. I actually thought Messam was unbelievably gentlemanly about it. I was considerably more abusive on my couch! You're right, it was lucky it didn't affect the outcome, but it was close.
Johnny J-Dog
Guest
Hi Brett, Apart from adding the Fijians and another Japanese team, what improvements are needed for the 10s? My main tip would be to forget the two day tickets. Many fans are parents whose kids play sport Saturdays so can only go Sunday. Do we really need 'crouch bind, set' for 10s scrums? Query: can you have 7 man lineouts in 10s?
piru
Guest
The ref knew he had erred but was beyond the point of return. The Chiefs captain asked why it wasn't a penalty try and he frowned and said 'that's a good question', then said "I think it's because if he had've used his arms etc" - He thinks? Didn't he make the call!? A bad call and lucky it didn't cost the game, but these things happen - the refs are out in that heat and trying to keep their heads straight as well, it ain't easy.
AndyS
Guest
30 degrees, pretty much always.
AndyS
Guest
100 minutes played over two days with unlimited interchange, rather than 80 contiguous minutes with at least half the team playing all of it. If for some reason they had been playing neither, I think two weeks out from the first SR match they would probably done more in opposed drills on the training track than they did this weekend. I love the idea of adding a Fijian side and maybe rotating the European representation.
Die hard
Roar Rookie
Mate it was hotter than normal. But Brissy is always damned hot in February. It is just a question of how hot.
Lindsay Amner
Roar Guru
Yes some good refereeing, apart from the quarter final Chiefs vs Reds when the Chiefs player was knocked into touch in the act of scoring, by a no arms tackle. For some reason the ref decided that didn't warrant a penalty try, because - "if he had tackled him legally, then he might still have put him into touch". WHAT?!?!?!
Lindsay Amner
Roar Guru
The level of effort required in a 15s trial game is not the same as that required when only 10 players are on the pitch. Most players only play half a trial game anyway. That's 40 minutes of less effort. The 10s for the Chiefs was 100 minutes all up, allplayed at a high intensity. They are not 7s players who train for that level of gutbusting effort. Data on human performance shows that when you train or play to a level beyond your conditioning you get into an unsafe zone and become susceptible to injury for weeks afterwards.
tc
Guest
Fantastic weekend of rugby, except for the final, LOL. Man the heat must have been bad, some of the players were practically walking after a few minutes.
mzilikazi
Guest
For me, an very interesting tournament….and certainly, I would suggest, not meaningless to those players who may not get many chances to play at this level/against some the the games very good players……such as Liam Messam, Cory Jane, Milner-Skudder, Polota-Nau…and others from the past as it were…Berrick Barnes, Digby Ioane….etc. Some very good performances by many teams…often as losers….Hurricanes, W. Force, Bulls….even Toulon, with a very small squad…and jet lagged too….what happened to James O’Connor ??….injured ??…or otherwise…sadly never know with him. Sad to see the injuries....hard to say on the conditioning issue early season.......but could well be that teams reconsider who plays in future. Lot of good refereeing....good to see obstruction of chasing kicker being "stamped on". Also fair bit of yellow carding for "cynical" play. Would say, though, that refereeing of the tackle/breakdown was often not good....too often the tackler not disengaging, and being given the penalty, for the tackled player holding on the ground....this hurts good attacking movements....and the Law is very clear on this. So, for me, a lot of positives…but sadly this may well be a one off tournament(though I do see there is a four year contract in place)…bad time of year to try to run such an event, for a number of reasons. Agree is unlikely to be as hot every year.
Bfc
Guest
Was stinking hot for us spectators...can only imagine how the players were feeling! Been a long time since one has seen so many players "put their hand up" to be subbed off after just a couple of minutes... As far as the rugby was concerned...kudos to the 14 men's teams and QLD Women's/NSW Women's (they played two cracking games!). The 10s game is more akin to 15-a-side...but the tempo is higher. Add two more teams at least...Sat can go into the night and even Sunday can have a later finish. As far as injuries go...I suspect the sandy ("Sandcorp"...) playing surface did not help. It was evident that players struggled with their footing. Stadiums Queensland should reconsider the wisdom of holding concerts etc at this venue...the pitch takes too long to recover and the pitch has been woeful since the Coldplay concert. Use QSAC instead...?