• Help Support The Rugby Forum :

Rapid Rugby including Western Force and Asia-Pacific teams to be kickstarted in early 2019

bakakumon

Academy Player
Joined
Mar 30, 2014
Messages
163
Country Flag
Hong Kong
Club or Nation
Hong Kong
Built on the original Indo-Pacific Rugby concept to World Series Rugby exhibition matches this year and finally Rapid Rugby league next year.

Potential teams involved in first two seasons:
Western Force (Confirmed)
Hong Kong (Confirmed)
Hawaii (Confirmed)
Fiji (Likely)
Malaysia (Likely)
Singapore (Likely)
Japan x2 (Probably)

If the league is deemed sustainable, NSW in Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Sri Lanka, China, India and even UAE will all be possible locations in the expansion plan. World Rugby is expected to rubber-stamp the proposal next week according to sources.

The objective would steer rapid growth of rugby and invite investments in Asia during RWC 2019 in Japan to catch up with the MLR in North America and the proposed league in South America.

https://www.rapidrugby.com
 
Will this be normal rugby or that weird s**** that the Western Force were playing last year? Great news for the game in Asia either way but the former would be better.
 
After the loss to Germany, it seems that Rapid Rugby would provide much needed intensity and match experience for Hong Kong players, especially the set pieces (scrums, mauls) for the forwards.
 
Other than Fiji and Samoa entering the World Rugby Council, Rapid Rugby was also given conditional support for 2019, subject to the approval of participating countries.

A step forward for the ambitious scheme.
 
Governing bodies that oversee six of the teams have already signed letters of support.

Discussions are continuing with the Japan Rugby Football Union for a leading club to join while talks are continuing with a private consortium to form an eighth team, expected to come from Hawaii.
Rapid Rugby currently includes Western Force, South China Tigers (Hong Kong), Fiji, Asia Pacific Dragons (Singapore), Malaysia with a new additon, Samoa. :)
For the "leading club" in Japan, Pansasonic Wild Knights which came to play Wester Force in WSR is widely speculated.
 
Apparently this is a revamped website for them.

https://www.rapidrugby.com

Mentions investment in India and PR China. 70mins matches etc. I think it is very healthy for rugby union to have these experiments done in terms of territories and rules.
 
Apparently this is a revamped website for them.

https://www.rapidrugby.com

Mentions investment in India and PR China. 70mins matches etc. I think it is very healthy for rugby union to have these experiments done in terms of territories and rules.
I am reserved about reducing 10 minutes of game time because it seems that the benefit of increasing ball in play time from other measures would be cancelled out.
 
Reportedly cancelled for 2019 which must cast doubts on it ever happening. Fairly tragic for western Australia and the indo-Pacific region in general.

https://www.radionz.co.nz/internati...after-global-rapid-rugby-cancels-debut-season
The preparation time is quite insufficient to set up the competition from nearly ground zero in the first place. The reason behind the rush might be grasping more business opportunities before Rugby World Cup in Japan this year. 2020 launch would be more pragmatic.
 
The fixture for the showcase series was announced.
1 game between Western Force and World XV
6 games (Home & Away) between South China Tigers , Asia Pacific Dragons and Force
6 games (H&A) between Fijian Latui, Kagifa Samoa and Force
Final in Perth

https://www.rapidrugby.com/fixtures/

Clearly I've been sleeping. Good to see this project is still alive with teams in Hong Kong and Singapore (although I'm really not getting the Singapore obsession with SR and RR in terms of long term potential). We're there home games in these places last year? For some reason I thought all games were invitationals in Perth.
 
Global Rapid Rugby's (World Series Rugby) season begins this week with sides from Western Australia, Fiji, Hong Kong, Singapore and Samoa. Your thoughts on this pro rugby venture are appreciated. I'm always up to learning more about the great sport. :cool:

Here's the variations in Rapid Rugby. https://www.rapidrugby.com/rapid-rugby/



Overall, I'm supportive of this. As much as I love rugby, it is struggling in some territories across all three Tiers.

In terms of the specific rule changes in your link I like that the following are being attempted:

- Marquee players to try and level the playing field across the league
- no kicking out on the full inside your 22
- 70mins & limited rolling subs (probably both required if there will be a lot less releiving kicks in your own 22)

I am indifferent about:

- 9 point tries (I think this encourages interceptions and will lead to loads of deliberate knock-ons)

I am a little confused by:

- "threading the needle" - but reading it, it could be anything between Mickey Mouse or a masterstroke. If you kick it out and it lands inside your opponents 22, then you get an attacking lineout. So a great kicking 10 will have legitimate attacking options of kicking to both sidelines, or a more conventional in field grubber. So the defending side will likely have to commit at least two defenders out of their defensive line to cover these kicking options. So it'll create more space in the defensive line for running attacks but also encourage more attacking kicks (which I really like). I really wouldn't want to be a fullback or winger in this league as you cant even do a defensive kick out on the full.


I would have liked to see mention of:

- a much quicker 'advantage over' for knock-ons and plans to reduce scrum resets. I think this competition should really be targeting ways to keep the game flowing in the event of a handling error.

I'm pretty impressed World Rugby have sanctioned this to be honest. They are not known for their experimental nature. I'm definitely going to try and catch some of this this year.
 
Where can we watch this? Live stream on world rugby or something?

Last year or the year before they put highlights and possibly delayed full games on YouTube. Their website shows they streamed the last 3 games live on Twitter. I have no idea for this season so far.
 
Overall, I'm supportive of this. As much as I love rugby, it is struggling in some territories across all three Tiers.

In terms of the specific rule changes in your link I like that the following are being attempted:

- Marquee players to try and level the playing field across the league
- no kicking out on the full inside your 22
- 70mins & limited rolling subs (probably both required if there will be a lot less releiving kicks in your own 22)

I am indifferent about:

- 9 point tries (I think this encourages interceptions and will lead to loads of deliberate knock-ons)

I am a little confused by:

- "threading the needle" - but reading it, it could be anything between Mickey Mouse or a masterstroke. If you kick it out and it lands inside your opponents 22, then you get an attacking lineout. So a great kicking 10 will have legitimate attacking options of kicking to both sidelines, or a more conventional in field grubber. So the defending side will likely have to commit at least two defenders out of their defensive line to cover these kicking options. So it'll create more space in the defensive line for running attacks but also encourage more attacking kicks (which I really like). I really wouldn't want to be a fullback or winger in this league as you cant even do a defensive kick out on the full.


I would have liked to see mention of:

- a much quicker 'advantage over' for knock-ons and plans to reduce scrum resets. I think this competition should really be targeting ways to keep the game flowing in the event of a handling error.

I'm pretty impressed World Rugby have sanctioned this to be honest. They are not known for their experimental nature. I'm definitely going to try and catch some of this this year.

Thanks so much Bruce, I learn a lot about rugby from your posts! :cool:
 
Last edited:
Where can we watch this? Live stream on world rugby or something?

I asked Global Rapid Rugby that question via their Facebook page and they replied...Stay tuned, we're announcing this information very soon!

I'm looking forward to seeing the pros from Fiji. I've enjoyed their enthusiastic style since I first saw their national team on TV a decade ago. :)
 

Latest posts

Top