RWC Japan 2019 - Business

[L'irlandais]

Interesting article about the business side of Rugby World Cups.


The 44 matches are compressed into an 8 week period, as the goal is to break even, or make a profit. The RFU made a surplus of €21 million on the 2015 tournament. However for some minor teams, the short turnovers and long distances travelled mean player safety has taken somewhat of a back seat.

31-man squads a concern while nations like Samoa and USA have drawn the short straw
The hosts have eight-, seven- and eight-day turnarounds with the least road to cover during the Pool stages (635km). Other tier two nations, the USA and Fiji, are not so fortunate.

Given how the hosts have favoured their own team, with 20 rest days for example, they were clearly aware of the issues and likely effect on performance. One would think larger outfits with big backroom staff and access to medical resources could deal better with a more demanding schedule, but still it’s the minnows who put are most at risk of serious injury. The USA get only 14 rest days, that’s being a poor host to my way of thinking.

Players need a six-day turnaround. Minimum. But that is not the case at RWC 2019. The US Eagles have been dealt a horrible hand with only 14 rest days – the least alongside South Africa and Canada – while having to trek a total of 2,250km, starting with Kobe to Fukuoka in the five days between playing England and France, before facing Argentina in Kumagaya and Tonga in Higashiosaka, which is 544km travel during a three-day turnaround.
The nations with the greatest strength in depth – New Zealand (18 rest days but travelling 2,246km) and England (17 rest days, 2,147 km) – will struggle with their schedules but it makes no sense to inflict the worst disadvantages on Gary Gold’s American squad.

[LAWS]In Japan there will only be two occasions of four-day rest periods for emerging nations versus tier one opposition, compared with nine occasions in 2015 and only five periods of three-days rest for emerging nations versus five [we count eight] occasions for tier one nations.[/LAWS]If we know a six day turnaround is the strict minimum, then surely 4 day turnarounds are not allowable? End of story. So a 3 day turnaround is criminal, any player (inevitably) suffering injury in that match should take the organisers to court.

 

[crossref]

If you sit down with a spreadsheet and try and plot out an alternative schedule , you will see how difficult/impossible it is, once you have an odd number of teams in each group.

So how do you get an even number ?
It's hard .. groups of four give everyone only three games.
Groups of six would take too long and produce endless dead rubber games

 

[L'irlandais]

I have no doubt it is not an easy task. However World Rugby likes to pay lip service to Player safety, it is time their actions matched their words. If you know tiredness leads to injury, and a 6 day turnaround is the minimum to avoid such injuries, then they need to explore other options.

Cutting out the dead rubbers? Traditionally, a rugby sevens tournament includes a cup, plate, bowl, and shield final. Perhaps they could look into doing something in that direction, rather than aping after soccer. Which is clearly what the money men are eying, soccertype sponsoring, etc.

A daunting pool that includes England, France and Argentina suggests the Eagles will be playing mostly for pride when their tournament kicks off against the English in Kobe on September 26.

The odds were already stacked against the Eagles. But add long distances and reduced rest time to the mix, the results of those games are more or less sealed. Why not simply give the victory to the first tier team and cut the match out altogether? World Rugby only includes 20 teams in the tournament to make it look like Rugby is a global sport. If they don’t resolve the safety issues we will never grow the game. Any of the Top six (or 8) might win the World Cup. But no team outside the Top 10 has a ghost’s chance in hell of doing so. Even less of a chance if we handicap them with unfair schedules. Fiji should be the Brazil of our sport winning more RWC than any other Nation, yet they are not. An interesting stat would be how many Pacific Islanders are at this World Cup and what jerseys they wear.

Samoa claims it is unacceptable

We provide almost 20 per cent of all professional players in terms of heritage.
And almost a quarter of the players at the next World Cup will be of Pacific Islands heritage.

 

[crossref]

As soon as you have an odd number of teams in a group, then by definition every team has a different schedule with different numbers of rest days.

So to cure this you need to decide whether to have groups of four, or groups of six. And then how many groups, and then the structure .

It's always a compromise, though, there is no point criticising the current structure unless you have a thought through alternative to propose

 

[beckett50]

This short turn round of '2nd tier' teams has always been an issue at the RWC. I'm not sure that there is an easy answer without adding a couple more teams and extending the tournament length by a couple of weeks.

 

[L'irlandais]

Criticism is necessary, otherwise WR will carry on not giving a fig for player safety. These people are not unpaid volunteers, as far as I am aware. They need to be held accountable.

Obviously the TV money won’t accept a longer tournament, otherwise it would not be such a reoccurring issue. We need to find a way to reduce the number of games required to find a winner. Archives of RRF suggestion : in Sevens tournaments, even the bottom two teams get to play for the wooden spoon. Of course, no team goes to the RWC wishing to be last, but I bet any third tier nation would be happy to display their RWC Wooden Spoon at HQ.
[LAWS]1 & 2 = Cup
3 & 4 = Plate
5 & 6 = Bowl
7 & 8 = Shield
15 & 16 = Wooden Spoon (With the loser taking the prize here.)[/LAWS]That would mean only 16 teams competing. Which would solve the rest day problem, but obviously not the financial side of the equation. Perhaps too the reduction in teams might mean extended squads and backroom staff could be accommodated?

How many players are normally on the British and Irish Lion’s squad? A 41-man squad, right?

I reckon, Generous Suppliers are what we need not more advertising sponsors.
[LAWS]This appointment is a testament to Vivomed’s reputation within the professional sports industry that as a company we can provide everything their medical teams may need.[/LAWS]Perhaps Tier one nations could chip in to ensure the lower tier squads wanted for nothing. Rugby values rather than the growing greed we see from TV money people, and their win at all costs, which is clearly at odds with the values of Rugbymen. Clearly the greed of some folks can never be satisfied, if they make £21million now, next time they will want to double that figure. Where does that mentality lead us? Coperate boxes are full of folks who do don’t much care about the game. While most humble Pacific Islanders could not dream of attending a RWC let alone buying a ticket to a game. TV keps them connected to their National team, so a necessary evil, but not at any cost. The number of pacific Island rugby players living broken and exploited lives in the lower tiers of French rugby is unknown.

 

[crossref]

That format would mean 16 teams in four groups of four , with each team playing four games ?
Too few teams , not enough games , tournament too short

 

[Marc Wakeham]

If six days is the minimum acceptable turnaround then WR MUST enforce it. TOUGH if it causes the organisers a problem.

HIA protocol, Red Cards etc all cause "problems". They are there for a reason so: "Deal with it!"

 

[L'irlandais]

Crossref if there was an easy fix, WR would have implemented it by now. Yes the financial side doesn’t stack up if only 16 teams tog out. As Mark says, tough! We cannot accept players careers being ended to fuel the greed of a minority who profit from the spectacle. Anyway it won’t be any shorter, the tournament. It will require the full 8 weeks given the 6 day minimum turnarounds and better still 8 day turnarounds when possible. Japan have been good enough to allow themselves two 8 day turnarounds, surely that’s unfair on other squads.[LAWS]Like, for example, how Samoa are supposed to evolve from “emerging nations” status when forced to play Scotland, Japan and Ireland in a 12-day window?[/LAWS]

The greed is deep rooted in the rugby industry. Mercenary, is a film worth watching.

But the reality that most prospective athletes encounter is strewn with difficulties. The brevity of youthful masculine vigour, the spectre of injury, the capricious nature of corporate interests, the precariousness of adoptive forms of belonging and the unforgiving responses of the public all bestow a profoundly fragile quality to sport careers.

For migrant athletes, this fragility is compounded by the false promises of unscrupulous recruiters, the cold reception of club officials, and the unreconstructed racism of teammates, sponsors and the public, just as in Mercenaire.

These young lads are exploited, but have no other options, as their families rely on the pittance being sent home. Surely WR should be about giving these rugby hopefuls other options. If not then I see no justification for the over blown salaries those 99 executives take home. Sorry, Brett Gosper you definitely are not worth every penny. If you have the balls to ask for such ridiculous amounts, then at least have the gumption to earn it.

 

[crossref]

Yea, so whats your solution?
No world cup ?
An alternative format ?

 

[L'irlandais]

I thought I had answered that question for you with my post #06. Perhaps we need to look at a different format. Reducing it to 16 teams like in Sevens would certainly solve the problem of not being able to ensure 6 or 8 day turnarounds between games for all teams. Yes, I realize that creates other problems, on the sponsorship front. But the current format is not acceptable, so why do WR stick with it? Apart from laziness, and unaccountability, I mean.

 

[crossref]

Four groups of four + one game after that ?
I don't think that's a runner

 

[Marc Wakeham]

Sorry, Brett Gosper you definitely are not worth every penny. If you have the balls to ask for such ridiculous amounts, then at least have the gumption to earn it.

And there's a big part of the problem.


Gosper is very good at tweeting nonsense and posturing. Not so good at delievery.

 

[L'irlandais]

Four groups of four + one game after that ?
I don't think that's a runner

That’s not quite how the Cup, Plate, Bowl, Shield tournament works, but anyway why not viable? If it’s good enough for Sevens, it could be made work. Mimicking soccer isn’t working, so why not let Rugby follow a rugby format?

Four pools of 6 matches. That’s 24 games in the pool stages.
Then you have four different level knockout stages of 6 matches. That’s a further 24 matches.
Topped off with 4 Finals.
A total of 52 games instead of 44 under the current system.

Source: just in case I have gotten that wrong Selling TV rights should be easier, since different countries would be interested in the rights for the respective pools and knock out stages of their home side. The fact you have twice as many quarter finals (16) and semi finals (8) doesn’t make the competition longer as some of them played concurrently, or at least on the same weekend. A feast of Rugby on the telly. What’s not to like?

 

[crossref]

That’s not quite how the Cup, Plate, Bowl, Shield tournament works, but anyway why not viable? If it’s good enough for Sevens, it could be made work. Mimicking soccer isn’t working, so why not let Rugby follow a rugby format?

Four pools of 6 matches. That’s 24 games in the pool stages.
Then you have four different level knockout stages of 6 matches. That’s a further 24 matches.
Topped off with 4 Finals.
A total of 52 games instead of 44 under the current system.

Source: just in case I have gotten that wrong

I don't understand the proposal -- If there are four knock out tournaments, then each one is semifinal and final (12 games in total)
Then what is the 'finals'

 

[L'irlandais]

That’s why I linked the format. After the pool stages, each level has quarter finals. Four times 4 quarter finals is 16 matches. Each of Cup, Bowl, Plate, Shield have two semifinals that’s Four times 2 semifinals = 8 further games for the ticket buying public.
Pools 24 matches
QF 16 matches
SF. 8 matches
Finals. 4 matches

Have you never been to a Sevens circuit? Obviously the shield final won’t interest the same audience as the RWC final itself. However it keeps the interest of those particular nations fans right to the end of the tournament, which clearly is not the case at the moment. Currently, if you are eliminated at the pool stages, then it’s the plane home for your squad. All teams are guaranteed 3 pool games and 1 knockout game.

 

[crossref]

That’s why I linked the format.

this one?

6 teams in each of the four groups.

After the round robin stage:

top 2 teams go into Cup.
3rd & 4th go into Plate.
bottom 2 into bowl.

So we have 24 teams, as opposed to the 20 we have now (are there four more teams good enough to join, or is that just lots more walkovers

The group stages take 5 weekends

Each cup has eight teams. ie QF, SF, Final - so the tournament lasts eight weekends, as opposed to 7 at present

Teams play or 6 (12 teams) , 7 (6 teams) or 8 (6 teams) games each
as opposed to current format where they play 4 (12 teams), 5 (4 teams), or 7 games (4 teams)

 

[L'irlandais]

...
Source: This ONE ”just in case I got that wrong” one ...

The linked Rugby site, shows a sixteen teams format. Scroll down to see how the tournament unfolds. So it is four teams less than currently invited. The whole point is to ensure sufficient rest days, so expanding it to four pools of 6 teams, clearly would not help.

You are confusing the issue. All teams play 4 games.
Others progress further...

My apologies for overestimating the number of matches in is as I said 24 pool games.
There are only 21 games in the knock out stages. See here Paris Sevens that makes 45 games, one more than in the current format. Yet my proposal resolves the issue of unfair turnarounds for lower tier Nations.

 

[L'irlandais]

The matches are as follows:
Pool A matches (3 games per team)
Pool B
Pool C
Pool D

Challenge Trophy QFs
Cup QFs

13 place semi finals
Challenge Trophy Semis
5th place semi finals
Cup semi finals

13th place play off
Challenge Trophy Final
5th place play off
Bronze Final
Cup Final

 

[chbg]

Japan have been good enough to allow themselves two 8 day turnarounds, surely that’s unfair on other squads.

Are you sure that it was in Japan's hands?

"Confirmation of the match schedule follows an extensive and thorough evaluation process undertaken by World Rugby in collaboration with Japan Rugby 2019 and key broadcasters.

At the heart of the match schedule is player welfare and fan experience. All match venues will be within 45 minutes of a team camp, while the match schedule has been developed to optimise rest days for tier two teams ahead of tier one fixtures, enhancing preparation.
The schedule has also been developed following team feedback post Rugby World Cup 2015 with an equitable match schedule a core principle and a significant improvement has been achieved within the framework of a four pool, five teams per pool format. No tier two team plays a tier one team following a short rest period."