tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/rugby-world-cup-2015-20433/articlesRugby World Cup 2015 – The Conversation2015-11-12T03:31:23Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/505332015-11-12T03:31:23Z2015-11-12T03:31:23ZSouth Africans want the Springbok coach fired – is he just a whipping boy?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/101552/original/image-20151111-21214-1yaev2j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">South African rugby coach Heyneke Meyer sings the national anthem at the World Cup. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters / Eddie Keogh</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The narratives of South African rugby are complex and profoundly intertwined in the politics of race, ethnicity and identity. This is why there are competing and divisive storylines in the communal memory of the nation’s rugby history.</p>
<p>These evoke collective emotions of anger and humiliation for many, and deep pride for some. But, as with all deep-rooted conflict, rugby is not only about <a href="https://books.google.co.za/books?id=2gZVA6qePtwC&pg=PA71&lpg=PA71&dq=identity+politics+in+SA+rugby&source=bl&ots=87BucBGwVl&sig=wc5xqHh-V31WmxpQTcpq6czCvbg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCEQ6AEwAWoVChMIwcTFoaCByQIVxh4eCh0-DAmP#v=onepage&q=identity%20politics%20in%20SA%20rugby&f=false">“identity politics”</a> and participation. It is also about fierce competition for status, power and resources. </p>
<p>Since Springbok coach <a href="http://www.sarugby.net/component/players/20732?view=player">Heyneke Meyer</a> and his team brought home the bronze medal from the recent Rugby World Cup, debates around the sport, and more particularly his future, have reached a new pitch. </p>
<p>South Africans were disappointed by the team’s performance. But they are also angry at continued economic and social injustices. These two emotions have created a tense environment.</p>
<h2>Rugby as a site of struggle</h2>
<p>South Africa’s rugby administrators are facing increased criticism for their failure to shed the sport’s white image. This is not a new issue. But the tone of the debate is different this time.</p>
<p>The reason for this is that the country is experiencing a paradigm shift in its political landscape, demonstrated by widespread student <a href="https://theconversation.com/africa/topics/university-fees">protests</a>. Starting with the <a href="http://rhodesmustfall.co.za/">#RhodesMustFall</a> campaign earlier in the year, the protests culminated in the recent victory of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-african-student-protests-are-about-much-more-than-just-feesmustfall-49776">#FeesMustFall</a> movement.</p>
<p>The threat of escalated conflict is the worst since the country’s first democratic elections. With deepening <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africa-will-remain-a-hugely-unequal-society-for-a-long-time-25949">inequalities</a>, severe <a href="http://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P0211/P02111stQuarter2015.pdf">unemployment</a> and poor economic <a href="http://www.africaneconomicoutlook.org/en/country-notes/southern-africa/south-africa/">growth</a>, it may be impossible to assuage the anger that has erupted.</p>
<p>In this mix rugby, a highly prized national sport, is under intense scrutiny for its slow pace of <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-view-on-the-rugby-world-cup-and-south-african-national-unity-47653">institutional change</a>. </p>
<p>This is why the impending negotiation for renewal of coach Meyer’s four-year contract with the South African Rugby Union has become part of a highly politicised national conversation.</p>
<p>A <a href="http://www.sport24.co.za/Rugby/Springboks/ex-boks-launch-heyneke-must-fall-campaign-20151107">#MeyerMustFall</a> Twitter campaign is in full swing. Instigated by ex-Springbok players who see Springbok rugby as in decline, it reflects the prevailing protest mood of the country.</p>
<p>And the country’s largest trade union federation, <a href="http://www.cosatu.org.za/show.php?ID=11060">Cosatu</a>, has demanded that Meyer be removed for poor performance and alleged racism in his team selections. It also wants half of the national rugby side to be made up of players of colour, rising to 60% of the majority black Africans come the 2019 World Cup. And it threatened to protest against the lucrative <a href="http://www.sport24.co.za/Rugby/Cosatu-End-rugbys-boere-clique-20140909">sponsorships</a> that underpin the sport if the targets aren’t met.</p>
<h2>What Mandela knew</h2>
<p>From the onset of democracy South African rugby was destined to be contested terrain. Illustrative of the deep cleavages in South African society, it is the sport most identified with Afrikaner <a href="http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/early-history-rugby-south-africa">nationalism</a> and <a href="http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/early-history-rugby-south-africa">colonial elitism</a>.</p>
<p>Prior to apartheid in 1948, rugby was played by both black and white South Africans, albeit separately. After segregation was <a href="http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/early-history-rugby-south-africa">institutionalised</a>, black South Africans could not play for, or against white teams, nor be selected for national sides. They were also denied access to rugby pitches and training fields.</p>
<p>Despite its divisive baggage, the sport has the ingredients to be the catalyst for deep transformation that speaks to unity and nation-building. The late Nelson Mandela knew this.</p>
<p>During his incarceration Mandela and the late Steve Tshwete, who would become the first sport minister under Mandela’s presidency, developed the idea of using rugby as a tool for <a href="http://www.jonathanball.co.za/index.php/component/virtuemart/springbok-factory-detail?Itemid=6">reconciliation</a> between the various political factions imprisoned on Robben Island. The Island Rugby Board was born in <a href="http://www.jonathanball.co.za/index.php/component/virtuemart/springbok-factory-detail?Itemid=6">1972</a> with organised refereed matches. Matches between black prisoners and white prison warders were also played.</p>
<p>And etched in the memories of all South Africans is Mandela in the green-and-gold number six <a href="http://www.sport24.co.za/Rugby/Springbok-Heritage/1995-RWC-squad-honoured-for-greatest-day-in-SA-rugby-history-20150624">Springbok jersey</a> handing captain Francois Pienaar the winning World Cup trophy in 1995. Hosting and winning the Rugby World Cup that year was a pivotal and iconic event in the psyche of the country’s shiny new democracy. </p>
<h2>Why rugby has to change</h2>
<p>Meyer, like all coaches, is the media face of South African rugby. The executive council, the Rugby Board, does not receive the same level of scrutiny. As a household name, Meyer alone bears the brunt of scathing criticism, and as such, is the receptacle for the nation’s anger and disappointment. </p>
<p>Given the prevailing mood in the country, Meyer is now the scapegoat for all the <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/article-3222958/South-Africa-Rugby-World-Cup-2015-preview-Heyneke-Meyer-opts-experience-bid-save-Springboks-legacy.html">rugby woes</a> besetting the country. The danger is that he is simply a repository for displaced anger and a distraction from the complexity of the real challenges facing the sport. Issues of change, or what is known in South Africa as transformation, are multi-faceted, systemic and intractable.</p>
<p>South African rugby is accused of <a href="http://mg.co.za/article/2012-11-22-is-south-african-rugby-racist">racism</a>, <a href="http://www.sport24.co.za/Rugby/WorldCup/Dismal-failure-to-transform-SA-rugby-court-papers-20150831">maladministration</a> and a <a href="http://www.bdlive.co.za/sport/columnists/2013/08/15/rugby-needs-professional-managers-and-fewer-unions">bloated bureaucracy</a> not in keeping with modern, sophisticated, global rugby management. More importantly it has not been able to harness, mobilise and adequately develop <a href="http://www.bdlive.co.za/opinion/columnists/2015/08/27/saru-should-put-funds-to-good-use-and-develop-rugby-at-grassroots">grassroots support</a> – schools and clubs in marginalised communities – where the potential for its growth lies.</p>
<p>Rugby in South Africa is potentially worth billions of rand and its importance to the nation’s economy, global branding and <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-view-on-the-rugby-world-cup-and-south-african-national-unity-47653">nation-building</a> immense. But the country’s rugby audience and following is ageing. The sport’s success, possibly survival, depends on expanding its support base beyond the 20%, mostly white, of the population who say they are interested in the sport.</p>
<p>South African rugby is inextricably intertwined with larger debates of social justice, participation and identity currently trending in the country. It is clear that the future of the sport thus lies far beyond the #MeyerMustFall debates.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/50533/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lyn Snodgrass does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>South Africa’s rugby administrators are facing increased criticism for their failure to shed its white image. The tone of the debate is different this time, amid growing protests against inequality.Lyn Snodgrass, Associate Professor and Head of Department of Political and Conflict Studies, Nelson Mandela UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/500892015-11-02T13:19:25Z2015-11-02T13:19:25ZHow Dr Dre picked up the ball and ran with it despite Rugby World Cup’s tight marketing scrum<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/100508/original/image-20151102-16514-sg4z0a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=3%2C0%2C1020%2C686&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Heads you win.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/slnguyen/4294018523/in/photolist-7xrY78-b8nUfn-b8nTTT-aCR5e2-beXcNP-7vSQGY-b8nTv4-b8nTGF-7u5UHa-7vSQGW-7vSQH7-aCUWfG-8V2wad-8XGvv8-7xrXz2-7xrWYB-b8nUwP-wx2ipB-7xrWmH-aer1UZ-b8nU3k-b8nTCi-b8nTja-b8nTyD-b8nToz-b8nTYt-b8nTrX-aCR5mM-99n5Fz-9V3CAA-ctntXd-eeomAT-eewSHJ-aCUWn1-aucPju-aCUWpb-aDMsPA-98dqBS-o8bNZD-b2obit-bhbiGM-bVocxF-8jsvV3-aAFUuo-o9XFZD-nQrMYm-onNGVk-aMFgbX-94CL63-aMFjPi">Sean Nguyen</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The favourites New Zealand chalked up their second successive Rugby World Cup victory in a competition dominated by the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-beautiful-south-how-australia-and-new-zealand-dominated-the-rugby-world-cup-49965">southern hemisphere</a> teams. But who were the winners among the global corporations seeking to stand out in the marketing scrum? The tournament sought to keep its doors closed to the kind of unofficial marketing that leaves official sponsors furious, but an American rapper may have rattled their cages.</p>
<p>The RWC is now firmly established as a top ten world sporting event that can boast a hike in <a href="http://www.novagraaf.com/en/news?newspath=/NewsItems/en/don-t-get-into-a-fight-with-the-rugby-world-cup-2015-organisers">sponsorship revenue of more than 50%)</a>. Huge leaps have been made to <a href="http://www.thedrum.com/news/2015/09/24/italy-sees-largest-rugby-world-cup-interest-spike-outside-top-10-ranked-sides">give the sport global scale</a>.</p>
<p>You could see the practical impact of this as deep-pocketed sponsor Emirates airline’s brand appeared on match officials’ shirts, <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-england-cant-lose-from-hosting-the-rugby-world-cup-47788">a first for the tournament</a>, and a move which illustrates a willingness to create new marketing assets. </p>
<h2>Swing lower</h2>
<p>However, despite the largely sold out stadia, the biggest crowds, and the narrowest winning margins (although still some 30 points), TV sponsors were still facing 25% advertising value losses <a href="http://www.thedrum.com/news/2015/10/05/rugby-world-cup-brands-play-down-commercial-losses-england-s-lacklustre-exit">due to England’s early exit.</a></p>
<p>It wasn’t for want of trying. Official sponsor Land Rover, surely the ideal rugby vehicle, ran extensive grass roots game vignettes emphasising its rugged, real and authentic dimensions. As part of the pre-tournament hype, it even floated a bespoke Defender in an oval balloon down the river Thames. </p>
<p>Heineken’s £20m sponsorship propelled it to the top of the <a href="http://www.thedrum.com/news/2015/09/22/heineken-tops-rwc2015-digital-engagement-non-sponsor-guinness-comes-second">competition’s digital engagement rankings</a>, closely followed in second place by non-sponsor and close competitor Guinness with its “made of more” campaign, with Land Rover taking fifth spot. Also in the top ten were non-official sponsors O2, using an evocative approach dubbed <a href="http://www.thedrum.com/news/2015/10/05/rugby-world-cup-brands-play-down-commercial-losses-england-s-lacklustre-exit">“wear the rose - make them giants”</a> that claimed 5m acts of shirt wearing support. </p>
<p>The biggest surprise to most would have been a Dr Dre brand coup as it rode on the coat-tails of a genuine tournament hero with a campaign titled “the game starts here” and starring All Blacks captain Ritchie McCaw. The Beats headphone, speaker and music streaming business which Dr Dre founded is now owned by Apple, but the company <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/jul/31/dr-dre-beats-olympic-brand-police">has form in ambush marketing</a>. It is an alluringly effective strategy for a youth-culture-focused brand no doubt. Using the highly recognisable Kiwi skipper allowed Beats to achieve a stand-out top ten ranking without signing up for an official sponsorship package.</p>
<h2>Giants felled</h2>
<p>England’s long-term telecoms sponsor, O2, got into that top 10 despite having to give up its Twickenham stadium sponsorship for the 44-day-long tournament. It did though <a href="http://news.o2.co.uk/?press-release=o2-gives-rugby-fans-chance-to-earn-one-of-50000-official-england-rugby-shirts">give away 50,000 O2-branded shirts</a>, adding to the 150,000 that are sold each year. You might even have some pity for them as that “wear the rose” campaign featuring oversized cartoons of celebrity players to tap into powerful emotional nationalism, came to a rather sudden halt as England crashed out embarassingly.</p>
<p>O2 might have foreswarn ambush marketing, but it wasn’t left entirely to chance. Bespoke anti-ambushing legislation wasn’t introduced but the RWC organising body England 2015 did pre-purchase the outdoor outlets <a href="http://www.udl.co.uk/docs/default-source/default-document-library/ambush-marketing.pdf?sfvrsn=2">around their venues</a>, effectively establishing a 500m advertising exclusion zone. </p>
<p>The RWC also relied on trade mark protection, rather than what some have criticised as the draconian legislative measures <a href="http://www.onechoix.com/ambush-marketing-what-it-means-for-the-2015-rugby-world-cup-and-euro-2020">used by the Olympic movement</a> at London and for next year in Rio, and in so doing avoiding negative coverage and legal costs. Some hold the view that tighter sponsor rights protection actually makes it more likely that mega sports events will be ambushed; think of the notorious antics of <a href="https://theconversation.com/models-messi-and-wacky-races-the-art-of-ambush-marketing-22622">Paddy Power, Bavaria Beer and Pepsi</a>. Seven out of the ten most shared World Cup adverts were unofficial at FIFA’s 2014 premier football event.</p>
<h2>Bounced out</h2>
<p>And so the main sponsors kept the ambushes at bay, but maybe didn’t eradicate them completely. I noticed hostess teams outside Twickenham handing out megaphones featuring branding from power company SSE, which were confiscated by the stadium security. SSE was a sponsor of UK commercial broadcaster ITV’s coverage of the World Cup, but it was not an official sponsor per se.</p>
<p>Guinness, sponsor of all four home nation teams and yet ousted from the stadium experience by Henieken, sought to harness its credentials with rugby supporters directly at pubs and bars. It tried to get 500,000 people to try Guinness with an omni-channel roadblock media buying strategy aimed at hitting every screen and giving away 10,000 point of sales kits to landlords and owners.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/azDtIqe-zzE?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Samsung put itself in the background in a campaign that leant on comedy for impact.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Another non-sponsor, Samsung, grabbed attention with its school of rugby campaign featuring comedian Jack Whitehall and former England captains Martin Johnson and Laurence Dallaglio. Their humorous content strategy heavily pared back on the Korean tech brand’s visibility. Blink and you might have missed it. </p>
<h2>Sponsorship form</h2>
<p>Perhaps, after all, the biggest surprise was on the field as <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/sep/19/south-africa-japan-rugby-world-cup-2015-match-report">Japan beat South Africa</a>. Very modest evidence of England 2015 ambush ads probably signals a win for RWC management’s effort to protect exclusive sponsorship rights. Consumers don’t differentiate of course, and in that halo of confusion there was some success in related, but not infringing, marketing from Guinness, Samsung, and O2.</p>
<p>The thing is, they all have serious, long standing pedigrees as official sports sponsors. And in truth the RWC probably won’t be too bothered that some potential sponsors for the game stole a little of their thunder this time around. Bearing that in mind, it was perhaps only Beats by Dr Dre that ruffled the tournament’s carefully orchestrated protectionist feathers. So who will step up to take on the lawyers and stadium bouncers at next year’s Brazilian Olympics?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/50089/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Professor Justin O'Brien does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The attempt to hand-off unofficial advertising during the RWC failed.Professor Justin O'Brien, MBA Programme Director, Royal Holloway University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/499652015-10-30T10:53:24Z2015-10-30T10:53:24ZThe beautiful south: how Australia and New Zealand dominated the Rugby World Cup<p>The 2015 Rugby World Cup final will be contested by New Zealand and Australia on Halloween. This is probably a scary thought for those with commercial interests who would clearly have benefited from a northern presence, but it was also the most predictable scenario for those filling in the wall-charts and predicting the passage of teams to this point.</p>
<p>Despite the hype around host nation England before the tournament began, history suggested that the champions were always more likely to come from the southern hemisphere. Australia (1991 and 1999) and South Africa (2007) have ruled the roost in the three world cups that have taken place on the northern side of the equator. As it turned out, England did not even <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/international/england/11910186/Australians-troll-England-as-hosts-are-knocked-out-of-the-Rugby-World-Cup.html">progress past the group stages</a>.</p>
<p>New Zealand remains favourite to become the first team to retain a world cup, and could represent a fitting international finale for the durable captain Richie McCaw. This year is the first time that no northern hemisphere nation was represented in the semi-finals. This has inevitably led to <a href="http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/how-northern-hemisphere-nations-bridge-10306939">fingers being pointed</a> and questions being asked as to why the southern hemisphere is so much better.</p>
<h2>Level playing field?</h2>
<p>I <a href="http://www.allblacks.com/Player/AllBlacks/1121">suggested before the tournament began</a> that there would be some “cricket scores” and that a number of teams would easily surpass the first-innings score of Australia in the <a href="http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/743969.html">fourth test of the 2015 Ashes series</a>. </p>
<p>The continued development of the tier-two rugby nations such as Japan, Georgia and Fiji meant that Australia’s 60-run total was only <a href="http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/fixtures#nearestMatch">equalled or passed on five occasions</a>. </p>
<p>The gap in playing standards is definitely narrowing. This is a positive development, but we must also acknowledge that there is still much work to be done to ensure that a more level playing field is in place in future. In a World Cup branded as “England 2015”, both Fiji and Uruguay had to face Wales in Cardiff. It was a pity that after their heroics against South Africa, Japan had to take on Scotland just four days later.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/sep/19/south-africa-japan-rugby-world-cup-2015-match-report">Japan’s defeat of South Africa</a> will long be remembered as one of the most exciting matches ever, but the status quo was soon restored and the usual suspects made up the quarter-finalists.</p>
<p>Argentina impressed many with an open and exciting style of play in the quarter-finals and semi-finals, but this was really no surprise. We have <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1745-5871.2011.00714.x/abstract">tracked their emergence</a> from the periphery of international rugby to challenge the established core, a process which saw them become the first country outside of the eight foundation nations to make it to the semi-finals of a World Cup in 2007.</p>
<p>Of the northern hemisphere core powers, Scotland and Wales were knocked at about the stage most would have predicted, but did so with heads held high. The French were comprehensively dismantled by New Zealand and Ireland lost to Argentina. And we all know <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-10-02/who-will-survive-rugby-world-cup-pool-a-group-of-death/6821956">what happened to England</a>. </p>
<p>This has inevitably led to a review of what went wrong and is remarkable only for the fact that on a <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/34575210">five-man committee appointed to investigate this</a>, they have managed to find four men called Ian. The fact that the other member of the group is named Ben points to either a shortage of ink in the Twickenham printer cartridges or a very quick game of scrabble.</p>
<h2>Great southern lands</h2>
<p>What we can see as we approach the final weekend of a most enjoyable and entertaining tournament is that the continued hegemony of the southern hemisphere shows little sign of abating.</p>
<p>The only north-versus-south victory in the whole tournament was Japan’s win over South Africa. With Japan hosting the 2019 tournament we may finally be moving slowly towards a further internationalisation of the sport. </p>
<p>Australia could complete a clean sweep of world cups hosted in the UK to regain some bragging rights in the international sporting arena. That they will meet their old foes New Zealand in a world cup final for the first time makes this a much anticipated occasion, although a 4pm GMT kick-off time is <a href="http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/australian-fans-launch-petition-calling-10350546">not that popular with either side</a>. Whatever the result, one of these teams will make history this weekend as the first ever to win three world cups.</p>
<p>How to solve the conundrum of why the southern hemisphere nations keep winning the world cup is something that the Ian quartet (and Ben) will surely discuss. Whatever the outcome of this review and assessments across the other northern hemisphere nations, the smart money will be on more of the same in 2019.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/49965/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Harris does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>It’s all about the Antipodes in the Halloween final.John Harris, Reader in Business Management, Glasgow Caledonian UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/497412015-10-29T19:30:39Z2015-10-29T19:30:39ZFour reasons rugby union in Australia is struggling – despite the Wallabies’ success<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/100052/original/image-20151028-21090-modntr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Wallabies may be flying high at the World Cup, but the picture for rugby union at home looks reasonably bleak.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australia’s rugby union team, the Wallabies, might this weekend be <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2015/oct/28/new-zealand-australia-basics-adventurous">crowned world champions</a> for a third time. But they will face stiff opposition in the form of the reigning world champions, New Zealand’s All Blacks.</p>
<p>Regardless of the result, in Australia’s competitive football landscape rugby union is dwarfed by the three other major football codes – Australian Rules football, rugby league and football (soccer).</p>
<p>While rugby union commands a fanatical following in certain geographical areas and parts of Australian society, and has a long and distinguished history, it has failed to keep pace with the other football codes on a number of levels. There are four main, interrelated reasons for this. </p>
<h2>Failure to connect with new fans</h2>
<p>In the <a href="https://theconversation.com/darts-rise-is-a-cautionary-tale-for-sport-in-a-commercialised-world-46172">hyper-commercialised era</a> of mediated sport, rugby union has struggled to attract new followers in substantial numbers.</p>
<p>While <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/11082305/Rugby-union-is-far-from-perfect-and-rules-on-trial-in-Australia-must-be-taken-seriously.html">rules</a> have been altered and new competitions (national and international) such as <a href="http://www.rugby.com.au/superrugby">Super Rugby</a> and the <a href="http://www.rugby.com.au/nrc/Home.aspx">National Rugby Championship</a> established, <a href="http://www.theroar.com.au/2015/07/22/super-rugby-numbers-tv/">TV ratings</a> have been disappointing, not to mention the crowds at games.</p>
<p>Earlier this year, the Bledisloe Cup match between Australia and New Zealand in Sydney was <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/rugby-union-match-centre/bledisloe-cup-2015-australia-v-new-zealand-anz-stadium-in-sydney-20150808-giupr5.html">not a sell-out</a>. The ill-conceived National Rugby Championship has attracted a handful of spectators to most games and <a href="http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/rugby/new-broadcasting-deal-ensures-future-of-national-rugby-championship-until-at-least-2020/story-fnii0ksb-1227248256811?sv=cc62b3abcc77460c15586b1448752518">low ratings</a> on pay TV.</p>
<p>Prospective rugby union fans have found little connection to the National Rugby Championship and even less identification with its various invented clubs, such as the “Stars” and the “Rays”. </p>
<p>What also hinders rugby union are issues associated with entertainment and understanding of rules. Unlike the three other codes – where the ball is consistently in play and the rules are simple – this is not the case in rugby union. For sustained periods there can be stoppages due to resets of scrums, time-consuming kicks out of play and constant streams of penalties that stop the flow of play.</p>
<p>Matches turn into kicking duels, and the team that scores the most tries doesn’t necessarily win. This is notwithstanding the lack of understanding of rules – especially at the breakdown of scrums, where refereeing decisions can perplex even the players and commentators. </p>
<h2>Not a national game</h2>
<p>Rugby union is not a national sport. Its support base primarily lies in NSW and Queensland. While the sport was introduced across Australia in the 1870s, by the end of the first world war its base was in these two states and in Sydney in particular. </p>
<p>For almost a century, the code’s administrators have been unable to broaden its appeal as the other three codes have. The NRL, AFL and A-League are competitions with large domestic followings across nearly all states and territories. The AFL’s <a href="http://www.theroar.com.au/2015/08/19/rupert-murdoch-says-afl-is-the-premium-code-in-australia-in-swipe-at-nrl/">new TV rights deal</a> clearly demonstrates its national reach.</p>
<p>Generally, the national appeal of rugby peaks during the World Cup or Bledisloe Cup matches against the All Blacks and hibernates between these periods. </p>
<p>This is similar to the periodic pattern of support for sports such as rowing, archery and yachting at the Olympic Games. Australians are fans of these sports because winning medals brings with it international prestige.</p>
<h2>At the grassroots</h2>
<p>At the grassroots level, rugby union has not made an impact on the competitive youth sport market. Low <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Products/76DF25542EE96D12CA257AD9000E2685?opendocument">participation rates</a> for youth aged between six and 14 highlight this picture.</p>
<p>These figures are even more alarming because in the heartland of the sport – the private school system – AFL and football have emerged as threats, taking away prospective players. At Sydney private schools, substantial numbers of students play football and AFL. </p>
<p>There are perhaps two main reasons for this. It would seem that the sport “played by all shapes and sizes” is now being dominated by early developers – in particular Pacific Islanders, who are larger and stronger in their youth. This discourages a number of players – and their parents – who fear injury. This has been exacerbated by recent findings <a href="http://dementiaresearchfoundation.org.au/blog/impact-impact-sports-%E2%80%93-concussions-brain-damage-and-dementia">related to</a> concussion and brain damage.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/100102/original/image-20151029-15342-12uff9r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/100102/original/image-20151029-15342-12uff9r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/100102/original/image-20151029-15342-12uff9r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/100102/original/image-20151029-15342-12uff9r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/100102/original/image-20151029-15342-12uff9r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/100102/original/image-20151029-15342-12uff9r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/100102/original/image-20151029-15342-12uff9r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Youth participation in rugby union is trending south.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">shutterstock</span></span>
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<p>Also, in the age of the talent identification program, players are identified and funnelled into elite programs. Novices, though, are neglected. Prior to this, the philosophy was that all students in “rugby” schools would play the sport. </p>
<h2>Class and race</h2>
<p>For many, rugby union is still a class-based game – and it hasn’t been able to break these shackles.</p>
<p>Since the <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=WVeAAgAAQBAJ&dq=rugby+split+1907&source=gbs_navlinks_s">rugby split</a> – when rugby league emerged – a class divide occurred. Union became a preserve of the middle and upper classes, so much so that its supporters were known as the “rah-rahs”. </p>
<p>When rugby union professionalised in 1995, the sport’s administrators failed to broaden its appeal. Many held onto and advocated for the sport’s “unique culture”. While sports such as Australian Rules encouraged Indigenous and other minority group participation, and the A-League welcomed Anglo-Celtic-background Australians to the fold by de-ethnicising the sport, Australian rugby has been reluctant to broaden its appeal. </p>
<p>For many inside the sport, what made rugby union so special was that it was the domain of the players, and the players were the focus of the sport. It was about loyalty and parochialism. Many traditionalists have found it difficult to adapt to the modern era. It would seem that professionalism does not sit well for those both inside and outside of rugby union.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/49741/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Steve Georgakis does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Regardless of the World Cup final result, rugby union is dwarfed by the three other major football codes in Australia’s competitive football landscape.Steve Georgakis, Senior Lecturer of Pedagogy and Sports Studies, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/494822015-10-26T15:46:32Z2015-10-26T15:46:32ZRugby World Cup: what good sports can teach the world about how to play fair<p>The 2015 world cup has been gripping, exciting and filled with unexpected results. Rugby fever has spread further than ever and, at grassroots level, school physical education departments and local clubs are trying to seize the moment to inspire more young people to experience the game on the field as well as on the television and in the stadiums.</p>
<p>Teaching values through sport is not new to rugby. While many moan about the lack of fair play in football and actively strive to change the culture of the game both on and off the pitch, it can be argued that rugby has always been all about moulding behaviour – since the days of <a href="http://www.rugbyfootballhistory.com/webb-ellis.html">William Webb Ellis</a> the game was used to train and discipline boys and <a href="http://www.rugbyadvertiser.co.uk/what-s-on/rugby-at-war/part-5-rugby-s-schools-in-the-first-world-war-1-6363414">prepare them for the army</a>.</p>
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<p>In 2009 the sport’s world governing body World Rugby (then the International Rugby Board) identified five core values as the “defining character-building characteristics of rugby”. These were integrity, passion, solidarity, discipline and respect. These core values have been <a href="http://www.worldrugby.org/welcome-to-rugby/rugbys-values">embedded into training and coaching programmes</a> in many unions across the world in an attempt to distinguish the game from others and to send a clear message about the character of the game.</p>
<p>Reporting on rugby often refers to these values. A lack of “<a href="http://www.itv.com/rugbyworldcup/video-wyles-laments-usas-lack-of-discipline">discipline</a>” is often being blamed for a team’s performance, and “respect” for the referee by the players is central to the game. It is not often that you hear of a world-class referee such as Nigel Owens <a href="http://www.rugbydump.com/2010/12/1740/referee-nigel-owens-tells-off-30-grown-men">telling off 30 men as if they were school boys</a> for having a fight as he did in a violent game between Leinster and the Parc y Scarlets. The reaction from the players? They all apologised, referred to him as “sir” and didn’t answer back – you’d be hard pressed to imagine top footballers reacting the same way. </p>
<h2>Value judgements</h2>
<p>In 2007 the <a href="http://www.englandrugby.com/my-rugby/players/core-values/">English RFU listed</a> its core values as teamwork, respect, enjoyment, discipline and sportsmanship, while the <a href="http://www.irishrugby.ie/downloads/IRFU_StrategicPlan_1317.pdf">Irish RFU lists</a> respect, integrity, inclusivity, fun and excellence in its current strategic plan. </p>
<p>By contrast, national teams sometimes go one step further with an ethos. <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/active/10427619/The-All-Blacks-guide-to-being-successful-off-the-field.html">New Zealand’s All Blacks</a> aim to link values together with the culture of its players and fans. Words such as “mateship”, “whanau” (family) are common. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Legacy: James Kerr.</span></figcaption>
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<p>New Zealand will keep top players out of the team if they don’t fit the mould. There is a focus on “legacy” (going one step further and leaving something behind), “humility” (no one is better than anyone else) and “filling the gap” (innovation and creativity). While you can argue that “solidarity”, “mateship” and “whanau” are different descriptions for “teamwork” or “fun” and “enjoyment” is the All Black’s interpretation of the core values the reason why New Zealand are so successful?</p>
<h2>Learning respect</h2>
<p>These are ideas the University of Brighton it hoping to explore with a new initiative – <a href="https://www.brighton.ac.uk/about-us/news-and-events/news/2015/09-21-rugby-4-peace.aspx">Rugby 4 Peace</a>. The initiative uses a unique coaching methodology to teach values and life skills through a dedicated rugby curriculum that can be adapted and adopted by schools – and those using rugby in conflict resolution or development. This unique “values-based” methodology brings moral and social learning together with tactics and skills on the pitch. Originally designed by academics volunteering on <a href="http://www.football4peace.eu">Football 4 Peace International</a> it has been moulded to deliver the same outcomes via the oval ball. </p>
<p>A pilot curriculum for schools and clubs has been developed and six schools attended a launch which comprised of a day of coaching and a small tournament, with pupils placed in mixed school and gender teams. </p>
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<p>The idea is for values and life skills to be a constant aspect of a player’s experience. So a ten-year-old learns the necessity of respecting the opposition and taking responsibility to clean their boots after a game; a 14-year-old needs to learn to trust his or her teammate to be in position to receive a pass and to begin to develop a leadership role within the team – when to lead and when to stand back and follow. A 16-year-old, meanwhile, needs to realise the importance of being a positive a role model, both within the game as well as within his or her school, club or community.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.brighton.ac.uk/about-us/news-and-events/news/2015/09-21-rugby-4-peace.aspx">curriculum will be tested</a> in schools and clubs in Sussex and with a capacity building programme in The Gambia. If this takes off as we expect, the hope is that Football 4 Peace will take another look at its own curriculum and take on what it has learned from the way Rugby 4 Peace has tackled values within rugby.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/49482/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Graham Spacey is project manager with the University of Brighton's Rugby 4 Peace initiative.</span></em></p>What values can top-level rugby share with the wider population?Graham Spacey, Project Officer - Sport for Development & Peace, University of BrightonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/495672015-10-22T19:09:03Z2015-10-22T19:09:03ZIt’s a battle of the hemispheres in the Rugby World Cup<p>The history of the Rugby World Cup (<a href="http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/">RWC</a>) is strongly associated with the rivalry between nations from the Southern and Northern hemispheres. </p>
<p>It is the only competition that all the nations in the world properly prepare for and from which you can get an idea of the balance of power between nations from the Southern and Northern hemispheres.</p>
<p>But is there more to this rivalry between Southern and Northern teams than just geography?</p>
<p>Since mid 2004, only national teams from the Southern hemisphere (New Zealand and South Africa) have been ranked first in <a href="http://www.worldrugby.org/rankings">World Rugby rankings</a>, with New Zealand being at the top for most of the time. </p>
<p>So, it is interesting to look at the balance in terms of representation of national teams from the Southern versus Northern hemispheres at the different stages of the RWC. </p>
<p>It goes from 40% (Southern) vs. 60% (Northern) during the pool phases, to 47% vs. 53% during the quarter-finals, to 60% vs. 40% during the semi-finals and 63% vs. 37% in the finals (for first and third place). </p>
<p>The trend clearly shows that over the past eight RWC events, the relative representation of the Southern teams increases as the competition progresses. </p>
<p>Now if we look at the matches that took place between national teams from the Southern and Northern hemispheres, the statistics are moving. It is a success rate of 67% (for a total of 21 matches) at the quarter-finals level, 50% at the semi-finals level (for a total of six matches), and 90% (for a total of ten matches) at the finals level for the national teams from the Southern hemisphere.</p>
<p>No surprise then that teams in the semi-finals this year are all from the Southern hemisphere: Australia faces Argentina and New Zealand faces South Africa. Whatever the results here, it will be another Southern team taking home the Webb Ellis Cup! </p>
<h2>A game changer in players</h2>
<p>During the 1995 RWC in South Africa, the world of rugby union witnessed the rise of a young player from the Southern hemisphere, <a href="http://www.jonahlomu.com/">Jonah Lomu</a> who scored an epic try for New Zealand during the quarter-final against England in Cape Town.</p>
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<p>From this day it became clear that being powerful, tall and heavy were important features of a rugby union player. </p>
<p>With rugby union becoming professional in that same year, players and coaches started to focus on developing taller and heavier players who could run fast, break tackles or stop attacking opponents. That seemed to be the way towards victory… But at the time, national teams from the Northern hemisphere did not really have these kinds of players: they had players with flair and good technique.</p>
<p>From then on, all the national teams started to turn their back on those who were not considered big and powerful enough: it was decided that flair and technique could not compensate for a deficit in terms of watts, centimetres and kilograms.</p>
<h2>The cup winners</h2>
<p>So far, the 2003 RWC is the only event that was won by a national team from the Northern hemisphere, with <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/international/3228728.stm">England beating Australia</a> in the final (20-17) while New Zealand took third place from France (40-13).</p>
<p>During the 2007 RWC, the national teams from the Northern hemisphere did pretty well during the quarter-finals with France winning against the All Blacks (ranked number one at the time) while England took the game against Australia. </p>
<p>But in the end, both teams lost against Southern teams during the final (<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2007/oct/21/rugbyunion.rugbyworldcup200710">South Africa won against England</a>, 15-6) and match for the third place (Argentina won against France, 34-10).</p>
<p>RWC 2011, the matches played <a href="http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/rugby-union/15405316">between New Zealand and France</a> for first place (8-7) and <a href="http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/rugby-union/15379214">between Australia and Wales</a> (21-18) for second place were both taken by Southern nations, reflecting the superiority of the national teams from the Southern hemisphere.</p>
<p>RWC 2015, currently being played in the UK, is interesting as it shows the flair may have travelled across the Northern hemisphere, with Japanese players shining during their <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-09-20/japan-beats-springboks-rugby-world-cup-upset-south-africa/6789584">victory against South Africa</a> during the pool phases. Japan showed that rugby union is not all about power, tallness and heaviness of the players.</p>
<p>Now, the match <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/oct/17/new-zealand-france-rugby-world-cup-match-report">between New Zealand and France</a> seems to provide a few lessons. When you put together physicality (powerful, tall and heavy players), flair and technique you get flying kiwis. </p>
<p>At the opposite end, when you try to sacrifice flair and technique to develop more powerful, taller and heavier players (or use the naturalisation process to be able to select them in the national team), you seem to obtain roosters stuck to the ground. </p>
<h2>The Southern flair</h2>
<p>At this point in time, it simply looks like the national teams from the Southern hemisphere have managed to develop players with serious physical abilities who also demonstrate superior technical skills and flair compared to players from the Northern hemisphere.</p>
<p>I don’t think that seeing the national teams from the Southern hemisphere being successful is a bad thing for any fan of rugby union. Players and coaches from the Southern hemisphere are offering a fantastic show to all the fans who truly value the game of rugby union.</p>
<p>By doing that, they are playing a key role in the promotion of this football code. </p>
<p>That also means that rugby federations, coaches and players from the national teams of the Northern hemisphere should all increase their efforts to identify how they can quickly bridge the gap with the national teams from the Southern hemisphere. </p>
<p>One thing seems quite obvious at this stage: the power balance between the clubs and the rugby federations seems to be quite different between the nations of the Southern and Northern hemispheres. </p>
<p>Nations from the South hemisphere seem to prioritise the success of their national teams. At the opposite end, the interest of the national teams seems to come after the interests of the professional clubs in the nations of the Northern hemisphere.</p>
<p>Interestingly, former New Zealand head coach, Sir Graham Henry, <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/international/73130811/sir-graham-henry-takes-aim-at-french-rugby-after-all-blacks-annihilation">reportedly</a> believes that the French Top 14 competition is poorly coached and its obsession with big salaries and high-profile foreign recruits has had a disastrous effect on the national side.</p>
<p>Current New Zealand head coach, Steve Hansen, has also <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/international/73072029/steve-hansen-blames-french-top-14-for-stifling-traditional-flair-of-les-bleus">blamed the French Top 14</a>, indicating that the competition has been badly affected by a search for physicality that led French players to lose the flair that used to be feared by all the nations of the Southern hemisphere.</p>
<p>Fortunately, for the players coming from the Southern hemisphere to play (attracted by very decent salaries) in the Top 14 French clubs, their coaches can quickly revive their technical skills and flair so that they can perform optimally with their national teams.</p>
<p>By doing so, they offer a great show for all the fans of rugby union to enjoy, wherever they are from, Southern or Northern hemisphere!</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/49567/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Rouffet does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Teams from which half of the planet tend to dominate when it comes to winning games in the Rugby World Cup?David Rouffet, Assistant Professor , Victoria UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/494092015-10-19T16:10:18Z2015-10-19T16:10:18ZScotland were always bound to lose to Australia, right? Wrong<p>So it’s happened again. <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/oct/18/australia-scotland-rugby-world-cup-match-report">Scotland lost the rugby to Australia</a>; albeit narrowly, albeit on a disputed penalty in the final minute. But, we find ourselves thinking, it was surely close to inevitable. After all, Australia just about always end up beating Scotland, one way or another. It’s fate. </p>
<p>Yet the fact that we feel inexorably attracted to this conclusion tells us more about human psychology than it does about rugby. One powerful psychological force is <a href="http://guilfordjournals.com/doi/abs/10.1521/soco.2007.25.1.10">hindsight bias</a>: in retrospect, whatever actually happens starts to seem close to inevitable. </p>
<p>If, for example, a doctor is asked whether a patient has disease A or B, in the light of some not entirely decisive symptoms, they may suggest that the patient has an 70% probability of A, and a 30% probability of B. Sometime later, once the true diagnosis is known (it is indeed the case of A), the doctors is asked what they thought the probabilities were at the time of diagnosis: now, the doctor estimates that there original probability was, say, 80% for A, and just 20% for B. </p>
<p>This finding doesn’t apply only to doctors and diagnosis; it applies to all of us, and to just about any uncertain judgement at all. Once we know the answer, we feel we knew it all along. So now we know that Australia did win, we have the feeling that they were always going to win, and that we suspected that they would, deep down, all along. Even if it was by just a point.</p>
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<p>Yet, of course, this sense of inevitability is an illusion – the inevitable random “jitter” in close refereeing decisions just happened, on this particular occasion, to go against Scotland rather than the other way around.</p>
<h2>Beware the streak</h2>
<p>Another psychological factor making us feel, in retrospect, that Australia was bound to win, is our excessive belief in the reality of “streaks,” whether in sport, in gambling or anything else. Football teams go on winning and losing streaks; golfers have streaks of sensational putting, where they seem to hole out from all over the green; gambling, of course, is notoriously and often disastrously streaky. Sometimes, we feel, a team, or golfer, or a gambler is “hot” — and sometimes not. </p>
<p>Hang on, though – the idea of being “hot” in gambling, at least, surely must be an illusion. Assuming the roulette table is genuinely random, there can’t really be times when a player is somehow mysteriously in tune with fortune (and keep winning), and times where this mystic connection somehow breaks (they start losing). It is surely just a matter of pure chance.</p>
<p>So what about sport? The most heavily researched area is the high-scoring game of basketball, where players, coaches, and commentators alike talk of the elusive “hot hand” striking a player who suddenly can’t miss – interspersed with troughs when the player goes cold.</p>
<p>It turns out, though, that <a href="http://wexler.free.fr/library/files/gilovich%20(1985)%20the%20hot%20hand%20in%20basketball.%20on%20the%20misperception%20of%20random%20sequences.pdf">there is little evidence</a> that the “streakiness” observed in basketball is any greater than would be expected if players score with a constant probability throughout the entire game. Or, even where this evidence for such streaks (and <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-hot-hand-debate-gets-flipped-on-its-head-1443465711">recent studies suggest there may be</a>) these will still be far too subtle for observers to detect reliably. </p>
<p>So what seem like periods where we see the player is “hot” or “cold” will mostly reflect little more than random fluctuations: if you spin a coin for a while, you’ll soon get a streak of heads or a streak of tails, just by chance. </p>
<p>It is likely, then, that we shouldn’t read too much into the results of the Australia-Scotland game. Yes, historically Australia is stronger, and indeed, Australia has won <a href="http://www.lassen.co.nz/pickandgo.php">18 of the last 20 games between two sides</a>.</p>
<p>As it happens, though, in most of those games Australia won easily, especially during the period of 16 consecutive wins; but the past four games have been shared two apiece. So there was no inevitability about Sunday’s result. It just feels that way.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/49409/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nick Chater receives funding from the European Research Council, the UK Economic and Social Research Council, the Leverhulme Trust, and the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.
He is co-founder of Decision Technology Ltd, a consultancy with a sports analytics practice. </span></em></p>Did you know Scotland were going to lose, or was it just hindsight bias?Nick Chater, Professor of Behavioural Science, Warwick Business School, University of WarwickLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/487192015-10-15T14:49:37Z2015-10-15T14:49:37ZIs it time for rugby to ditch the scrum?<p>For the first time in the Rugby World Cup’s comparatively short history, the hosts have not progressed to the knock-out stages. It’s not only the England team that is in trouble, the game itself is facing significant challenges. There are concerns about <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/sep/21/world-rugby-rules-concussion-head-injuries">head injuries</a>, the brutal nature of the game more generally and worries about methods used to attain the <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/11859913/Rugby-uncovered-Union-is-the-dirtiest-sport-in-Britain-and-its-doping-problem-is-growing.html">massive physiques</a> required to survive and thrive in the modern era. </p>
<p>These are all genuine moral issues, but my concern goes right to the heart of good sporting contests. Although many people baulk at the very concept of sports ethics, moral principles are fundamental to the very notion of a sporting contest. Justice, fairness and merit are definitive. We want contestants in sport to deserve their victories. We want their victories to be caused by their efforts. The physical characteristics of speed, power, strength, fitness, skill and resilience coupled with the mental qualities of tactical acumen and applied with tenacity, courage and determination are what should take a team to victory. </p>
<p>Rugby is such a complex game and its <a href="http://laws.worldrugby.org/?law=showallbynumbers">laws</a> are being constantly broken. The referee must exercise judgement in deciding which offence to punish. Some are more difficult than others and we are familiar with expressions such as: “referee X is fussy about the contact area” or: “referee Y is really hard on players not releasing”. The referee tries to make sure the game is being played according to the laws so that as far as possible the best team wins. </p>
<h2>The trouble with the scrum</h2>
<p>This is not an easy task in any facet of play, but identifying the offender or offenders in the event of a scrum is particularly difficult. If the scrum collapses, or “pops up” or “wheels” too far the assumption is that a player or players have committed one of many possible offences. </p>
<p>A prop might have broken a bind, exerted downward pressure or not pushed straight. The frustrating thing for spectators and players alike is that often the decision by the referee looks like an educated guess at best and an arbitrary pronouncement at worst. </p>
<p>The consequence, however, can be absolutely decisive – the difference between winning and losing, being world champions or runners up. Awarding a penalty for a scrum offence can provide a team with the opportunity to kick for goal and secure the decisive points needed to win the game. </p>
<p>There is scope for mistakes in all decisions, but the scrum is fundamentally flawed. It is often impossible to follow (not offend) or apply the laws (identify the offender). First, the sheer <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-our-new-scrum-technique-will-make-the-rugby-world-cup-safer-for-players-47530">biomechanical complexity</a> and the combination of forces involved means that even the most advanced sports scientist in a laboratory could not isolate the cause of a scrum collapsing, wheeling or “popping up”. </p>
<p>Let me focus on one offence. A scrum collapses as a result of a chain of events involving both teams. Even if the latest technology could map the sequence of events accurately, we would still be required to decide which one would be seen as decisive – the “cause” of the collapse. Referees will never have technological aids to tell them who caused the collapse and therefore who should be punished 100% of the time. They have to rely on other cues, experience and intuition. They may of course be right on occasions, but that is not an expression of genuine knowledge. </p>
<h2>Unfair punishment</h2>
<p>If they are uncertain, the referee should reset the scrum. Potentially therefore, there could be an infinite number of scrums. Justice should not be rushed, but players and spectators alike would soon turn their back on a game where scrums proliferate. Referees are thereby required to act decisively to avoid repetitive scrums by identifying and punishing an offender. Despite the absence of unequivocal evidence, the referee has to make a call. Often the team deemed to have the weakest scrum is penalised.</p>
<p>It certainly doesn’t follow that the weakest team is guilty. Scrummaging superiority is often attributed to “<a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-union/alan-watkins-time-for-enlightenment-on-dark-arts-of-front-row-515419.html">dark arts</a>” – dubious and deceptive tactics which force the opponent’s scrum to disintegrate. </p>
<p>But even if the referee could be certain that the scrum collapse was a result of one team failing to withstand the pressure from the other team, this does not mean that they should be punished. It may be physically impossible for them not to break the law. The combination of forces on their body means that they are not acting, but being acted upon. Their actions are out of their hands – they are subject to forces that they cannot resist. </p>
<p>This is not an observation about the relative ability or intention of any given player, but an observation about the scrum. The players did not intend to collapse the scrum, in fact they may have been trying their best not to, given the potential consequences. When a player is singled out as the offender, they are often being punished for an act over which they had little or no control. Strictly speaking, they don’t deserve to be punished and their team surely does not deserve to lose. </p>
<h2>Just rewards?</h2>
<p>Some may counter that the penalty is just reward for superior skill, but there are problems with this approach. What is a weaker scrum to do? Retreat backward towards their own try line in an orderly fashion? Even if they attempted to stay bound, keep square on with shoulders above hips, they will inevitably offend or be judged to have offended. </p>
<p>The reward for superior skill in rugby should be tries and the scrum is supposed to provide an opportunity for one team to gain possession and attack the open field. Instead the scrum is a lottery providing a slow ball at best and a sequence of penalties at worst. For teams who are dominant, it is now used as a tactic to get a penalty or a penalty try and potentially to reduce the opposition numbers as a result of a yellow card. </p>
<p>So the scrum as practised today has little to do with justice, fairness or merit and perhaps more importantly for the World Cup, has little to do with entertainment. Let’s hope that the decisive score in this year’s World Cup isn’t the result of the referee guessing who offended.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/48719/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Carwyn Jones does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>It’s impossible to police a scrum properly, and the consequences of the wrong decision are simply too great.Carwyn Jones, Professor in Sports Ethics, Cardiff Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/482532015-10-01T06:55:23Z2015-10-01T06:55:23ZLoyalty in sport: who to support if your team is not in the weekend’s footy finals<p>Commentators are prone to describe every weekend as a huge one for sport, but this weekend qualifies as large, even by the inflated standards of the sports hyperbole peddlers.</p>
<p>On Saturday afternoon the <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-09-30/hawks-and-eagles-grand-final-rematch-24-years-in-the-making/6816392">West Coast Eagles meet Hawthorn</a> in the AFL Grand Final at Melbourne’s MCG. The following evening sees Queensland teams the <a href="http://www.theroar.com.au/2015/09/30/nrl-grand-final-preview-brisbane-broncos-vs-north-queensland-cowboys/">Brisbane Broncos and the North Queensland Cowboys</a> enter Cockroach territory to play the NRL Grand Final at Sydney’s ANZ Stadium (better-known as home of the 2000 Olympics).</p>
<p>In between these events and on the other side of the world in the UK, the <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/rugby-world-cup/rugby-world-cup-2015-wallabies-prepare-for-england-thunder-at-twickenham-20150929-gjx14x.html">Wallabies play England</a> in the Rugby World Cup at Twickenham, a heart-stopping encounter in the much-touted <a href="http://www.rugby.com.au/News/NewsArticle/tabid/1699/ArticleID/16231/Rugby-World-Cup-Pool-A-What-the-Wallabies-are-up-against.aspx">Pool of Death</a>.</p>
<h2>A question of support</h2>
<p>The question for many television viewers – always the vast majority of spectators for major sports events – is how to negotiate this weekend of heavy-duty media sport.</p>
<p>For those who have no or little interest in Australian rules football, rugby league and rugby union, the choice is simple. A myriad cultural alternatives await, from the performing to the culinary arts, or binge TV comedy and drama or a visit to the movies.</p>
<p>For keen supporters of any of the four teams participating in the finals – out of a total of 36 that set out with so much forlorn hope last autumn – the right move is also fairly obvious.</p>
<p>But what of the large number of people who count themselves as fans of some or all of the sports involved, but do not support any of the teams in the games on view? </p>
<p>If they ignore the matches, they will lay bare one of sport’s enduring myths – that love of the game means a disinterested appreciation of sporting excellence rather than fixating on who wins.</p>
<p>The blunt reality is that, for most of us, sport is just not that interesting unless, like swinging voters in the world of politics, we have skin in the game.</p>
<p>So, the usually effortless process of supporting a team becomes the more complicated one of speedily picking one to champion in any given sports encounter.</p>
<h2>Your loyal support</h2>
<p>Choosing to support a sport team regularly is most straightforward when it is a matter of geography, kinship and culture.</p>
<p>In one-team towns (such as Brisbane, Newcastle or Geelong) it is a matter of civic pride. When there are multiple teams in close proximity it mostly comes down to suburb and family history (such as Collingwood and Manly).</p>
<p>These spatial markers tend to overlap with other cultural histories that confer on teams their particular collective character and reputation (for example, the common attachment of <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/south-sydney-rabbitohs/why-south-sydney-rabbitohs-will-be-forever-linked-with-aboriginal-australia-20141003-10pq8e.html">Indigenous Australians to the South Sydney Rabbitohs</a>).</p>
<p>But this “blood and soil” sport fandom is less viable in an increasingly mobile world where place of birth is left far behind, and may even be in another country. Residual club loyalties determined by origins might endure, but the lure to bond with new neighbours by supporting their teams can be strong.</p>
<p>In any case, football fandom is more flexible than is generally acknowledged. Most sport fans have a second, third and above team to support depending on who they like most, or least dislike. In Grand Finals and World Cups, support tends to swing behind those teams left standing.</p>
<h2>Old rivalries</h2>
<p>When teams with long historical rivalries are playing, the visceral urge to wish failure on the principal enemy should not be underestimated. It may even provide a perverse incentive to watch in the hope of some serious schadenfreude.</p>
<p>Sport marketeers are alive to this flexible sport fandom. For example, during this year’s AFC Asian Cup, Australia-based fans were encouraged to <a href="http://adoptateam.com.au/">adopt other teams</a> when they were not playing against the host nation’s Socceroos.</p>
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<p>Sport fans themselves are adept at negotiating their various loyalties, as I have discovered when researching <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14660970.2014.963315">transnational sporting affiliations</a> in Greater Western Sydney.</p>
<p>For most of those who will watch the Australia versus England game in the Rugby World Cup on early Sunday morning, the catch-cry “Anyone but England” – many transplanted Poms excepted – will apply.</p>
<p>But their emotional decision-making will be more complex if, for example, teams of fellow-Pacific Islanders such as Samoa, Tonga and Fiji are playing, or for those of Irish descent who are known to sing “Oh Danny Boy” in the twilight hours.</p>
<p>The question of sporting loyalty to a person’s adopted nation was <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2004/jan/08/britishidentity.race">famously raised by Norman Tebbit</a>, a former minister in the UK’s Thatcher era, when he said back in 1990:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>A large proportion of Britain’s Asian population fail to pass the cricket test. Which side do they cheer for? It’s an interesting test. Are you still harking back to where you came from or where you are?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It is a test that many Australian citizens and residents of diverse backgrounds would be happy to fail as the Rugby World Cup unfolds – not least those with close ties across the Tasman.</p>
<p>So, what advice can be offered to the discerning TV sport consumer this weekend? Your options are any or all of the following: </p>
<ul>
<li>do anything but watch the games</li>
<li>avidly support your participating team</li>
<li>watch anyway because you love the sport uncontaminated by partisanship</li>
<li>pick the teams you most or least loathe and watch with intense or casual interest.</li>
</ul>
<p>May the most appealing cultural selection win.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/48253/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Rowe receives funding from the Australian Research Council for the Discovery Projects 'A Nation of "Good Sports"? Cultural Citizenship and Sport in Contemporary Australia' (DP130104502) and 'Australian Cultural Fields: National and Transnational Dynamics' (DP140101970), and for the Linkage Project 'Recalibrating Culture: Production, Consumption, Policy' (LP130100253).</span></em></p>Which team you support in sport can depend on many things. But who should you barrack for in this packed weekend of sport if none of your favoured teams are in any of the games?David Rowe, Professor of Cultural Research, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/479742015-10-01T05:34:05Z2015-10-01T05:34:05ZRugby is dangerous – and we’re not doing enough to protect children who play it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/96101/original/image-20150924-17083-4xi1y5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Foul play: rugby in schools putting children at risk. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-171742631/stock-photo-milan-italy-june-children-playing-barefoot-during-a-rugby-school-camp-at-the-arena-in-milan.html?src=qeYXKtlJ6euTui2y08OS3g-1-18">www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Since rugby union <a href="http://www.cambridgescholars.com/download/sample/60716">became a professional sport</a> in 1995, its popularity has increased to such a height that the Six Nations Championship in 2014 had a <a href="http://www.allysonpollock.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/BMJ_2015_Freitag_RugbyInjurySurveilance.pdf">higher average attendance</a> per game than either the UEFA Euro Cup 2012 or the FIFA World Cup 2014. Now with the Rugby World Cup in full swing, there’s more attention being paid to the game than ever. But is it safe?</p>
<p>The UK government has <a href="http://www.c4ts.qmul.ac.uk/main/latest-news/post/12-concerns-over-uk-government-plans-to-increase-participation-in-school-rugby">selected rugby union and rugby league</a> as two of five sports it will focus on to increase the prominence of competitive sport in schools in England. </p>
<p>The health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, <a href="https://www.sportengland.org/media/130949/DCMS-Creating-a-sporting-habit-for-life-1-.pdf">has promised</a> to “work with sports such as football, cricket, rugby union, rugby league, and tennis to establish at least 6,000 partnerships between schools and local sports clubs by 2017”. The government hopes to put 1,300 links in place between schools and rugby union organisations, and 1,000 links with rugby league. </p>
<p>Rugby is a high-impact collision sport, in which players have to exert extreme force in order to acquire and maintain possession of the ball. Injuries are frequent – the probabilty of a player being injured in a season can be as high as 90% in some studies, depending on the definition used. The majority of injuries, at least 75%, occur during contact or collision, such as the <a href="http://www.bmj.com/company/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/rugby.pdf">tackle and the scrum</a>. Two-thirds of all concussions occur during the tackle. With one head injury or concussion per match in <a href="http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/48/7/654.3.abstract?sid=207d5ca4-60e8-4144-848d-707150c312f4">the community game</a>, and concussion common in the children’s game, traumatic and repetitive brain injury is a <a href="http://ojs.sagepub.com/content/2/12/2325967114562781.full.pdf?ijkey=b73GvcTrG0b38XG&keytype=finite">routine occurrence</a>. </p>
<p>A <a href="http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/38/5/654.full">link has been found</a> between repeat concussions and mild cognitive impairment in young adult male rugby players and an association with depression, memory loss and poorer verbal fluency. </p>
<p>Researchers have also found evidence of a link between repeat concussions and chronic traumatic <a href="http://www.emedicinehealth.com/encephalopathy/article_em.htm">encephalopathy</a> – a progressive degenerative disease of the brain found in people with a history of repetitive brain trauma. There is an association with Parkinson’s disease and other neurological conditions. The degeneration can bring with it memory loss, confusion, impaired judgement, impulse control problems, aggression, depression and, eventually, dementia. </p>
<p>Given that <a href="http://www.brainline.org/content/multimedia.php?id=9017">children are more susceptible to injuries</a> such as <a href="http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2015/01/13/bjsports-2014-093774.short?rss=1">concussion</a> and often take longer to recover, the government’s plan to increase participation in rugby in schools, in the absence of a comprehensive system for injury surveillance and prevention (including tertiary prevention and rehabilitation), is worrying. </p>
<p>Many countries, including the UK, have inadequate child injury surveillance systems. Under the <a href="http://www.unicef.org/crc/">United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child</a> governments have a duty to inform and protect children from risks of injury. As a signatory to the convention, the UK government should ensure the safety and effectiveness of sports – particularly that injury surveillance and prevention strategies are established, before proceeding with its plans to target funding and increase participation in a high-risk collision sport such as rugby. </p>
<h2>A catastrophic risk</h2>
<p>Against the backdrop of growing evidence on rugby injuries, the UK government could find itself at the wrong end of legal actions. It would do well to follow New Zealand’s example – as the only country in the world to have a comprehensive <a href="http://www.allysonpollock.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/BMJ_2015_Freitag_RugbyInjurySurveilance.pdf">national dataset of rugby injuries</a>, collected since April 1974 by the government’s Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC).</p>
<p>The ACC has a statutory duty to prevent injury, which means it must monitor injuries and work on prevention strategies with relevant parties. The New Zealand system provides financial compensation and support to anyone who suffers an injury irrespective of proof of blame and citizenship. </p>
<p>To ensure that legal responsibility for rugby injuries remains with the state, rugby officials have to report any injury to the head or neck that happens on their watch – or any injury requiring hospital admission or an absence from play of eight weeks or more. Nothing of comparable sophistication exists in the UK – and rugby’s governing bodies in this country are highly resistant to the introduction of comprehensive monitoring. </p>
<p>The four rugby unions of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland have rushed out <a href="http://www.englandrugby.com/mm/Document/General/General/01/30/80/08/EnglandProfessionalRugbyInjurySurveillanceProjectReport2013_2014_Neutral.pdf">many initiatives</a>, including concussion management protocols, but none have been evaluated. Most of the serious injuries in rugby are avoidable and preventable. But prevention requires radical changes to the laws of the game. It means removing the collision element, namely the tackle. Martin Raftery, the medical director of World Rugby <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-34249189">has now stated that the laws of rugby may have to change</a> to reduce concussion risk, but World Rugby is dragging its feet in tackling the dangerous tackle. </p>
<p>World Rugby determines the laws of the game, but its interests are in the professional game and business. This year’s Rugby World Cup is expected to bring nearly <a href="http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/rugby-world-cup-2015-add-1bn-uk-economy-record-visitor-numbers-1475422">£1 billion to the UK economy</a>. The problem for children is that World Rugby and the rugby unions also determine the rules of rugby in schools. The link between the professional game and the children’s game should be severed – governance of the children’s game should not be determined by World Rugby and the Rugby Unions. </p>
<p>Writing in the <a href="http://www.bmj.com/bmj/section-pdf/872736/0">British Medical Journal in January 2015</a>, the editor-in-chief, Fiona Godlee, wrote: “Let’s call the current state of monitoring and prevention of rugby injury in schools what it is: a scandal. It needs urgent remedy before more children and their families suffer the consequences of collective neglect.” The <a href="http://www.bmj.com/about-bmj/poll-archive">BMJ poll of doctors</a> later confirmed that 72% felt the game should be made safer. </p>
<p>Parents expect the state to look after their children when they are at school. By allowing the sport’s own governing bodies to decide what, if any, information to collect and to determine the laws of the game for children, the UK government has abdicated its responsibilities to children under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child – leaving them exposed to catastrophic risk.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/47974/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Allyson M Pollock does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Increasing rugby in schools could be a danger to children – without effective safety systems in place.Allyson M Pollock, Professor of Public Health Research and Policy , Queen Mary University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/482082015-09-29T09:37:37Z2015-09-29T09:37:37ZEnjoy the Rugby World Cup – but let’s kick alcohol abuse and problem gambling into touch<p>England’s last-minute defeat at the hands of Wales will have had more than a few fans heading to the pubs and bars around Twickenham to drown their sorrows and to discuss <em>that</em> cross-field kick. And the same can safely be said for Wales fans who will have headed out in celebration or raised a few drinks in their living rooms in triumph and relief that they pulled it off against the old enemy.</p>
<p>The Rugby World Cup is once again in the UK along with the spectacle of power, pace, flair and determination. And there will be plenty of disappointment, injustice and injury. Guaranteed, too, is the increased profits of the alcohol companies, a strain on the emergency services, physical and sexual abuse of medical professionals, and the desecration of city centres brought about by drunken rugby fans. There is little risk of the kinds of clashes that one might expect between football fans – rugby is a gentleman’s game, after all – but there will be a fair share of violence, disorder and damage that inevitably accompanies sustained and heavy drinking. </p>
<p>Tradition has it that the players themselves will get involved drinking – so long as they don’t bring the game into disrepute through their drunken actions. After all, you can’t celebrate without alcohol can you? Heavy drinking is not the exclusive preserve of sports fans, but the pubs and clubs of Cardiff are gearing themselves up for a <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-england-cant-lose-from-hosting-the-rugby-world-cup-47788">profitable few weeks</a>. </p>
<p>Customers will be lured to licensed premises on the promise of cheap alcohol, a big screen and an electric atmosphere, blocking views and spilling pints over shoes as they travel backwards and forwards into the bars. The marketing of alcohol products such as Guinness and <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3239321/Why-Guinness-blacklisted-World-Cup-20m-marketing-deal-Heineken-means-Murphy-s-Irish-Stout-sold-stadiums-instead.html">RWC sponsors, Heineken,</a> will go into overdrive. TV adverts and hoardings will seek to place a particular brand of alcohol at the centre of the rugby experience. </p>
<p>Children, normally protected from such exposure, will be bombarded by alcohol commercials and logos. Sports coverage is an exception to the regulations which prohibit advertising alcohol to children. All this contributes to the normalisation of alcohol in general and getting drunk in particular. Despite the evidence that more and <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/11411081/Teetotalism-on-the-march-as-young-turn-their-back-on-drink.html">more young people are now abstaining completely from alcohol</a>, a significant proportion of young and old will take the opportunity to drink more and more during sporting events like the World Cup. </p>
<p>Sport provides a legitimate excuse to drink in the afternoon, or on a school night or <a href="https://theconversation.com/englands-missing-booze-12-million-more-bottles-drunk-per-week-than-previously-thought-42226">to continue drinking to celebrate</a> or commiserate a victory or loss. There is a dangerous indifference to heavy drinking in sport where drugs are demonised. </p>
<p>The reality of course is that <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/2010/nov/01/alcohol-more-harmful-than-heroin-crack">alcohol is far more dangerous to our young people than other drugs</a>. Being drunk increases the risk of committing crime, being a victim of crime and being a victim of sexual assault, yet parents continue to initiate children into alcohol in the belief that this will protect them from abusing it. This is another myth and the logic would not be extended to tobacco, ecstasy or cocaine. The acute and chronic effects of alcohol misuse <a href="http://www.ias.org.uk/Alcohol-knowledge-centre/Economic-impacts/Factsheets/Economic-costs.aspx">cost the economy billions of pounds each year</a> and leads to numerous health and social problems. </p>
<p>Sport will yet again play its part in normalising this potentially dangerous drug and legitimise all our overindulgence in the next month or so. Sport – and its high profile players – should exemplify a sensible and responsible relationship with alcohol.</p>
<h2>Bookies’ delight</h2>
<p>The alcohol industry is not alone in exploiting sport for profit. Gambling companies are increasingly targeting sport for marketing and sponsorship purposes. Rugby fans will be encouraged to bet on a variety of different “markets” via a myriad of different platforms. Bookmakers, like brewers, will be licking their lips ahead of the profits and exposure to come their way over the next month or so. </p>
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<p>Gambling, like alcohol can cause widespread misery. A growing number of individuals are becoming hooked on betting and destroying their own and their families’ lives. Yet like alcohol, this dangerous industry has seen <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/10673509/Labour-turned-a-flutter-into-a-fatal-addiction-to-gambling.html">significant deregulation in the UK</a> with the result of huge market growth. </p>
<p>The more people gamble, the more they develop problems, this includes high-profile sports stars. It’s not that gambling and alcohol should be prohibited, however there are serious risks associated with both. In fact <a href="http://www.alcoholconcern.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Roehampton-Uni-research.pdf">recent research</a> shows a close connection between heavy drinking and problem gambling. Sport in general and the Rugby World Cup in particular will once again be complicit in sending out the strong message that alcohol and betting are safe, normal and an essential part of the sporting experience. And no one benefits from that.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/48208/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Carwyn Jones is a consultant with Living Room Cardiff’s Beat the Odds Campaign.</span></em></p>Most sports fans will enjoy a drink or a flutter during the Rugby World Cup, but the sport should not encourage risky behaviour.Carwyn Jones, Professor in Sports Ethics, Cardiff Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/482482015-09-29T04:44:34Z2015-09-29T04:44:34ZThe Springboks did the right thing: they didn’t bend to the psyche of defeat<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/96419/original/image-20150928-418-8b1sbh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">South Africa's Bryan Habana celebrates scoring the Springboks' sixth try against Samoa.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Rebecca Naden</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>South African rugby fans were dumbfounded when the Springboks lost to Japan in the Rugby World Cup. How could their team, ranked third in the world, <a href="http://www.thestar.com.my/Sport/Rugby/2015/09/20/Japan-stun-Springboks-with-biggest-upset-in-World-Cup-history/">lose</a> to a relative minnow? </p>
<p>During the days prior to the team’s next game against Samoa the nation was on <a href="http://www.sport24.co.za/Rugby/WorldCup/Bookies-lose-faith-in-Springboks-20150920">tenterhooks</a> as the psyche of defeat had transformed national pride into national dread. What if it happened again? I did note that many felt empathy for the ‘Boks’ and some tolerance, in spite of the national agony.</p>
<p>After the loss to Japan, both coach Heyneke Meyer and captain Jean de Villiers [apologised](http://www.timeslive.co.za/sundaytimes/stnews/2015/09/20/Bok-heads-to-roll-after-shock-loss-to-Japan](http://www.timeslive.co.za/sundaytimes/stnews/2015/09/20/Bok-heads-to-roll-after-shock-loss-to-Japan) to South Africans for their performance. But they didn’t make excuses about why they lost. That was a good thing. They took responsibility for the team’s loss. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/96416/original/image-20150928-21366-1o2tciu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/96416/original/image-20150928-21366-1o2tciu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/96416/original/image-20150928-21366-1o2tciu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/96416/original/image-20150928-21366-1o2tciu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/96416/original/image-20150928-21366-1o2tciu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/96416/original/image-20150928-21366-1o2tciu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/96416/original/image-20150928-21366-1o2tciu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Japan’s Karne Hesketh scores their third try against South Africa’s Springboks in their World Cup match.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Eddie Keogh</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>They also commended Japan on their valiant effort, which indicated team maturity. If they had not congratulated Japan, or tried to diminish their achievement by making excuses, this would have shown pettiness and would likely have been a forewarning of more losses. </p>
<p>That the Springboks managed their loss well enabled them to bounce back and not linger in the psyche of defeat. The torment of defeat gave way to the elation of victory when the Springboks defeated Samoa.</p>
<h2>The psyche of defeat</h2>
<p>The psyche of defeat is always underpinned and justified by many excuses – for instance, not used to the playing conditions, or poor refereeing, ad infinitum. The South African fans were also gracious in defeat and acknowledged the outstanding performance by Japan by giving Japanese fans a <a href="http://www.viralbru.com/springbok-fans-give-japan-supporters-a-guard-of-honour-goosebumps/">guard of honour</a>. </p>
<p>The captain and coach, although displaying disappointment, also displayed mental toughness, dignity and humility. A team, and its members, must display a will to win but should also be modest. This is not an easy ask. </p>
<p>Rugby is a gladiator sport. The fans pay to watch their heroes entertain them. They are answerable to their public. A team that demonstrates overconfidence cannot do this as they can only see themselves as individuals and do not recognise their collective responsibility to their spectators. After all, without an audience they would not be heroes.</p>
<p>In team sport, the psyche of defeat is linked to various things. The most important, in my opinion, is the team’s maturity. This, in turn, is linked to its captaincy, level of preparedness, confidence in coaching staff and personality characteristics of individual team members. </p>
<p>It must be remembered that individual sportsmen usually have some egotistical characteristics and tend to display arrogance (and sometimes aggression). But this is not necessarily true of team sport players, even at national level. Nonetheless, if an individual is not a team player and wants glory for self, a team will be troubled and will often display the psyche of defeat, which can be inferred from newspaper reports about “trouble in the team” or constant replacement of national team coaches. </p>
<p>Problematically, when the psyche of defeat has set in it is very difficult to change. An example of this is the South African national football team. It won the first African Cup of Nations it competed in after democracy in 1995. But since then nothing. Its world ranking has continued to fall and both international and home based coaches have been unable to dispel the psyche of defeat that haunts the team.</p>
<p>Both the Springbok coach and captain noted they would work hard to do better in the coming week. This showed determination and resilience. This is another important factor in the psyche of defeat. Teams that are not resilient do not win. They “choke” and lose again. South Africans are resilient. The majority of the population is still “rising”, like the proverbial phoenix, referred to by <a href="http://www.anc.org.za/show.php?id=4322">Thabo Mbeki</a> in his transformative speech, <a href="http://afrikatanulmanyok.hu/userfiles/File/beszedek/Thabo%20Mbeki_Iam%20an%20African.pdf">“I am an African”</a>. </p>
<h2>Change in rugby</h2>
<p>It can be argued that <a href="http://www.sport24.co.za/Rugby/Springboks/Mind-Games-Make-the-Springboks-coach-anyone-you-like-but-problems-will-remain-20150927.">Meyer’s track record</a> vis-a-vis the lack of racial equality in the team (known locally as transformation), poor team cohesion and recent team losses has placed him in hot water in the public eye. This is especially true over the issue of racial transformation, with many South Africans echoing the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/17/rugby-springbok-south-africa-race">sentiment</a> that this is what is needed to transform the Springboks into a winning team.</p>
<p>But Springbok player JP Peterson, who is black, rose to the occasion by scoring three tries against Samoa. The nation cheered as one. The whispers of change in rugby gave us this player. I hope that in future the winds of change will ensure that many more players of colour will fly over the try line. </p>
<p>I don’t know if the Springboks are going to win the World Cup for a groundbreaking third time but I do know that they did not display the psyche of defeat. Onwards and hopefully upwards, like the phoenix. </p>
<p>Sadly, <a href="http://www.sport24.co.za/Rugby/WorldCup/De-Villiers-calls-time-on-Springbok-career-20150927">De Villiers</a> announced his retirement from rugby after an injury incurred against Samoa. This, I think, will also add to the team’s determination to do well – they will unite to pay tribute to the fallen hero.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/48248/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kathryn Nel does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The psyche of defeat is linked to various things: the team’s maturity, captaincy, level of preparedness, confidence in coaching staff and personality characteristics of individual team members.Kathryn Nel, Associate Professor of Psychology, University of LimpopoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/482632015-09-28T12:05:04Z2015-09-28T12:05:04ZSiblings in the scrum: long history of brothers makes rugby a family affair<p>It’s well known that <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17461391.2013.805250">family plays a key role</a> in a child’s initial socialisation into sport and his or her continued participation. This family involvement is certainly evident on a Sunday morning at my local rugby club where siblings of both genders and all ages participate in a range of activities. Add to this the fact that as many of the mums and dads are former players who now help with coaching and refereeing, with a few grandparents thrown in as well, there can often be three generations of the same family involved. </p>
<p>The level of family involvement in the 2015 Rugby World Cup appears to confirm <a href="https://www.sportscoachuk.org/sites/default/files/Participant-Development-Lit-Review.pdf">research that</a> family influences a players’ introduction and experience of the sport in a variety of ways – from taking up the game to sibling rivalry driving performance. Being an England fan I was already aware of the two sets of brothers in the England squad – Billy and Mako Vunipola and the brothers Ben and Tom Youngs (whose father <a href="http://www.afp.com/en/news/rugby-world-cup-overflows-brotherly-love">Nick was a former England scrum-half</a>).</p>
<p>Then there is Scotland and <a href="http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2015-09-18/rugby-world-cup-2015-scotland-team-guide">the Gray brothers, Jonny and Richie</a>. Interestingly it was <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/international/scotland/11214717/Scotland-v-Argentina-Brothers-Richie-and-Jonny-Gray-to-start-together-for-first-time-at-Murrayfield.html">Jonny</a>, the younger sibling, who first took up rugby, sparking Richie to then follow suit. </p>
<p>The Ireland squad features brothers <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/rugby-world-cup/11872980/Schmidt-goes-for-power-in-opener-against-Canada.html">Dave and Rob Kearney</a>. Rob has said that his passion for rugby was strongly <a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/rugger-brothers-the-sporting-ambitions-of-the-kearney-boys-1.1625839">influenced by his father</a>’s love of the sport though he also <a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/business/work/rob-kearney-leadership-meditation-and-family-1.2179513">acknowledged the important role of mothers in today’s game</a> – if his mum didn’t want him playing the game he wouldn’t be doing it.</p>
<p>What all these sets of brothers have in common is their closeness and the bond between them, as well as a healthy element of sibling rivalry. Dave Kearney <a href="http://www.irishmirror.ie/sport/rugby-union/dave-kearney-reveals-how-brother-6498492">explains this relationship</a>: “If there’s someone with you it’s easier. It’s competitive too. You’re working hard against each other and trying to get the best out of each other. It was good having someone you can work with and push on.”</p>
<p>New Zealand has a long history of brotherly participation with <a href="http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/news/92723">43 sets of brothers</a> having played for the All Blacks at different times. However for those brothers lining up alongside each other this figure drops to nine. This year Ben and Owen Franks make up the fraternal component of the 2015 squad. Once again <a href="http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/news/92723">it was their father</a> who was instrumental in their rugby career, training the duo from a young age. Like the Kearney brothers, sibling competition also plays a key part and <a href="http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/news/92723">Owen revealed</a> that: “Ben would try to bait me into fighting him because I was so much weaker and smaller but as I got older I could start to compete a little bit more.”</p>
<p>Canada also join the brotherly club with the inclusion of <a href="http://www.punditarena.com/rugby/gspillane/brothers-arms-rugby-world-cups-family-affair/">Phil and Jamie MacKenzie</a> as do the Springboks featuring <a href="http://www.timeslive.co.za/sundaytimes/sport/rugby/2015/09/06/The-brothers-Du-Plessis-are-truly-rare-breed">Jannie Du Plessis and Bismarck Du Plessis</a>. The Du Plessis brothers have spoken openly about their strong relationship and bond and even made their <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/international/southafrica/8407169/Jannie-and-Bismarck-du-Plessis-humble-God-fearing-and-ferocious-meet-sports-original-brothers-in-arms.html">Springboks debut</a> together in the same game. Their closeness is magnified by their working, living and playing together and their <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/international/southafrica/8407169/Jannie-and-Bismarck-du-Plessis-humble-God-fearing-and-ferocious-meet-sports-original-brothers-in-arms.html">unified goal</a> of playing in a World Cup final watched by their father.</p>
<h2>Potential record breakers</h2>
<p>At the top of the list is Samoa, which is fielding three brothers: George, Tusi and Ken Pisi, in the same squad. If all three appear on the pitch at the same time they will create <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/international/72399925/rugby-world-cup-2015-family-history-beckons-as-samoa-names-team">Rugby World Cup history</a>. <a href="http://www.afp.com/en/news/rugby-world-cup-overflows-brotherly-love">George explained his feelings of brotherly love</a>: “When Ken was small, Tusi and I used him for tackling practice … Later, whenever we were on opposite sides in a game, I had this extra-special feeling of just wanting to smash him.”</p>
<p>Samoa are no strangers to family ties and the Tuilagi brothers Henry, Freddie, Anitelea and Sanele have all played internationally for <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-32757633">Samoa</a> and brother <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-32757633">Manu</a> played for England. Brother Alesana Tuilagi, a winger in the Samoan 2015 squad would therefore also contribute to the history books if he makes his Rugby World Cup debut.</p>
<p>The family connections continue still beyond brothers, with other family links in the competition including Ireland’s Luke Fitzgerald whose father Des played for Ireland, Welsh back Ross Moriarty who is following in the footsteps of his father and uncle who both played internationally for Wales, and the England player Owen Farrell whose father Andy, a former England player, is also part of the England coaching staff. Rugby, it seems, truly is a family affair.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/48263/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jessica Pinchbeck does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Research shows that family has an important role in getting children to play sport and nowhere is this better demonstrated than in the Rugby World Cup.Jessica Pinchbeck, Lecturer in Sport and Fitness, The Open UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/477882015-09-28T05:33:34Z2015-09-28T05:33:34ZWhy England can’t lose from hosting the Rugby World Cup<p>Tills are ringing in pubs and hotels all over London, Cardiff, Exeter and Newcastle as rugby fans in town for the 2015 World Cup toast victory or drown their sorrows, racking up a tidy bar bill as they go. At least that’s the happy picture being painted by promoters of the tournament who are keen to highlight the <a href="https://theconversation.com/rugby-world-cup-how-the-host-cities-are-making-the-most-of-the-fan-influx-47869">economic benefits of hosting it</a>. </p>
<p>Those touting the Rugby World Cup’s benefits are quick to reference a <a href="http://www.ey.com/EY-rugby-world-cup/EY-rugby-world-cup-final-report">report by the accountancy firm Ernst & Young</a>, which asserts that the tournament will generate up to £2.2 billion of output into the UK economy, add up to £982m of value to the UK’s GDP and attract more international visitors than any previous Rugby World Cup. UK residents are expected to fill pubs and bars, buy new giant TV sets and pay for more broadband capacity. And UK firms will make a bundle of money from selling memento products ranging from replica kits to kitchen textiles. </p>
<p>But the validity of these estimates and the calculations made for both the short and longer term are questionable. Some economists would argue, for example, that regular visitors such as business travellers and local tourists will be pushed out either by the influx of visitors or the astronomical prices charged for accommodation and other services. </p>
<p>In the long-term, <a href="http://econpapers.repec.org/paper/hcxwpaper/0610.htm">various</a> <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23370270">studies</a> have found negligible benefits in employment, tourism, accommodation and retailing in countries that host big sporting events. And, of course, cynics will point to the fact that the Ernst & Young report was commissioned by the organisers of the Rugby World Cup themselves. </p>
<h2>Low costs</h2>
<p>Something we know for certain, however, is that hosting the Rugby World Cup has not cost England much. Unlike the billions spent by recent hosts of the Olympics and football World Cup, staging the Rugby World Cup in England and Wales has cost very little. The cost of staging the London Olympics, for example, was <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2012/oct/23/london-2012-olympics-cost-total">£8.9 billion</a>. By comparison the costs of staging RWC 2015 are unlikely to exceed £1 billion, with <a href="http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/EY-rugby-world-cup-final-report/$FILE/EY-rugby-world-cup-final-report.pdf">infrastructure costs at a paltry £85m</a>, £76m of which was earmarked for the remodelling the England team’s stadium, Twickenham – so straight back to rugby.</p>
<p>Similarly, unlike the huge infrastructure needs for the Olympics and FIFA World Cups staged elsewhere around the world, England and Wales already have the necessary transport links and stadiums in place. Looking to maximise revenue, the RWC has awarded the hosting of various fixtures to football and multi-use stadiums because of the greater capacity than at traditional rugby grounds. Only Exeter and Gloucester could be considered traditional club venues. And, even in Leicester, the home of top club team Leicester Tigers, the venue to be used is actually Leicester City’s football stadium, which has a larger capacity of 32,000. Similarly, Brighton and Milton Keynes, not traditional rugby towns, have won hosting rights because they have stadiums that can seat more than 30,000 fans. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/96199/original/image-20150925-16026-6k1cbt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/96199/original/image-20150925-16026-6k1cbt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/96199/original/image-20150925-16026-6k1cbt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/96199/original/image-20150925-16026-6k1cbt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/96199/original/image-20150925-16026-6k1cbt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/96199/original/image-20150925-16026-6k1cbt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/96199/original/image-20150925-16026-6k1cbt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Legacy: the London Olympics cost a lot but helped regenerate the area it was in.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/gallery-508876p1.html">Matt Gibson / Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There are clear benefits to this approach. The obvious one of maximising revenue, as well as taking rugby to non-traditional areas and benefiting smaller towns that would not normally be able to substantially drive tourist interest on the scale expected. The RWC is therefore spreading the revenue nationally much more than would be the case with events such as the Olympics or the Commonwealth Games where most of the action took place in one city. </p>
<p>But the downside of the fact that transport infrastructure and stadiums are already in place is that there is no need for regeneration activity and less opportunity, therefore, for potential large-scale legacy projects. Needing to regenerate an area such as Stratford in London’s east end, for example, can actually be central to the rationale for staging big events.</p>
<h2>Rugby going global</h2>
<p>There has to be a more rounded approach to identifying the benefits of hosting the tournament. For example, the benefits to the game of rugby itself are clear. Here is a sport that, while still a poor relation to football, has the capacity to grow exponentially if taken up globally. In the US, for example, rugby is the <a href="http://www.thespectrum.com/story/sports/2014/11/10/rugby-continues-americas-fastest-growing-sport/18830397/">fastest-growing team sport</a>; in Asia, Japan will host the 2019 tournament; in the Middle East, Emirates is already a major sponsor of the Rugby World Cup and the Emirates Airline Rugby Sevens in Dubai is growing in popularity. </p>
<p>Emirates’ involvement with rugby has been building gradually as they recognise that the RWC are making changes that permit greater marketing opportunities. For example, at previous RWCs, brands were not allowed to feature on the playing kits of players or match officials. Not so now. At this year’s RWC and again in 2019, the Fly Emirates logo will be on the shirts of match officials and the airline’s branding will be prominent at all host stadiums. Rugby is coming to terms with commerciality; even the sacred All-Blacks shirt now carries a sponsor’s logo.</p>
<p>Notwithstanding the Middle East, the major opportunity is in the US. There are 1.4m players there, a quarter of whom are women. And tapping into the potential for growing television revenues and sponsorship is key to the expansion of any sport globally as that revenue can be directed straight back into the sport. </p>
<p>Rugby is also now an Olympic sport and will be played in Rio next year. This will sustain the increased exposure of the game after 2015 – but for how long is open to question. As far as can be ascertained by the official figures, there has been minimal, if any, greater participant take-up of Olympic sports such as swimming and badminton <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2015/jul/05/olympic-legacy-failure-sports-participation-figures">since 2012</a>. That is a challenge that the rugby world needs to recognise and meet.</p>
<h2>Money well spent</h2>
<p>If the economic benefits of any major sporting event are at best questionable (and at worst based on manipulated numbers), then it is to the intangible and indirect benefits to which the public must turn for reasons to be cheerful. And they are powerful. What’s wrong with just having a party every four years that changes how we feel for six weeks and which brings nations together in a unique way?</p>
<p>The South African World Cup of 1995 may well have lost money but what a moment it was in human history. When the newly elected president Nelson Mandela (at the time probably the most revered public figure in the world) led the support wearing the green and gold Springbok shirt, and presented the trophy to the home team, it was a hugely powerful symbolic moment. Despite the most recent difficulties <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/sep/22/south-africa-risk-bunch-of-losers-sport-minister-fikile-mbalula">with South Africa’s national team</a> that moment remains transformational. </p>
<p>For all its potential to boost a host country’s economy, this should not be the ultimate driver for staging these events. The decision should be driven in spite of the economic issues not because of them.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/47788/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chris Brady does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Even if England lose on the pitch, they’ll be winners off it – hosting history at such little expense is a win-win.Chris Brady, Co-Director, Centre for Sports Business, University of SalfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/479302015-09-24T01:52:02Z2015-09-24T01:52:02ZBrains not brawn is the key to success in international rugby<p>Rugby union is a game that draws on players of all shapes and sizes, from the big and muscular forwards in the scrums, rucks and mauls, to the backs who need to be quick and fast on their feet.</p>
<p>But does having bigger, stronger or faster players necessarily determine the winner of a game?</p>
<p>Looking at the stature of the Wallabies vs Fiji match overnight, there was little difference in the total height and weight of the teams – just 8cm and 1kg difference between the main 15 – and both were big!</p>
<p>There was no surprise then that the game was extremely physical, as any game involving a side from Polynesia always is, with the Wallabies <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-09-24/pocock-powers-wallabies-to-unconvincing-opening-win-over-fiji/6800392">winning 28-13</a> over Fiji.</p>
<p>The challenge for all teams in the round-robin pool play of the initial stages of the World Cup is to give players sufficient game time to get into the swing of the tournament while rotating them to allow rest and recovery. These games can in some cases be only four days apart.</p>
<p>Come the knock-out stage of the tournament, the break between games is seven days, which gives the players sufficient time to recover from (most) of the knocks and tissue damage.</p>
<p>The initial selection policy of teams is usually focused on creating at least two players vying for each position within an allowed squad of 31 players. Several players have the ability to play multiple positions – so size matters – but player skill and preparation from training, combined with astute coaching decisions, remain the key to success.</p>
<h2>Early upsets</h2>
<p>Japan’s <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-09-20/japan-beats-springboks-rugby-world-cup-upset-south-africa/6789584">shock 34-32 win</a> against rugby heavyweights South Africa in their <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/rugby-world-cup-2015">2015 Rugby World Cup</a> opener on Saturday night personifies the ever-closing gap between the best and the rest.</p>
<p>Affectionately known as the Cherry Blossoms, Japan’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/no-place-like-home-when-playing-in-the-rugby-world-cup-48003">win over the heavily favoured Springbok outfit</a> has been lauded by many as arguably the greatest upset not only in rugby union history but in all of sport.</p>
<p>While from the outside Japan’s win may seem like David defeating Goliath, their meteoric rise did not happen overnight. Japan’s continual improvement over past decades has been acknowledged and rewarded via their inaugural inclusion in next year’s <a href="http://www.superxv.com/43920/1/japan-and-argentina-officially-join-super-rugby#.VgIMOsuqqko">Super 18 Rugby competition</a>.</p>
<p>The expansion of arguably the world’s strongest club competition will also include an Argentinian team, another definitive example of the globalisation of the game. </p>
<p>Rugby union is now truly an international game played by <a href="http://pulse-static-files.s3.amazonaws.com/worldrugby/photo/2015/03/05/61b7a966-a65a-4952-8b71-74bed89a8d7c/WR_2014_Player_Numbers.jpg">more than 7.23-million players in 120 countries across six continents</a>. Participation numbers are rising rapidly.</p>
<h2>A growth in players… literally</h2>
<p>Over the past few decades the weight and size of rugby players <a href="http://theconversation.com/not-so-gentle-giants-how-rugby-players-are-getting-bigger-23978">have increased</a>, irrespective of their role and playing position. </p>
<p>But Japan’s pack weight and height, which was a total of 57kg and 50cm less than their South African competitors, defies the logic that size is everything.</p>
<p>South African prop Jannie Du Plessis <a href="http://www.sabc.co.za/news/a/1fa8328049e834bdbdc6bfb28a2b9957/Japan-front-row-scrums,-a-possible-challenge-for-Boks-20151909">said prior to the game</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>[…] Japan has an efficient and a good scrum that’s going to be a massive challenge for us. So the challenge for us is to go and meet them at their height and still be effective ourselves.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The statistics from the game signify this challenge, with Japan winning all its own scrums. But Japan’s initial success in the World Cup took a turn overnight when they were <a href="http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/rugby-union/34312611">defeated 45-10</a> by Scotland.</p>
<h2>It’s more than just size that counts</h2>
<p>While anthropometric traits may contribute to team success, sporting performance is a multifactorial phenomenon. As such, teams that do not possess the size and shape of their opposition may have to find alternative solutions to succeed.</p>
<p>Although the weight of rugby players has increased at each successive World Cup from 1987 to 2011, the <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-34290980">size of the increase has plateaued</a> in recent years.</p>
<p>Given rugby union is a game characterised by engaging in or evading physical contact, there must be an upper threshold at which any further increase in size of a rugby player may be detrimental to playing performance.</p>
<p>While tactical and technical adjustments of playing strategy are fundamentally important to team success, there are numerous avenues to enhance sporting performance.</p>
<p>Improved understanding of player activity profiles during training and matches via advances in wearable micro technology (such as GPS), paired with knowledge of how they recover, may enhance the <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21911856">likelihood of positive physical adaptation</a> and reduce the <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25054573">likelihood of illness and injury</a> via more effective training practices. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24791913">Sleep</a> and <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11128862">nutrition</a> practices are incredibly important for player recovery and mitigating fatigue that may influence playing performance. </p>
<p>Fatigue may also be associated with the travel demands of competition. This is of considerable importance given the international expansion of the game. Travel fatigue, which may manifest as jet lag when time zones are crossed, may have <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22450594">detrimental effects on athletic performance</a>. </p>
<p>Utilising a scientific approach to the preparation of athletes may reduce the gap between the traditional custodians of the game and the emergent nations, despite the size and shape of their populations.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/47930/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Rugby is often seen as the clash of the giants and this year’s Rugby World Cup includes some mighty players. But there’s more to winning a game than just brute force.Andy Stewart, Director Research Training, College of Sport & Exercise Science and Institute of Sport, Exercise & Active Living, Victoria UniversityMichele Lo, PhD candidate in Sport Science at the College of Sport & Exercise Science and Institute of Sport Exercise & Active Living, Victoria UniversityRob Aughey, Associate Professor in Exercise and Sport Physiology, Director of Research Operations at the Institute of Sport, Exercise and Active Living (ISEAL), Victoria UniversitySam Howe, PhD candidate in Sport Science, Victoria UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/478692015-09-23T05:35:25Z2015-09-23T05:35:25ZRugby World Cup: how the host cities are making the most of the fan influx<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/95689/original/image-20150922-16673-1xy3w6y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/gallery-2642683p1.html">DavidGraham86 / Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>With 20 countries hailing from six continents, the Rugby World Cup is a truly global mega-event. It has come a long way since it was first staged in 1987, when it was broadcast to just 200m people in 17 territories. Now around 4 billion people in 205 territories <a href="http://www.marketingweek.com/2015/08/27/a-marketers-essential-guide-to-the-rugby-world-cup/">will watch 20,000 hours of coverage</a> – all making RWC 2015 a unique reputation-raising opportunity for its 11 host cities in England and Wales.</p>
<p>The economic impact of such global sports events is huge and far-reaching. A <a href="http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/EY-rugby-world-cup-final-report/$FILE/EY-rugby-world-cup-final-report.pdf">report by the accountancy firm Ernst & Young</a> estimates that the host economies will benefit from £2.2 billion being spent. With almost half a million international visitors expected for the tournament, they predict that an extra £982m will be added to the UK’s GDP and that international visitors will spend £869m. </p>
<p>Coming from all over the world, especially the southern hemisphere rugby-mad countries of Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, many of these visitors will enjoy an extended stay in the UK, ploughing around £200 a day into its economy. For some, it will likely be seen as the trip of a life-time – all the more reason to make the most of their visit. Nic Fletcher, head of marketing at English rugby’s governing body, the Rugby Football Union, anticipates that World Cup tourists <a href="http://www.marketingweek.com/2015/08/27/a-marketers-essential-guide-to-the-rugby-world-cup/?nocache=true&adfesuccess=1">will spend time exploring the UK as well</a>, following their respective teams’ progress over the 44-day tournament.</p>
<p>Here’s how host cities are capitalising on their trips.</p>
<h2>During the games</h2>
<p>The economies of the world cup’s host cities are expected to boom as they benefit from the influx of passionate rugby fans from both overseas and the UK. More than 2.2m of the 2.3m tickets available have been sold and the 5m applications on the official site means numerous games were oversubscribed and we’re likely to see tickets being sold on for profit elsewhere. </p>
<p>Interest in the sport is <a href="http://www.marketingweek.com/2015/08/27/a-marketers-essential-guide-to-the-rugby-world-cup/?nocache=true&adfesuccess=1">expected to double</a> during the tournament as sports fans everywhere celebrate the latest in a line of recent high-profile sporting events to be held in the UK. In addition, many more people will spend money watching games live in pubs and bars, while spending on food from supermarkets typically increases <a href="http://www.marketingweek.com/2015/08/27/a-marketers-essential-guide-to-the-rugby-world-cup/">by around a third</a> during such big sporting events.</p>
<h2>Infrastructure</h2>
<p>Host cities have already benefited from £85m in infrastructural enhancements as they prepare for the tournament. These have created 41,000 extra jobs and will also benefit cities long after the final whistle is blown. The RFU has invested £76m in redeveloping Twickenham Stadium, whilst at the other end of the scale, Exeter has invested £650,000 in extending the capacity of Sandy Park. Such accompanying infrastructural and tourism improvements will in turn underpin efforts to attract further inward investment, just as more than half of New Zealand businesses saw their international networks boosted <a href="http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/EY-rugby-world-cup-final-report/$FILE/EY-rugby-world-cup-final-report.pdf">by hosting the tournament in 2011</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/95691/original/image-20150922-16698-1cw8f28.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/95691/original/image-20150922-16698-1cw8f28.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=366&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/95691/original/image-20150922-16698-1cw8f28.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=366&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/95691/original/image-20150922-16698-1cw8f28.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=366&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/95691/original/image-20150922-16698-1cw8f28.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/95691/original/image-20150922-16698-1cw8f28.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/95691/original/image-20150922-16698-1cw8f28.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Twickenham has had a revamp.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/33459161@N06/4080061234/in/photolist-7dxo4m-9AHV38-rGXay-67V81u-67V7e5-5idGX6-4zfhbJ-4zfhkb-r8cJRu-qbutue-r5Zzzo-r5Zzpd-4zb33H-4zb3fi-4zfhmW-hoQdfG-6ytPc-6ytPb-4zb352-4zfhfh-4zfhps-4zb36z-4zb3nk-4zb3aM-4zb37V-4zb3jv-4zb3cn-4zb3ki-4zb3hT-4zfhh1-4zb3ei-4zfhcJ-4zb3hp-4zb3dP-4zfhgC-4zfhsW-4zfhdh-4zb3gc-4zb38P-4zfhth-4zb3dn-4zfhiA-4zb32z-4zb3mX-4zfhj5-4zfhqQ-4zb3ae-4zb378-9NfGAg-9Q2Rrc">Carlos</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Reputation building</h2>
<p>The Rugby World Cup offers its 11 host cities opportunities to boost their reputations as great places for residents, tourists and investors. England is the host nation and London hosts 17 matches in Twickenham, Wembley and the Olympic Stadium. In addition, Wales’ Millennium Stadium in Cardiff will host a further eight games, just one less than when Wales itself was the host nation in 1999. Then around 330,000 people visited Wales specifically for the world cup and <a href="http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200001/cmselect/cmcumeds/286/286ap25.htm">£83m flowed into the Welsh economy</a>. </p>
<p>Then there are the number of host cities that people will visit and stay in that they might not otherwise visit on trips to the UK. These include Gloucester, Leicester, Milton Keynes and the town where the game was developed, Rugby. Plus, the fact that games are being broadcast around the world means a truly global audience for them. </p>
<h2>Responsibilities and benefits</h2>
<p>The opportunity to be a host city brings responsibilities as well as benefits. Hotels in many of them are <a href="http://www.walesonline.co.uk/business/business-news/rugby-world-cup-2015-hotels-94">already fully booked</a> and rugby fans yet to finalise their arrangements are anxiously searching for accommodation. How these cities respond to their needs will leave a lasting impression on visitors – and their views will no doubt be shared on social media. The shortage of rooms has provided an Airbnb boost for host cities. Cardiff (where Australia, New Zealand and France will play) and Newcastle (where South Africa, New Zealand and Scotland appear) have experienced a <a href="http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/scrum-for-rooms-airbnb-bookings-soar-as-londoners-open-doors-to-rugby-world-cup-fans-a2946896.html">498% and 469% rise in bookings</a> respectively.</p>
<p>At the same time, many hotels are <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-34078156">charging inflated room rates</a> during the tournament, something that will also have an effect on visitors’ impressions of their hosts but which is beyond the control of the UK’s various destination marketing organisations such as Visit England and Visit Wales. Everyone recognises that premium events bring premium prices but there are dangers in being too greedy. </p>
<p>Hotels may consider the World Cup fans to be one-off visitors and are not interested in them as potential repeat customers. Yet for the cities themselves, widespread negative reviews on social media platforms prompted by this kind of overcharging could undermine the tournament’s reputation and legacy. This would be an unfortunate knock to the hard work that is involved in hosting the tournament.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/47869/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Annette Pritchard does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The short and long-term impact of hosting the Rugby World Cup for the whole of the UK.Annette Pritchard, Director of Welsh Centre for Tourism Research, Cardiff Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/480032015-09-23T03:31:20Z2015-09-23T03:31:20ZNo place like home when playing in the Rugby World Cup<p>Japan’s “<a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-09-20/japan-beats-springboks-rugby-world-cup-upset-south-africa/6789584">greatest upset</a> ever in World Cup rugby” against South Africa was a signal moment for minnow nations, but highlighted the fluid nature of world rugby representative eligibility rules.</p>
<p>Japan’s “Blossoms” named 11 overseas-born players in their official <a href="http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/japan/squad">RWC2015 squad</a>. Players like Hiroshi Yamashita and Keita Inagaki were joined by those like Luke Thompson, Michael Broadhurst, Michael Leitch and final-try hero <a href="http://www.odt.co.nz/sport/rugby/93631/rugby-hesketh-takes-wing-japan">Karne Hesketh</a>. The obvious question is how they qualified for Japan.</p>
<p>The answer is the same way <a href="http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/italy/squad">Italy</a> includes players like Quintin Geldenhuys, <a href="http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/wales">Wales</a> like Taulupe Faletau, <a href="http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/england/squad">England</a> like brothers Mako and Billy Vunipola and <a href="http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/australia/squad">Australia</a> like Henry Speight: international rugby policies interacting with an increasingly globalised, multicultural world.</p>
<p>That is where it becomes difficult for World Rugby (formerly the International Rugby Board). As the game becomes more professionalised – for which read lucrative for players – policy boundaries become stretched and aggravated by a now socially complex workforce, especially from the South Pacific.</p>
<h2>What are the eligibility rules?</h2>
<p>The World Rugby rules <a href="http://www.worldrugby.org/wr-resources/WorldRugbyDIR/Handbook/English/pubData/source/files/Regulation_208.pdf">governing eligibility</a> essentially fall into two parts. </p>
<p>The “heritage” one allows the sons of parents from different countries to become eligible for one or other of the parents’ “home” countries in addition to the one in which they are resident. That has enabled several New Zealanders, for example, to turn out for Scotland, Ireland and Wales.</p>
<p>Mako Vunipola and his brother Billy provide wonderful examples. Mako was born in New Zealand, Billy in Australia, to Samoan parents who then went to live in Wales. Scholarships to Millfield and Harrow schools resulted in Mako and Billy entering the English rather than Welsh rugby system. Both now play for England. This has <a href="http://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/news/11775537.SIX_NATIONS__Pontypool_friends_of_Faletau_and_Vunipola_say_their_support__will_be_down_the_middle__as_Wales_face_England/">some complications</a>: they are related to Taulupe Faletau of Wales. </p>
<p>The 2015 Australian squad demonstrates this cultural mix. Henry Speight was born in Fiji but lived with his family in New Zealand before going to Australia. Matt Toomua was born in Melbourne to a Samoan father and a New Zealand mother. Quade Cooper was born in New Zealand and shifted to Australia with his family when he was 13. Tevita Kuridrani was born in Fiji and shifted to Australia in 2007, having attracted attention playing underage rugby. Joseph Tomane was born in New Zealand to Samoan and Cook Island parents who shifted to Australia where he became involved first with rugby league before switching to rugby only in 2011.</p>
<p>That demonstrates another other angle in the eligibility debate. The code-switching permitted in modern professional rugby age saw players like Brad Thorn switch back and forth across the Tasman to represent Australia in league and New Zealand in rugby. </p>
<p>The current stars there are Sonny Bill Williams from New Zealand; Israel Folau from Australia (of Tongan descent) who has played league, Australian Rules and now rugby; and the wonderfully named Craig Wing, former NRL star now one of Japan’s imports despite his mother being Filipina.</p>
<p>Tommaso Allan demonstrates the social and eligibility complexities. While having a Scots father and Italian mother, he early on played for Western Province in South Africa. Scotland sought clarification on his eligibility there, but he now <a href="http://www.scotsman.com/sport/rugby/latest/tommy-allan-why-i-rejected-scotland-for-italy-1-3256136">plays for Italy</a> alongside Geldenhuys and Luke McLean. McLean is of Italian and Australian descent but played for the Sale Sharks in England before going to Italy in 2007.</p>
<p>Much of this, then, comes from the global movement of families, especially from Pacific rugby centres like Fiji, Samoa and Tonga. New Zealand schoolboy rugby is littered with Pasifika scholarship holders at the beginning of the supply chain. </p>
<p>The critics consider that the reliance on those supply lines determine Australia and New Zealand’s <a href="http://www.therugbyblog.com/the-hemispherical-divide-detrimental-to-the-future-of-club-rugby">reluctance to develop</a> a Pacific Islands franchise in <a href="http://www.sanzarrugby.com/superrugby/">Super Rugby</a>, the elite southern hemisphere competition.</p>
<h2>Team integrity vs development</h2>
<p>The second World Rugby eligibility provision is even more problematic. It allows anyone who has not played internationally for his “home” nation to turn out for another one after serving a three-year eligibility period, which more precisely means three rugby seasons.</p>
<p>The attraction here for players in the Pacific, New Zealand, South Africa and Australia, especially, is twofold. There is the chance to make <a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10875001">good money</a> playing for countries like Japan, while at the same time playing internationally when that was unlikely at home.</p>
<p>That has led to eligibility issues in the past. Shane Howarth, for example, played for the All Blacks in the 1990s before going to league then back to rugby in Wales. He played several internationals by virtue of having an apparently Welsh grandfather. It <a href="http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/10-years-on-from-grannygate-1921377">later emerged</a> his grandfather was New Zealand-born. </p>
<p>For Japan, though, this has been an obvious way to build a national side in the absence of a strong local supply line. In 2011, for example, Murray Williams <a href="http://www.odt.co.nz/sport/rugby/all-blacks/279444/rugby-japan-test-bring-back-memories">played for Japan</a> having been a good New Zealand player but an unlikely All Black. He is now a key player for Mid-Canterbury, reigning premiers in the Heartland competition, New Zealand’s third level behind Super Rugby and the ITM Cup.</p>
<p>World Rugby faces a dilemma. Like most sports it aspires to be global (hence the change of name), but has a minority of powerhouse playing nations. Having the excellent Fumiaki Tanaka as second-string halfback to Aaron Smith for the Highlanders in the Super Rugby competition is one way of doing that, but a slow one. The easier solution is for Japan to “hire” big forwards like Broadhurst and world-class players like Wing.</p>
<p>World Rugby is reportedly <a href="http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/rugby-union/33979424">about to reconsider</a> the second provision, but somehow has to develop the game more globally for both playing and commercial reasons while balancing national team integrity. The two are not easy correlates.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/48003/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brian Stoddart does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Many nations contesting the Rugby World Cup are fielding ‘ring-ins’ from other countries. The rules allowing this reflect the difficulty of balancing national team integrity and development.Brian Stoddart, Distinguished Fellow, Australia-India Institute, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/476532015-09-18T14:50:53Z2015-09-18T14:50:53ZA view on the Rugby World Cup and South African national unity<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/95328/original/image-20150918-24251-4wzdb5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A Springbok fan cheers before the Rugby World Cup quarter-final match between South Africa and Australia at the Wellington Regional Stadium in 2011.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Mike Hutchings</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Rugby World Cup is upon us and rugby fever is gripping South Africa. South Africans don’t agree on many things politically and socially but, like most countries, they agree that they like to win in the sporting arena. </p>
<p>The nation goes into mourning on a regular basis when its cricket and football teams perform badly, which is often the case. However, rugby is the shining star in the galaxy. South Africans all know that if the <a href="http://www.sarugby.net/">“Springboks”</a> lose, it is because of poor coaching and poor team selection. It certainly isn’t the fault of the “infallible” rugby heroes. </p>
<p>They were elevated into the realm of <a href="http://jungiancenter.org/essay/religious-impulse-human-being-jung-religion-spirituality-and-life-worth-living">“Jungian Gods”</a> or archetypal figures during the presidency of national icon Nelson Mandela, who in 1995 donned then-captain <a href="http://www.biography.com/people/francois-pienaar-530308">Francois Pienaar’s</a> number six Springbok shirt when watching the gladiators at play. </p>
<p>The country had experienced a sea-change into democracy, and then conquered the world in rugby. South Africa was united, and things looked very promising. This inspired the nation and rugby icons became veritable lobbyists for political change and the normalisation and deracialisation of the society, known locally as transformation. Rugby fields became a virtual Colosseum of dreams.</p>
<h2>Lack of transformation</h2>
<p>In 1995, South Africa had the opportunity to build on the feeling of national unity motivated by winning the Rugby World Cup. However, this opportunity was squandered as rugby leadership failed to make transformation in the sport a reality. If it had occurred, the society may well have mirrored the transformation in other life arenas. </p>
<p>Today, acrimony and aggression are the order of the day. The young feel that the playing fields have not been levelled and symbolically vent their anger on statues of erstwhile colonial leaders. Students at universities across the country have been campaigning to have statues of <a href="http://rhodesmustfall.co.za/">colonial leaders</a> removed from places of prominence, the most notable being the Rhodes Must Fall campaign.</p>
<p>This year, a court appeal to stop the Springboks playing in the World Cup transpired because it was argued that Sports Minister <a href="http://whoswho.co.za/fikile-mbalula-3200">Fikile Mbalula</a> and the <a href="http://www.sarugby.net/">South African Rugby Union</a> had not ensured true transformation as the team demographics do not reflect those of the country.</p>
<p>The judge denied the appeal but noted that after the World Cup a broader conversation on proper transformation must take place. He warned that people were losing patience and noted that this was reflected in the problems experienced at, for instance, universities.</p>
<p>The whistle for full time has been blown. We have to transform and give opportunities to everyone, not just those belonging to the so-called white rugby elite. It is time to end their reign and for a new guard to take the reins. </p>
<p>This will not be easy. For the old guard it is not just letting go of rugby’s capitalist base, but its association with the very heart of Afrikanerdom. They need to reflect on what makes South Africa great. Simply stated, it is diversity.</p>
<p>South Africa has not won a world cup in any sport since 2007 when it achieved its second rugby <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/7052822.stm">victory</a>. But this did not seem to unite the country like the first win, possibly because of a lack of transformation. This is why it is important for South Africa to win, and then to transform the sport to achieve proper unity. This will hopefully have a snowball effect and help achieve unity and transformation elsewhere. </p>
<p>Performances on the international arena in many sports is inconsistent at best. I would suggest that this unpredictability reflects both the country’s individual and collective inner turmoil. As a nation, South Africans do not reflect adequately on who they are and where they came from. Whites, in particular, seem utterly unable to reflect on why the majority of the population still feels excluded from economic and other resources. </p>
<h2>Flaws in the plan</h2>
<p>Nearly two years ago now the world mourned the death of sage Nelson Mandela. This is the first Rugby World Cup since his death. Mandela’s enthusiasm and belief in sport acted as the glue which united the nation’s psyche. It must be revived. </p>
<p>There has been some <a href="http://www.sport24.co.za/Rugby/WorldCup/Heyneke-surprises-with-Bok-selections-20150916">dissatisfaction</a> with the current coach Heynke Meyer, and the selections he has made. Some do not understand the choice of Rudy Paige, according to one of South Africa’s leading rugby writers <a href="http://www.iol.co.za/sport/rugby/springboks/the-bok-squad-a-black-white-issue-1.1911431#">Hugh Godwin</a>. </p>
<p>However, I question the choice of the ageing white players Victor Matfield and Schalk Burger (both playing in their third World Cup) and Jean de Villiers, who is arguably still not 100% match fit. Why has South Africa not developed other locks, flanks and centres? An obvious omission to the squad is Elton Jantjies, a black player whose performance is arguably good enough.</p>
<p>Rugby’s one saving grace is that it has not been involved in much of the corruption that has tarnished other sports, such as allegations of <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/international/7765224/How-Hansie-Cronje-became-most-infamous-villain-in-crickets-fixing-scandals.html">match-fixing in cricket</a>. </p>
<p>We can liken the state of the nation to the state of its rugby team. This sounds banal but has a basis in how we perceive things both literally and metaphorically. In recent times South Africa has seen xenophobia, racism, populism and widespread corruption, and it needs something to believe in.</p>
<p>When South Africans hear the national anthem and watch and cheer their metaphorical gladiators on their way to victory, they feel omnipotent, confident and secure in collective unconscious. They want to do better and want Nelson Mandela to hear the cheers in his resting place. South Africans still feel that this sport has a purity that will unite everyone.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/47653/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kathryn Nel does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>When South Africa won the Rugby World Cup in 1995 the country felt invincible and united. Twenty years later it is going through a tumultuous time which is even affecting its attitude to the Springboks.Kathryn Nel, Associate Professor of Psychology, University of LimpopoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/477232015-09-18T05:40:40Z2015-09-18T05:40:40ZExplainer: the Rugby World Cup<p>The Rugby World Cup, arguably the biggest sporting event on the planet this year, kicks off on Friday September 18 when England take on Fiji at London’s Twickenham Stadium. </p>
<p>England (winners in 2003) are among the favourites again although history would suggest that the champions are more likely to come from the southern hemisphere, as Australia (1991 and 1999) and South Africa (2007) were winners of the three previous World Cups that have taken place this side of the equator. </p>
<p>That’s why the <a href="http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/rugby-world-cup-2015-betting-10071608">reigning champions New Zealand</a> are currently the bookies’ favourite.</p>
<h2>The evolution of the cup</h2>
<p>While the Olympic Games are well over 100 years old and the Football World Cup is in its ninth decade of competition, the Rugby World Cup first took place in 1987. This in part was due to the fact that until 1995 rugby union was an “amateur” sport, although some places had quite a relaxed view to the payment of players. </p>
<p>The 1987 event, co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia, was a relatively low-key affair in which only invited nations took part. The All Blacks claimed the first title but it took until they hosted a World Cup for a second time in 2011 for the team to be victorious again. Staging the event there was a somewhat contentious decision, as Japan had put in a particularly strong bid. Since then, those governing rugby have taken time to embrace a more international outlook. <a href="http://www.worldrugby.org/rwc2019/venues">Awarding the 2019 finals to Japan</a> was an important step forward.</p>
<p>The players who represented their nations in 1987 were a variety of shapes and sizes and came from a number of different occupational backgrounds with policemen, builders and salesmen all having to seek permission from their employers for time off to play in the tournament. </p>
<p>Matches only took place during the day as few stadiums had floodlights – and there was limited commercial involvement. Today, the leading rugby nations all comprise full-time athletes and many matches are scheduled for prime-time television. </p>
<p>These teams now come in to the stadium with an army of dieticians, psychologists, analysts and fitness coaches. There are sizeable wages for the <a href="http://www.therichest.com/sports/other-sports/top-10-highest-paid-rugby-players-in-the-world/">leading players</a> and tickets for the matches do not come <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/rugby-world-cup/11505722/how-to-buy-tickets.html">cheap</a>.</p>
<h2>A host of nations</h2>
<p>The game has always been controlled by a narrow core of nations. South Africa did not take part in the first <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/features/3634426/How-Nelson-Mandela-won-the-rugby-World-Cup.html">two tournaments</a> but were somewhat controversially awarded the 1995 finals and went on to achieve a momentous win, under the eyes of new president Nelson Mandela, that has since been celebrated in the film <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/invictus">Invictus</a>. </p>
<p>Four years later the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff with its ultra-modern retractable roof staged the final, but matches were also played in France and other nations across the UK. </p>
<h2>The usual suspects</h2>
<p>So who will lift the trophy at Twickenham on October 31? Only men from four nations have ever lifted the trophy (Australia, England, New Zealand and South Africa) and just five different nations (the above four and France) have appeared in the final. It is highly unlikely that any country outside of a very small group of six will make it as far as the semi-final stages. This has only happened on one occasion when Argentina achieved third place in 2007. </p>
<p>Perhaps a team coached by a New Zealander will win it. This applies not just to the All Blacks, but also includes the reigning Six Nations champions, Ireland (a dark horse), Scotland (a nation whose governing body have a stated aim to win the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/34242499">trophy this year</a>), and Wales. There will be New Zealand men wearing the colours of a range of different nations including the now obligatory collection of <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-union/international/rugby-world-cup-2015-john-barclay-proves-biggest-loser-in-vern-cotters-battle-of-kilted-kiwis-10482087.html">“Kilted Kiwis” in the Scotland squad</a>. A number of English-born players will play for Wales against the country of their birth (Jake Ball, Alex Cuthbert and George North).</p>
<p>How about a first-time champion? France have made it to the final on three occasions and are the only one of the five nations to have appeared in a final who do not have a World Cup in the trophy cabinet. </p>
<p>A host nation victory is also possible. England 2015 will reverberate with the sounds of Jerusalem and Swing Low Sweet Chariot, but some matches will also be taking place at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. Wales are also a (kind of) host and should they get past the tricky group stage then there will be dancing in the streets of Cardiff, Conwy and Caersws. </p>
<p>Cardiff was also one of the venues for test match cricket this summer when England defeated Australia to regain the Ashes. There will definitely be some cricket scores in the tournament and the gap between the best in the world and the rest may mean scores should easily surpass the first-innings score of <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/cricket/ashes-2015-australias-reasons-for-defeat-to-england-are-complicated-the-problems-intractable-10446904.html">Australia in the fourth test</a>. </p>
<p>To help make up for their team’s defeat in the cricket, Australia could complete a clean sweep of World Cups hosted by England/Wales/UK to regain bragging rights. South Africa will also be quietly confident about becoming the first three-time champions. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.richardburton.com">Richard Burton</a> once suggested that rugby was a game of massive lies and stupendous exaggerations. He knew a thing or two about the game and would probably have agreed that it is about time Wales joined the exclusive list of World Cup winners.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/47723/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Harris does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Everything you need to know about rugby’s biggest event.John Harris, Reader in Business Management, Glasgow Caledonian UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/476122015-09-18T05:40:32Z2015-09-18T05:40:32ZHaka nation: how the iconic rugby war challenge binds New Zealanders together<p>The <a href="http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/">Rugby World Cup</a> is poised to set the sporting world alight once again. England and Wales will host a total of 20 teams, which will consist of 20 pool stage matches, as well as a knockout stage of quarter and semi-final games, and the final on October 31. </p>
<p>The build-up to tournament has been nothing short of spectacular, with an estimated <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/international/england/11865346/Rugby-World-Cup-2015-England-Rugby-confirms-record-ticket-sales-for-tournament.html">94% of the tournament’s 2.45 m tickets sold</a>, contributing to a <a href="http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/EY-rugby-world-cup-final-report/$FILE/EY-rugby-world-cup-final-report.pdf">£869m</a> in direct expenditure.</p>
<p>New Zealand’s All Blacks will be playing for back-to-back world championships – a feat not yet accomplished by any team in its 28 year history. Of course, not only will the hopes and dreams of all New Zealanders be riding high on their team winning yet another world title, but indeed the <em>mana</em>, or sense of pride, in what it means to 4.5m people to be Kiwi will be proudly on display. </p>
<p>The famous All Black haka (war challenge) <a href="http://rugby-pioneers.blogs.com/rugby/2006/06/the_maori_war_c.html">first performed in 1888 against Surrey</a>, will be seen by millions of viewers worldwide. </p>
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<h2>The history of the haka</h2>
<p>The haka is not only renowned across the sporting world for sending shivers down the opposition’s spine; it is also very much part of the social and cultural fabric of New Zealand. The haka is in the veins of every Kiwi – young and old. It makes up our Mauri (life) and ora (force). </p>
<p>Inter-tribally, Māori people traditionally competed for control over land, or to use utu (exact revenge) to maintain a sense or tribal equilibrium. This competitive nature, although an important aspect of a tribe’s ability to earn respect and mana (prestige) over land they lived on, usually did not surpass the need to achieve a common ground to work together, and to co-exist.</p>
<p>Haka, like any other ritual preparing a tribe for war, was an expression of one’s strength, pride and unity. Such was the influence of haka that it was not unusual to see children mimicking many of the actions. It was also an enjoyable pastime to see who could perform the fiercest pukana (protruding of the tongues and eyes) and to act out the moves in every manner thinkable. Haka also helped many children to improve their physical skills and prowess including balance, hand and eye co-ordination, dexterity and poise under pressure.</p>
<p>The All Black teams perform two types of haka – Ka Mate and Kapa o Pango. Ka Mate was <a href="http://www.allblacks.com/Teams/Haka">composed by the Ngāti Toa chief Te Rauparaha</a>, around 1820, as a celebration of life over death after his lucky escape from pursuing Ngāti Maniapoto and Waikato enemies. Having played only <a href="http://www.allblacks.com/Fixtures">ten test matches this year,</a> the All Blacks will be relying on a little luck to get them to the final, but as we well know luck only comes about through the rewards of hard work.</p>
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<p><a href="http://media.newzealand.com/en/story-ideas/history-of-the-all-black-haka/">Kapa o Pango</a>, developed in 2005, was introduced to complement Ka Mate and to be used on special occasions. The main message associated with Kapa o Pango is about claiming, and becoming one with, the land under one’s feet. It also serves as a reminder about our maternal relationship to the Earth, Papatuānuku, which nurtures us – and to give the All Blacks the strength they require to overcome the challenge before them.</p>
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<h2>Haka at school</h2>
<p>The haka makes up one of six cultural performing art genres associated with kapa haka - the name for a Māori dance team. Kapa haka has a place in every school in New Zealand, not only as an educational requirement helping to demonstrate the bi-cultural competency of schools and teachers, but also as an integral part of the social and cultural development of our young people.</p>
<p>This was on display in June, when moving footage of boys doing the haka at the funeral of a beloved teacher at a school in Palmsteron North made <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2015/07/28/asia/nz-school-haka/">international headlines</a>.</p>
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<p>The haka was formally recognised as an <a href="http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/maori/field-maori-assessment-support-materials/maori-performance/standards-and-assessment-guides/">academic subject</a> by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority in 2002; where students can now gain credits towards their high school National Certificate in Educational Achievement. In more recent times, teachers have used kapa haka as an effective teaching and learning assessment measure for students learning the Māori language.</p>
<p>My <a href="https://researchspace.auckland.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/2292/2377/01front.pdf?sequence=1">doctoral studies in 2007</a> explored the educational benefits associated with Maori students participating in kapa haka in public high schools in New Zealand. I found that despite the high levels of interest in the physicality of kapa haka, and the obvious talent of the students, the haka actually provides a gateway to learning te reo Māori (the Māori language). This in turn prepares many students to become successful leaders at school, and in their community. </p>
<p>The physical, social and academic attributes associated with learning the songs and actions within a group were very different to the learning they experienced in other areas of the curriculum that were more often didactic by nature. </p>
<p>Many students said that performing kapa haka was a way to protect and maintain their identity as Māori. It also helped students to solve problems as well as make adjustments to be able to better cope with the demands of school, and in their everyday lives. Being aware, and able to achieve these first two attributes, also helped them to develop positive relationships with their peers and teachers. As a result, students displayed greater levels of enthusiasm for learning, and wanted to be at school. </p>
<p>The haka breathes life into what it means to be New Zealander. It also inspires us all to stand tall, unite and move forward together as a one nation, with one dream. With that in mind, don’t be surprised to see the whole country break into a haka if the All Blacks once again make the final in Twickenham on October 31.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/47612/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul Whitinui does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The history and culture of rugby’s most famous tradition.Paul Whitinui, Coordinator (Māori Teacher Education), University of OtagoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/475302015-09-16T14:26:47Z2015-09-16T14:26:47ZHow our new scrum technique will make the Rugby World Cup safer for players<p>The start of the 2015 Rugby World Cup this week is an excellent opportunity to witness the sport’s elite athletes vying to take home the famous Webb Ellis Cup.</p>
<p>Players walking onto the field at matches around the UK should be at the peak of their physical fitness at the start of the tournament. But even before the tournament kicks off, the dreams of some players have been shattered due to injury and their team’s plans need re-jigging; spare a thought for <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/sep/16/devastated-leigh-halfpenny-warren-gatland-injury">Leigh Halfpenny</a> or <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/34183785">Rhys Webb</a> of Wales.</p>
<p>Within Rugby Union, the available evidence suggests the risk of injuries at the senior professional level can be considered <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23839770">high</a> but similar to other full contact sports.</p>
<p>One area of concern is the scrum, which occurs after a minor infringement in play. Three rows of players from each team bind with each other and against the opposition to try to gain possession of the ball through pushing actions. </p>
<p>The injury risk per event of rugby scrummaging is <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24603079">relatively high</a> and <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24516009">higher still</a> if a scrum collapses.</p>
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<h2>Crouch, bind, set!</h2>
<p>This year’s World Cup will be the first where the new scrum engagement technique, “crouch, bind, set” will be seen in action. This is something our research group at Bath played a key role in developing, working in partnership with World Rugby.</p>
<p>The technique reduces the distance between the opposing front row players, and hence lowers the speeds and forces involved at the start, or engagement, of the scrum. It also imposes pre-binding between opposition players prior to the main engagement with the intention of reducing the chances of the scrum collapsing.</p>
<p>Our research group <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24505041">conducted a major study</a> to assess the physical demands of rugby scrummaging and to evaluate how these demands could be reduced by making modifications to the scrum engagement.</p>
<p>We tested players ranging from senior international to schoolboy levels and found that this new type of engagement reduced the forces on the front row players by 20-25%. </p>
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<p>The results of our study were sufficient for World Rugby to instigate a <a href="http://laws.worldrugby.org/?domain=16&language=EN">global law change</a> in August 2013 to bring in “crouch, bind, set” across all levels of the sport.</p>
<h2>Education</h2>
<p>Large-scale, compulsory education programmes for coaches and referees have also had success in reducing injury. The <a href="http://www.coachingtoolbox.co.nz/rugbysmart/introduction/">RugbySmart</a> programme in New Zealand has run since 2001, and <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18356104">subsequent injury surveillance</a> has shown good effect in reducing the risk of specific injuries, such as <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17513314">neck injuries</a>.</p>
<p>The similar <a href="http://boksmart.co.za/">BokSmart programme</a> runs in South Africa. Nationwide education programmes are challenging to set up and maintain but may still be a beneficial endeavour in other rugby playing nations as part of the overall coach education programmes.</p>
<p>The physical conditioning and preparation of athletes is another area to target for injury prevention. One avenue is to consider the <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26309331">training load</a> imposed on athletes – as injury risk <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23333045">seems to increase</a> when the training or match load experienced by a player is either too high, too low or changes too rapidly. These results are important because they suggest that careful monitoring of the workload of individual athletes may be beneficial in managing the welfare of a squad of athletes.</p>
<p>In relation to effective preparation of athletes, large-scale studies in other team sports such as <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24790486">football</a>, handball and <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17304001">basketball</a> have shown that <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15699058">specific exercise programmes</a>, focusing on balance, strength and jump training can reduce the number of injuries by 30-40%. </p>
<p>The remaining challenge has been to convince athletes to undertake programmes on a regular basis and thus they suffer the same fate as other public health interventions due to lack of adherence. Studies are being undertaken in adult community and school-age rugby by our <a href="http://www.bath.ac.uk/health/projects/rfu-rugby-injury/">research group</a> with the support of the Rugby Football Union in England.</p>
<h2>Prevention is performance</h2>
<p>It is sometimes said that a focus on injury prevention will detract from time spent training to perform. However, there is a key phrase: “injury prevention is performance”.</p>
<p>We recently <a href="http://www.englandrugby.com/mm/Document/MyRugby/Players/01/30/36/13/Injury_audit_report_Neutral.pdf">demonstrated this in a study</a> showing that over a seven-year period the number of days lost to injury within a squad was associated with team success in terms of league position – fewer days lost was associated with higher league position. This statistical analysis demonstrated that potentially achievable reductions in a squad’s injury burden (for example reducing the number of muscle strains suffered in training) could correspond to real differences in terms of qualification for playoffs or European competitions.</p>
<p>If we want future generations to enjoy the game, the onus is on all working at professional down to grassroots level to ensure rugby is as safe as it can be for all to enjoy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/47530/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Grant Trewartha receives funding from the Rugby Football Union and previously from World Rugby. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Keith Stokes receives funding from the Rugby Football Union and Premier Rugby Limited and has previously received funding from World Rugby.. </span></em></p>New way of engaging in a scrum will be used at the World Cup this weekend.Grant Trewartha, Senior Lecturer in Biomechanics, University of BathKeith Stokes, Senior Lecturer in Physiology, University of BathLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.