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Former All Black set to give back to Fiji
Former All Black and Fijian rugby player Joeli Vidiri will launch a new rugby programme in Fiji on Saturday 20 November aimed at improving the health of young people.
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The four-year Sport for Health (Rugby) Programme is funded through the New Zealand Aid Program and is expected to reach 4,000 Fijian teenagers in its first year.
Known for his try scoring exploits for Counties Manukau, the Blues and the All Blacks, Vidiri said he was delighted to be an ambassador for the programme.
“It’s going to be a good few days. I don’t get to go back to Fiji as much as I would like to and I’m really looking forward to spending time and giving back to my country.
“The programme is a great idea and is all about the kids and their futures. We need to be making sure that they are living healthy lives and making good decisions,” said Vidiri.
The legendary wing will be joined in Fiji by the captain of the Fijian women’s team, Lailanie Burnes, and both ambassadors will attend the launch on Saturday at Churchill Park in Lautoka, spend time at community events and meeting with leaders, coaches and teenagers.
The New Zealand High Commissioner, His Excellency Jonatan Curr, will officiate at the launch function. He commented “The Sports for Health programme is about ensuring that children learn about the importance of active healthy lifestyles from a young age, while also gaining skills such as team work and fair play. We know from the research that active young people are more likely to be active adults and that is what this initiative is all about”.
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The launch of the Fiji rugby programme forms part of the ‘Pacific Sporting Partnerships – Sports for Health’ initiative announced by the New Zealand Government in 2016.
Now in its fourth country, the programme has been successfully launched in Samoa in 2017 and Tonga and the Cook Islands in 2018.
The programme is a partnership between New Zealand Rugby (NZR) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT), in collaboration with the Fiji Rugby Union and Fiji Government.
It is designed as one way to address the increasing rates of chronic non-communicable diseases in the Pacific, such as diabetes.
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The Fijian version of the programme will see teenagers aged between 14 and 19 play a fast and non-contact version of rugby known as Quick Rip.
During the programme young people will also receive education aimed at providing them with tools to make positive decisions around healthy eating and lifestyles.
New Zealand Rugby Head of Participation and Development Steve Lancaster said the programme was already seeing success in other Pacific Island nations.
“The really important thing about this programme is that it will reach young people who are currently not involved in rugby but would like to be. Offering a non-contact form of the game is a great way to introduce them to rugby, while influencing more healthy lifestyles.
“We’re also seeing great benefit in engaging community leaders, parents and educating local providers in the areas of physical activity and health lifestyles. Using rugby as a vehicle for change and creating healthy communities is really positive for everyone involved.
“We have learnt a lot from the programme roll-out in Samoa, Tonga and the Cook Islands and we’re hoping that allows us to hit the ground running in Fiji.”
In partnership with the Fiji Rugby Union, NZR will provide Quick Rip equipment to participants, coaching training to local providers and deliver modules on healthy eating and lifestyles to 20 regions and 200 villages in Fiji.
The Sports for Health (Rugby) programme kicks off this Saturday 20 October when the Fiji Drua’s host Canberra Vikings in the semi-final of the Australian-run National Rugby Championship in Lautoka, Fiji.
In other news:
Comments on RugbyPass
Dagg is still trying to get enough headlines to make himself relevant enough to get a job. The Crusaders went back to square one at all levels. Shelve this season and nail the next one.
4 Go to commentsHe was in such great form. Sad for him but only a short term injury and it will be great to see him back for the finals.
1 Go to commentsAfter their 5/0 start, I had the Crusaders to finish Top 4 only…they lost the plot in Perth but will reload and back themselves vs 4th placed Rebels…
3 Go to commentsBoth nations missed a great opportunity to book a game that would have had a lot of interest from around the world. I understand these games can’t be organised in 5 minutes but they should have found a way to make it happen. I don’t think Wales are ducking anyone but it’s a bad look haha.
3 Go to commentsIt will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
3 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
3 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
36 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
3 Go to comments