Professional rugby's 25th birthday warning: 'You need a blockbuster narrative to keep fans interested'
Brett Gosper believes that rugby union has “come a long way very quickly” as it reaches 25 years as a professional sport – but the World Rugby chief executive has also outlined some of the future challenges that will need to be met.
It is a quarter of a century on Wednesday that the late Vernon Pugh, in his role as International Rugby Board chairman, declared it an “open” sport. The timing of that announcement, if not the decision itself, caught many by surprise.
And two-and-a-half decades later, countless pages have been written – many celebratory such as Rugby World Cup’s success and the continuing growth of women’s rugby, but also sorry sagas like the Harlequins ‘Bloodgate’ disgrace in 2009 and recent salary cap scandal surrounding Saracens.
In an interview with the Guardian five years ago, former England fly-half and ex-Rugby Football Union professional rugby director Rob Andrew described rugby going professional in 1995 as being “like the Wild West”.
And while rugby has sometimes had a tendency to press the self-destruct button during its professional era, it is also a virtually unrecognisable sport on and off the pitch since that August weekend afternoon in Paris 25 years ago.
"Moody living that prop kind of life"
Three classy offloads, followed by a powerful finish from Joe Moody. What a try! ? @AllBlacks pic.twitter.com/B4slPcmZyB
— World Rugby (@WorldRugby) August 24, 2020
“Twenty-five years, while it is a long time, in professional sporting history it’s a tiny piece of history,” said World Rugby boss Gosper. “If you talk to people in other federations in professional sport, they would be quite shocked that rugby has only been professional for that period of time, given things like the World Cup and leagues around the world.
“There is kind of a feeling that when the outside world is looking in, we have come a long way very quickly, given that it is only 25 years. Super Rugby and the European Cup were introduced at that time, which added a huge dimension of visibility and attractiveness to the sport.
“And international rugby over the period has grown hugely in terms of the size, scale and fanbase. There were only about one million people playing rugby in those days. There are about 9.5m now, and the World Cup has grown to be the third-biggest sporting event on the planet.
“We have only really been measuring our fanbase since 2013 and it has grown 30 per cent since then to about 405m people. Eighty-eight per cent of people feel it is a more exciting sport than five years ago and about 82 per cent feel it is safer than it was five years ago.”
The World Cup has grown in size and revenue with each staging, and Gosper readily recalls South Africa’s 1995 triumph and the unforgettable images of Nelson Mandela presenting Springboks skipper Francois Pienaar with the Webb Ellis Trophy.
“The Mandela influence in South Africa in 1995, it was the first time that Rugby World Cup transcended the sport itself and it laid the ground for probably what was really the first ‘super’ World Cup from a commercial and ticketing perspective in Australia in 2003,” Gosper said.
“And moving it to a place like Japan last year demonstrated the variety of a global event in its full version. We had 2.04billion video views in the Japan World Cup, which is Olympic in scale. While I won’t say that Japan was the coming of age, it was certainly the confirmation that this property (World Cup) is a massively-global property.
“You can take the World Cup to new territories, and you should, in order to grow the sport. The inclusion in the Olympics (since Rio 2016) and the effect that has had on gaining new fans has also been substantial. The Olympics should not be underestimated as a recruiter of a new fan-base.
“Some of the progress that has been made in player welfare, the management of concussion, in particular, rugby has blazed a trail in that area, while the growth of women’s rugby has been huge. There were more new women-registered players than new men-registered players last year.”
This looks bleak… https://t.co/ksNuKboRQG
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) August 25, 2020
Gosper added that “geography and gender” are among critical areas for growth, while also placing major importance on the players. “The women’s game will continue to grow massively. And the game must also grow in new geographic markets to create the wealth it requires – the US in particular, other parts of South America, Russia, China, other parts of Asia.
“The geographic growth of rugby is inevitable, but it needs to be managed and needs to be accelerated in some cases. Increasingly, the players are at the heart of the decisions that we make, which is a big change over the 25-year period.
“Management of the players between club and country and finding some harmony in the way the club and international game co-exist because they are both critical to the future of the sport is going to be very important.
“It’s about things that will capture the imagination of the emerging young fan. You need a blockbuster narrative to keep fans interested, and the Olympics and World Cup will continue to grow the game into new markets and new territories.”
- The history behind the momentous decision of rugby union becoming a professional sport can be discovered at the World Rugby Hall of Fame in Rugby, Warwickshire. Admission is free
'It did turn sour'
Ed Griffiths' behind the scenes insight into the Springboks 1995 #RWC win ??, the back story to the Mandela moment, confronting flag-waving fans, holding clothes hangers for luck & the lost opportunity of it all
– writes @heagneyl https://t.co/XpSHESE4cF
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) May 24, 2020
Comments on RugbyPass
This is short sighted from Clayton if you ask me, smacks of too much preseason planning and no adaptability. What if DMac is out for a must win match, are they still only going to bring their best first five and playmaker on late in the game? Trusting the game to someone who wasn’t even part of planning (they would have had Trask pinned in as Jacomb preseason). Perhaps if the Crusaders were better they would not have done this, but either way imo you take this opportunity to play a guy you might need starting in a final rather than having their 12th game getting comfortable coming off the bench.
1 Go to commentsThanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.
21 Go to commentsWhat a load of bollocks. The author has forgotten to mention the fact that the Crusaders have a huge injury toll with top world class players out. Not to mention the fact that they are obviously in a transition period. No this will not spark a slow death for NZ rugby, but it does mean there will be a new Super Rugby champion. Anyone who knows anything about NZ rugby knows that there is some serious talent here, it just isn’t all at the Crusaders.
1 Go to commentsI wouldn’t spend the time on Nawaqanitawase! No point in having him filling in a jersey when he’s committed to leave Union. Give the jersey to a young prospect who will be here in the future.
4 Go to commentsIt was a pleasure to watch those guys playing with such confidence. That trio can all be infuriating for different reasons and I can see why Jones might have decided against them. No way to justify leaving Ikitau out though. Jorgensen and him were both scheduled to return at the same time. Only one of them plays for Randwick and has a dad who is great mates with the national coach though.
53 Go to commentsBrayden Iose and Peter Lakai are very exciting Super Rugby players but are too short and too light to ever be a Test 8 vs South Africa, France, Ireland, and England, Lakai could potentially be a Test player at 7 if he is allowed to focus on 7 for Hurricanes.
7 Go to commentsPencils “Thomas du Toit” into possible 2027 Bok squad.
1 Go to commentsDon’t see why Harrison makes the bench. Jones can play at 10 if needed, and there is a good case for starting her there to begin with if testing combinations. That would leave room for Sing on the bench
1 Go to commentsWhat a load of old bull!
1 Go to commentsOf the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.
29 Go to commentsIrish Rugby CEO be texting Andy Farrell “Andy, i found our next Kiwi Irishman”
5 Go to commentsI certainly don’t miss drinking beers at 8am in the morning watching rugby games being played in NZ.
1 Go to commentsThis looks like a damage limitation exercise for Wales, keeping back some of their more effective players for the last 20/25 minutes to try and counter England’s fresh legs so the Red Roses don’t rack up a big score.
1 Go to commentsVery unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
5 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to commentsArdie is a legend. Finished and klaar. Two things: “Yeah, yeah, I have had a few conversations with Razor just around feedback on my game and what I am doing well, what I need to improve on or work-ons. It’s kind of been minimal, mate, but it’s all that I need over here in terms of how to be better, how to get better and what I am doing well.” I hope he’s downplaying it - and that it’s not that “minimal”. The amount of communication and behind the scenes preparation the Bok coaches put into players - Rassie and co would be all over Ardie and being clear on what is expected of him. This stands out for me as something teams should really be looking at in terms of the boks success from a coaching point of view. And was surprised by the comment - “minimal”. In terms of the “debate” around Ireland and South Africa. Nice one Ardie. Indeed. There’s no debate.
2 Go to comments