A meeting to establish a blueprint for an annual playing calendar that is relevant, commercially robust and acceptable to all those involved in rugby will be held in Woking, England, today and tomorrow.






The chairman of the International Rugby Board, Syd Millar, said the board had worked with the national unions to establish an integrated season for more than two years.



Millar said:

“The board is committed to finding the best possible rugby season structure. This includes analysis of the existing playing calendar and new options for an integrated rugby season.
“The development of an integrated season is not easy when you consider the different requirements of clubs, provinces and the national unions and a game played across two hemispheres."

Source: SA Times

Another IRB Development Award in NAWIRA!


Mr. Jacob Thompson, the estimable Chairman of the Jamaica Rugby Union, has been awarded the 2007 IRB’s Development Award, the highest such honour world-wide this year. This is another huge achievement for a NAWIRA person, and Union, with Mike Luke having won in 2006.



Jacob started playing Rugby while studying in England in the late 1960s at the School of Electrical Engineers. Upon his return to Jamaica in the early 1970s he promoted the game to the cadet corps while at the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) at a time most expatriates of the colonial era were leaving Jamaica, and with them the ready-made Rugby infrastructure they provided.

Undeterred, and inspired, he recognized the potential for Rugby to spread in the high school system as the cadets were from high schools in close proximity to the JDF headquarters. He started his personal mission by coaching four inner city schools: Vauxhall, Tivoli, Kingston Technical and Denham Town.
He was appointed Chief Organiser for Schoolboy Rugby, and has maintained that responsibility until the present day.

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The World Academy of Sport has announced at the International Rugby Board ( IRB ) General Assembly in Paris that it will deliver administrator programmes through the newly established “IRB Administrators Academy” to IRB member unions.
The IRB Administrators Academy is a joint initiative of the World Academy of Sport and the IRB, and was officially launched today during the 2007 Rugby World Cup.


This marks the establishment of the fourth in a series of partnerships between World Academy of Sport and International Sport Federations in order to establish educational academies. The IRB has long recognised the need to provide educational opportunities for stakeholders involved in Rugby and have found in the World Academy of Sport, a delivery partner that meets the needs of their administrators. All administrator programmes will be produced in conjunction with Manchester Business School at the University of Manchester.

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Basic information for the new player


What is Rugby?

Rugby is a team sport played on a 100 metre long pitch using an oval-shaped ball and H-shaped goalposts. No special equipment is necessary and the athlete clothing and equipment is simple and inexpensive. Rugby was an amateur sport for more than 100 years. In 1995 it became a professional game at the elite level only whilst retaining its traditional values and its spirit at all levels. 99% of the game is amateur.


Does Rugby have more than one format?
The sport has two main forms - 15s and Rugby Sevens, reflecting the number of players that are permitted on the field of play at any time in each form of the game.


The IRB manages a number of tournaments, including the IRB Sevens World Series, Age Grade World Championships and a number of regional 15s and Sevens tournaments for both men and women. The principal tournaments are the Rugby World Cup, which is generally considered one of the top five sports events in the world, the Women’s Rugby World Cup (being held this year in Canada) and Rugby World Cup Sevens for men and women. Rugby Sevens is also a core sport in the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games.

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The International Rugby Board ( IRB ) and MediaZone have announced that fans will be able to view all the matches from Rugby World Cup 2007 (RWC) online through an exciting official broadband video service, RWCPlus. The product, which will go LIVE on July 31, will be streamed through the official Tournament website www.rugbyworldcup.com.


RWCPlus will offer fans an RWC Pass that includes 24-hour delayed coverage of all 48 matches from the 2007 IRB Rugby World Cup, as well as LIVE audio feeds, match previews, halftime and fulltime highlights, interviews, and archived Rugby World Cup content for US$49.99. Individual matches are also available on a pay-per-view basis.


Existing MediaZone Rugby All Access Pass customers in eligible territories can purchase the package at a discounted rate of $39.99. Fans interested in purchasing both the RWC Pass and the MediaZone Rugby All Access Pass can buy a combined package for $139.98.


RWCPlus is produced in association with MediaZone Rugby, the world’s top provider of online Rugby video, with coverage of more than 250 live matches per year and a wide variety of additional content from highlights and previews to viewer participation forums. Together, the IRB and MediaZone will offer the most comprehensive and far-reaching coverage of Rugby’s showpiece tournament.


“Rugby World Cup 2007 promises to be the most successful Rugby World Cup to date. Ticket sales are on course to reach record levels, while the global TV audience looks set to reach the 4 billion mark. The provision of a dedicated official online video service where all 48 Tournament matches can be viewed further enhances global coverage and will ensure that more Rugby fans than ever before will be able to watch all the action," said Head of Rugby World Cup Department, Kit McConnell.


“In addition to providing online coverage of premier events like Wimbledon, the Indianapolis 500 and the New York City Marathon, MediaZone is the worldwide leader for access to Rugby online, so it is a perfect fit for us to partner with IRB to deliver the world’s biggest sporting event in 2007,” said Patrick Guthrie, MediaZone’s Director of Rugby. “We are absolutely thrilled to provide this affordable option so rugby fans worldwide can see every single scrum, lineout, ruck, maul and try while they support their favorite teams throughout the Finals Tournament.”



About the International Rugby Board


The International Rugby Board ( IRB ) is Rugby Union’s governing body. There are currently 120 Unions in membership of the IRB within six Regional Associations. The IRB funds and runs major International Rugby tournament’s all over the world including its most prestigious event, Rugby World Cup (RWC), which is held every four years. RWC is now the world’s third largest sporting event and this year’s tournament in France is widely anticipated to be the most successful in the tournament’s 20-year history. Over 2 million fans are expected to attend one or more of the 48 matches while a worldwide audience of over 4 billion will watch RWC on TV. RWC plays an important part in the global development of the Game with funds generated pumped into the Game at every level in the form of high performance, union infrastructure and tournament initiatives designed at increasing the overall competitiveness of the Game.



If you want to watch the matches live on your computer then click here