World Series Rugby

May 5, 2006
62,726
70,017
AFL Club
West Coast
We're back, bitches.

13,000 tickets already sold. Sellout crowd of 15,000+ expected. More than the Waratahs vs Brumbies, and obviously more than the Rebels vs, well, anyone. Not bad for a hastily cobbled together competition with players that are effectively a rung below Super Rugby.

Not sure about the 7 point 'powertry' thing but it's an invitational comp so why not try something new.

Won't be able to get to Force vs Fiji but will hopefully get to the second or third game.
 
Oct 9, 2001
18,059
15,823
2, 4, 6, 8
AFL Club
Sydney
Was hoping Forrest could organise a deal for this to be broadcast.

Worked out good coverage in the end. The FTA exposure can't be understated as well.

https://www.rugby.com.au/news/2018/05/03/world-series-rugby-foxtel-channel-seven

Matches will be broadcast live on 7TWO in Western Australia, while FOX SPORTS will screen the match live on 507 FOX SPORTS More.

Friday's game will be shown on delay in Sydney and Brisbane on 7MATE and will screen nationally again at 1pm local, 3pm AEST on Saturday.

It's a big coup for the sport, with rugby rarely live on free-to-air TV, even on secondary channels, with the Shute Shield the only regularly live rugby on Channel Seven in Sydney.

Former Wallabies flyhalf Michael Lynagh and longtime rugby commentator Gordon Bray will be part of the calling teams through the season.
 
May 5, 2006
62,726
70,017
AFL Club
West Coast
The ARU must be hating the fact that the team they punted from Super Rugby is already doing what they cannot.

19,466 there last night. Granted there's the novelty factor in play and I wouldn't expect the Force to average that if WSR continued forever, but that's a bigger crowd at any SR match in Australia since 2017. And it was on both Fox and FTA TV. The last time I remember watching any SR on FTA TV John Eales was playing.
 

chibimatty

Club Legend
Nov 15, 2010
2,407
2,154
Western Australia
AFL Club
Fremantle
Other Teams
WACA, Western Force, Arsenal, Glory
I've noticed the blow-up on social media over here, it was the hottest ticket in town for a week or so. One can only hope that all those non-rugby fans who missed out on the opener will grab a ticket for the other games instead.
 

Maester

Team Captain
Oct 15, 2014
372
236
AFL Club
Sydney
I think if the Force can average around 15k for all their matches this year that will send a pretty big statement. Selling out 1 game is great, but hopefully the crowds don't drop to sub-10k after a couple of games.

Will be really interesting to see what WSR evolves into next year. Western Force, Fiji, Hong Kong and a Japanese team seem very likely to be involved. Not sure if Tonga and Samoa are viable separately. Maybe with a lot of outside support, otherwise perhaps a combined team based in Sydney or Auckland could work. Not sure who else, but I think 6 teams with a double round robin would be ideal.
 

chibimatty

Club Legend
Nov 15, 2010
2,407
2,154
Western Australia
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Fremantle
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WACA, Western Force, Arsenal, Glory
I honestly believe that Australian involvement in WSR should be restricted to Newcastle. They've been trying to get a rep team into the Shute Shield or the NRC for quite a while now, but the unions involved have placed all sorts of restrictive conditions on their involvement. For example, in the NRC, the ARU dictated that they should play games in Sydney instead and use Sydney players. This was despite the fact that they had plenty of potential backers from the Hunter and Central Coast region.
 
May 5, 2006
62,726
70,017
AFL Club
West Coast
I honestly believe that Australian involvement in WSR should be restricted to Newcastle. They've been trying to get a rep team into the Shute Shield or the NRC for quite a while now, but the unions involved have placed all sorts of restrictive conditions on their involvement. For example, in the NRC, the ARU dictated that they should play games in Sydney instead and use Sydney players. This was despite the fact that they had plenty of potential backers from the Hunter and Central Coast region.

Wat?
 

chibimatty

Club Legend
Nov 15, 2010
2,407
2,154
Western Australia
AFL Club
Fremantle
Other Teams
WACA, Western Force, Arsenal, Glory
Yeah, they tried to get in, but conditions were put on them by the ARU. No local players and play games outside of Hunter.

So yeah, with the financial backing they had, which subsequently pulled out, I think they would be the only worthy addition to Twiggy's comp from Australia. Otherwise, I reckon we should avoid New Zealand and the Australian cities which already have teams. I mean, Adelaide could be an option, but that would depend on the support. But Hunter/Central Coast/Newcastle have been stuffed around for a while now. Seeing as the ARU rejected an injection of funds from private investors for the Newcastle team; I can now see the precedent being set for the rejection of Twiggy's offer too.
 

chibimatty

Club Legend
Nov 15, 2010
2,407
2,154
Western Australia
AFL Club
Fremantle
Other Teams
WACA, Western Force, Arsenal, Glory
I don't really see WSR as being a vehicle for a regional NSW team. SR has the Waratahs and the NRC has 3 NSW teams plus Canberra.

I used to think that way too. But after chatting with a couple of rugby folk from the area, it turns out the Waratahs are considered very much an eastern Sydney club, a lot of rugby folk outside of that area tend to support the Brumbies. As for the Newcastle idea, they have found themselves feeling cut off from NSW Rugby, Sydney club rugby and the Waratahs in much the same way as we were cut from Super Rugby and the Australian rugby scene altogether. They feel there's no pathway for Newcastle players to reach higher levels without leaving the area, so there's a groundswell of support over there from private investors to bypass the establishment, as we did, and go off on their own with something new- something that features Newcastle/Hunter/CC players, coaches, admin and stadia; completely independent of the unions above them. That's why they were looking at the Twiggy/IPRC option; not as another NSW franchise, but as an independent, somewhat rogue, Newcastle born'n'bred entity, doing it's own thing.
 

Seedsfan

Brownlow Medallist
Oct 10, 2013
15,953
10,544
AFL Club
Collingwood
Talk is Matt Giteau and Dan Cater will play in rapid rugby. Not a fan of the rebranding but it's good to see someone try and make a positive change to the game in Australia
 
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