IRB
The Gold Coast Sevens marks the start of the IRB Sevens World Series where Fiji will be determined to make it three in a row this weekend.
The defending Gold Coast Sevens champions line-up in Pool C against Wales, Canada and Portugal and captain Osea Kolinisau is confident they’ll complete their hat-trick at Skilled Park.
Following the Test between South Africa and New Zealand this past weekend, the New Zealand All Blacks have solidified their clasp on the IRD World Test Rankings more, stretching their lead over 2nd placed South Africa to a full 5.19 ranking points.
The Australian Wallabies have also slightly improved their position after their fine win against the Argentinian Pumas over the weekend, leaving them in 4th spot.
World Champions, New Zealand have stretched their lead further by almost a full rating point.
The South African Rugby Union has spiritedly knocked back suggestions that it did not take a powerful enough stance following the “Bismarck du Plessis affair” in the Castle Rugby Championship Test between New Zealand and South Africa in Auckland.
The Springbok hooker has subsequently had his controversial red card, issued by French referee Romain Poite at Eden Park on Saturday, erased by a SANZAR judicial officer, and he is clear to represent the country against the Wallabies if chosen at Newlands on Saturday week.
But some domestic critics and fans have raged that it is “too little too late” as the dismissal of Du Plessis badly dented the Boks’ prospects of winning at their long-time bogey venue; the All Blacks eventually won 29-15.
Nick Mallett has criticised the IRB for not taking action against poor refereeing.
Mallett, who voiced his opinion after the match is now angry at the way which the IRB has handled the situation.
With only 730 days till World Cup 2015 the pools and qualifying teams are starting to take shape.
There is still quite a few qualifying matches ahead and still a playoff series to fill all open spots.
Bulls captain Pierre Spies says he is in favour of a global rugby season which would see the Super Rugby competition finish earlier in the year.
The subject has been the focus of much speculation with the current SANZAR agreement set to expire in 2015, and Spies added his voice to the calls for the entire season to be restructured.
The IRB in conjunction with the SARU’s Referees Departmant have translated Laws of the Game – Rugby Union 2013 into Afrikaans and Xhosa and it is now available for download, in an effort to extend the reach and understanding of the game. Various other languages are also available.
International players have renewed their calls to develop a global rugby season by moving the June Test window to the end of July.
The International Rugby Players’ Association (IRPA) – the worldwide representative body for professional rugby players – held a conference in Australia recently and considered the possibility of moving the June Test match window until the last three weeks of July, beginning in 2016.
The International Rugby Board has dropped a major bomb by insisting that Australian captain James Horwill face a new disciplinary hearing.
The Australian Rugby Union has reacted with “surprise” and “disappointment” to the news that the IRB intervened to demand the re-hearing of the foul play charge levelled against the Wallaby captain, Horwill.
There are no current moves afoot to establish a global calendar for the Rugby Union season, a senior IRB official said, amid complaints that it is too long.
Brett Gosper, the IRB’s Chief Executive Officer, said it was a matter of complex negotiation for which no one currently had the “heart”.
Former Springbok coach Nick Mallett has been appointed to the International Rugby Board (IRB) rugby committee.
The IRB said on Friday Mallett would fill the position of coaches’ representative on the committee, with immediate effect.
Well there are a lot of surprises in the mid-year appointments this year, and I’m not sure how much can be read into them.
This year, the International Rugby Board has introduced 11 law trials that will be implemented from the start of the 2013 season.
Referees will now be able to ask Television Match Official (TMO) to review up to two phases prior to the ball being grounded as part of a new worldwide TMO Protocol trial announced by the International Rugby Board (IRB).
The IRB and its Member Unions have underscored their ongoing commitment to consistent and accurate match officiating by approving a global trial to extend the powers of the television match official (TMO).
All Black flyhalf Dan Carter was named the International Rugby Board Player of the Year at the IRB Awards in London on Monday.
Bryan Habana’s spectacular score against New Zealand in the inaugural Rugby Championship has been named Try of the Year for 2012 by the International Rugby Players’ Association.
I suspect that more important offenses are missed in rugby than any other sport. But don’t blame the refs – or not too much, wouldn’t want to spoil all the fun. The problem is so many things are happening at the same time on and off the ball, it is almost impossible for one man to pick up.
Wings from all corners of the world dominate the four-man shortlist for the International Rugby Players’ Association (IRPA) Try of the Year award after stunning scores in 2012.
The International Rugby Board (IRB) has confirmed that it will appeal what it strongly believes to be an “unduly lenient sanction” handed down to New Zealand forward Adam Thomson for stamping or trampling on the head of an opponent.
The Springboks have moved into second spot on the International Rugby Board’s rankings after their 16-12 win over Ireland in Dublin on Saturday.
The Springboks took part in a scrum study conducted by the International Rugby Board (IRB) in conjunction with the University of Bath in Dublin on Tuesday.
It is quite amazing that the IRB still permits referees to conduct tutorials during international rugby matches. The refs jabber on incessantly, telling players to release, roll away, get onside, wash the dishes, pick up the kids from school. But such a stream of communication creates a clear inequity that the IRB seems willfully oblivious to.
South Africa bounced back to winning ways in The Rugby Championship with a dominant 31-8 victory over Australia on Saturday to return to second place in the latest IRB World Rankings.
Wondering about all the law changes? Heres a ‘Dummies Guide’ to the to the latest trials.
International Rugby Board (IRB) Chairman Bernard Lapasset believes that Wheelchair Rugby will capture the imagination of sports fans around the world when the Paralympic competition begins today 5 September.
Cape Town – Paul Dobson was presented with the IRB Referee Award for Distinguished Service 2012 by IRB Council Member and South African Rugby Union CEO Jurie Roux at the IRB Junior World Championship semi-finals in Cape Town on Sunday.
A revised scrum engagement sequence will be trialled globally following unanimous backing from the IRB’s expert Scrum Steering Group.
The IRB Pacific Nations Cup 2012 gets underway on Tuesday, June 5 at Nagoya’s Mizuho Park Rugby Ground, one of three venues for this year’s tournament.
Samoa play Tonga in the opening game of the double-header match day, followed by hosts Japan who start their title defence against Fiji.
A new list of the proposed law changes has been released by the IRB. These will be trailed later this year.
The South African Rugby Union (SARU) has welcomed a compromise agreement on the kick off date for the 2015 Rugby World Cup tournament as well on a new funding model to recognise impacts on unions in Rugby World Cup years.
The IRB Council on Tuesday reached agreement that the 2015 tournament will kick off on September 18, which represented a compromise between the organiser’s preferred date and that of the SANZAR nations, who will be engaged in the Castle Rugby Championship until shortly before Rugby World Cup kick off.
The International Rugby Board and its Member Unions have sanctioned a global trial of five aspects of Law amendments following an extensive process of consultation and evaluation.
The trial, approved by the IRB Council at its Annual Meeting in Dublin on Tuesday, will commence at the start of the next season in each hemisphere (August 2012 in the north and January 2013 in the south) and will be applicable to both international and domestic competition.
The International Rugby Board has had a fundamental shake-up of its refereeing structure. Most significantly its manager of referees, Paddy O’Brien, is to move from his present post to run Sevens referees, a job the IRB says is significant with Olympic participation in the offing.
That is still not the end of it. The selection committee have made changes to the IRB’s top panel. Wayne Barnes, Dave Pearson and Bryce Lawrence have been dropped from the IRB’s top panel of referees, while Jaco Peyper of South Africa has been brought onto the panel for the first time.
That is not the end of it. The IRB has also changed the selection process, something O’Brien had put in place, with a four-man selection committee meeting four times a year. The four are Lyndon Bray and Tappe Henning (both SANZAR) and Donal Courtney and Clayton Thomas (both Six Nations and European Rugby Cup). Bray is SANZAR’s game manager which includes looking after referees and Courtney is the ERC’s referees manager. All four are former Test referees who have stayed involved in refereeing administration.
The International Rugby Board Executive Committee, acting in its role as the IRB Trust, has appointed the members of the Rugby World Cup Limited Board who will serve a four-year term to be effective from 15 May 2012.
Wales not only secured the Triple Crown for the first time ever at Twickenham following their 19-12 victory over England on Saturday, but have also climbed above their neighbours into fifth in the latest IRB World Rankings.
The International Rugby Board’s Chief Executive Officer and Rugby World Cup Limited Managing Director Mike Miller will step down at the end of January.