WR kicks for touch on revamp
to Pichot’s proposal of setting
Rugby up an annual tournament.
Richard Knowler Instead, the release noted richard.knowler@stuff.co.nz World Rugby remained committed to enhancing the competitiveness World Rugby chairman Bill of international rugby Beaumont has left us none the between World Cups within the wiser. 2020-32 calendar framework
Speculation about the future agreed in San Francisco. structure of the international programme ‘‘I believe the time is right and has been rife since the opportunity exits to do something World Rugby vice-chairman really impactful that injects Agustin Pichot recently referred further excitement, significance to the radical reorganisation and value into the international of the global calendar, rugby between which was agreed in Rugby World Cups for San Francisco in March the benefit of all,’’ last year. Beaumont said.
Pichot recently ‘‘In line with this revealed to a French publication objective, we are he wanted a examining models to ‘‘World League’’ tournament, maximise the potential comprising the Bill Beaumont of the July and November top 12-ranked teams to windows without play an annual tournament in changing the framework of the November instead of the traditional San Francisco agreement.’’ tours that are already Pichot said in the same statement fixed in the calendar. it was critical World Rugby
Alternating between the continued to evolve and ensure northern and southern appeal and relevance within a hemispheres, the concept of the ‘‘rapidly-evolving global fan, tournament resonated with broadcast and commercial Pichot because he believes test environment’’. rugby is ‘‘under threat’’ due to ‘‘The strategies we have been financial issues and falling crowd exploring set out to do just that, numbers. providing a blueprint for essential
This was in direct conflict to growth, furthering opportunities what was agreed in San Francisco. for emerging nations and Yet Pichot wants more growing value for all.’’ change. It seems absurd to believe No mention of a 12-team tournament that his proposals, which he is in November. No mention reported to have discussed with of whether it was even raised NZ Rugby CEO Steve Tew among on the agenda. others, were not discussed by A World Rugby professional World Rugby. game committee will now be
Not that Beaumont was going convened, comprising all tier-one to do directly address the issue and several tier-two representatives following the meeting. to progress the discussions.
In a statement released by This group will report to the World Rugby, there was no reference executive committee. Chris King had to delve deep into his memory bank to recall his last bus trip from Christchurch to Dunedin.
The 37-year-old Canterbury prop figured it was about 20 years ago, but that changed last week due to New Zealand Rugby’s new travel policy for the Mitre 10 Cup, a result of the organisation’s wider budget review. NZR has increased the threshold for bus travel to six hours or less – up from four hours or less – saving a ‘‘significant amount’’ of money on air travel, head of provincial rugby Steve Lancaster confirmed.
Taranaki bussed 295km from New Plymouth to Rotorua to play Bay of Plenty in round one, Bay of Plenty travelled 287km from Rotorua to Napier to play Hawke’s Bay in round four, and Waikato got to enjoy their Shield victory against Taranaki on the road, after bussing the 241km between New Plymouth and Hamilton, the same week.
NZR consulted the New Zealand Rugby Players Association, and impacted teams, during what Lancaster called a ‘‘pretty straightforward’ process.
‘‘We spoke to all teams that were affected by it. In a couple of cases we listened and said, ‘no, you’re right actually, the risks around delays are too great, so let’s just leave that as a flight’.’’
Canterbury were chipper ahead of their road trip to Dunedin last Friday and, as the self proclaimed ‘‘old hand’’ in the team, King was quick to claim the back seat.
The reigning champion red and blacks won 47-25.
Drug Free Sport NZ (DFSNZ) has been accused of overprosecuting recreational athletes caught up in a multi-agency steroid sting.
The national anti-doping agency last year started an investigation aimed at snaring sportspeople buying prohibited substances online.
Up to 80 athletes are reported to have been identified in the database of a Christchurch man who was convicted for importing and distributing the steroid clenbuterol.
The cases are working their way through the system, with the Sports Tribunal and NZ Rugby Judiciary having resolved 22 to date. It could take more than a year to clear the backlog due to the scope of the investigation, which has not only caught those seeking to gain a performance-enhancing advantage, but also those using banned substances for vanity reasons – to lose weight or get ‘‘shredded’’ – and happen to be registered athletes with sports bodies that come under DFSNZ’s jurisdiction.
The sweeping approach has been questioned by athlete representatives and sports integrity experts, including the former director-general of the World Anti-Doping Agency, who believe DFSNZ could have shown greater discretion with the cases it chose to prosecute.
Prominent New Zealand lawyer David Howman, who led WADA for 13 years to 2016, says New Zealand’s anti-doping legislation adopted by the government, as distinct from the WADA code, requires DFSNZ to refer these cases on to the relevant authorities. But Howman questions the way the sanctions have been applied in a lot of the cases.
‘‘The issue for me is do third grade cricketers need to be sanctioned the same way as the elite cricketers do?’’ he asks.
‘‘I helped write the code in the first place, and it was never intended to level four-year sanctions on what you would call recreational or club players.’’
Howman acknowledges the international context in which DFSNZ was operating in 2017 – a critical juncture in the fight against doping – placed them in a difficult position.
The cases came to light just as the international sporting community was calling for harsh sanctions against Russia as the full extent of state-sponsored doping programme was laid bare in Richard McLaren’s report. National anti-doping agencies were encouraged to take a hard line, in part to avoid any accusations of double standards.
New Zealand has a longestablished international reputation for its rigorous implementation of the WADA code, and Howman says DFSNZ’s efforts to uphold this reputation have had an unintended downside.
‘‘They’ve taken this approach to show New Zealand is tough on this kind of stuff, but the irony is you talk to some young people representing New Zealand overseas and they’ll tell you we now have the reputation that there’s a lot of doping in this country. Because nobody reads below the headlines,’’ Howman says.
NZ Rugby Players’ Association boss Rob Nichol applauds DFSNZ’s efforts to disrupt the flow of cheap performance-enhancing drugs into the market, but says the decision to pursue anti-doping rule violations against ‘‘low-level sports participants’’ is an overreach.
‘‘To apply the full force of the code to everyone who is involved