New rugby tournament cancelled before kickoff
The much-vaunted Border Rugby Union new flagship competition BRUT8 Competition was abruptly cancelled without a ball being kicked.
This newly announced competition was supposed to bring the curtain down on the Border Rugby season when the top 8 teams in the Super League were going to be in action.
Earlier this year, the Border Rugby Union (BRU) exco sought and engaged a service provider to secure sponsorship for the introduction of a BRU top eight (BRUT8) competition whose clubs would be selected from the Super League standings.
A sponsorship to cover the total costs of the competition was obtained and the competition was scheduled to start on November 11.
In a letter addressed to the clubs by BRU says: “After extensive consultation with the eight participating teams, only five teams committed to play in the competition this month.
“Due to the sponsorship agreement based on the participation of the top eight teams, the exco’s endeavours and suggestion to add three other teams from the log were not accepted.
“As a consequence of the withdrawal of the three top teams and the refusal by the sponsors to augment the structure with the other clubs in the log, the competition had to be cancelled unfortunately.”
The letter continued by stating that the exco’s efforts to bolster and spice-up club rugby and expose participating teams to marketing and branding along with the sponsorship opportunities had been lost.
The opportunity to identify potential players for the Bulldogs for 2024 through the competition was probably the biggest loss.
For rugby growth in the region, fans will hope BRU and their partners will solidify this new competition next year.